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June 2009 

Key Facts

• Scientists have studied radiation effects for more than 100 years, and stringent safety regulations have governed man-made uses of this energy for nearly as long. Two reports provide strong confirmation that the risk of health effects from exposure to low levels of radiation is small. They also conclude that current radiation protection standards for workers and the public remain valid.
• The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the departments of Energy and Transportation are the principal federal agencies responsible for establishing radiation protection regulations. These agencies work with international organizations to ensure their regulations are based on inter-nationally recognized scientific studies.
• The National Academy of Sciences in June 2005 released its report from the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation Committee VII (BEIR VII), “Health Risks From Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation.” The BEIR VII report will serve as the updated scientific basis for radiation safety standards in the United States for the next decade.
• The International Agency for Research on Cancer studied the effects of exposure to low levels of radiation on more than 400,000 nuclear workers in 15 countries. The study panel concluded that its results are “statistically compatible with the current bases for radiation protection standards.”
• The NRC’s annual limit for occupational exposure to radiation is 5,000 millirems (mrems). The average U.S. nuclear power plant worker receives 130 mrems.¹ A typical X-ray, by comparison, provides 10 mrems per film. ²
• The average American receives about 300 mrems of radiation exposure annually from nature. The chief sources are radioactive substances in rocks, radon in the air, cosmic rays from outer space and trace amounts of radioactivity in the body.
• The average public exposure from the nuclear fuel cycle is 0.5 mrem per year for an individual.
• The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) in 2009 reported that the U.S. exposure to ionizing radiation has increased dramatically since 1980, with half the increase resulting from CT scans. However, scientists at the American Association of Physicists in Medicine pointed out that the “vast majority of Americans receive no radiation from medical imaging at all.” ³

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¹ “Occupational Radiation Exposure at Commercial Nuclear Power Reactors,” NUREG-0713, Vol. 29, Table 4-3, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, December 2008. The 130 mrems figure is rounded from 127.2 mrems.
² Health Physics Society, www.hps.org.
³ “Average radiation exposure of the US population requires perspective and caution,” American Association of Physicists in Medicine, press release, March 3, 2009.