Haddam Chosen for Cancer Study

Haddam was chosen as one of six communities nationwide and two in Connecticut to be part of a $2 million pilot cancer study conducted by the National Academy of Sciences for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The study looks at the link between cancer risk and proximity to nuclear power facilities.

Haddam is home to the Connecticut Yankee nuclear plant that operated from 1968 to 1998 and was decommissioned in 2007. Spent fuel is still stored there.

The other Connecticut community participating in the study is Waterford, where Millstone reactors are still in operation. The four remaining sites are in California, Illinois, Michigan and New Jersey. According to the NRC, these locations were chosen because they include a representative sampling of operating histories, population sizes, and complexity of data retrieval from cancer registries.

The study, scheduled to begin in a few months and continue through 2014, will examine incidence of several types of cancer in people living near the chosen sites, as well as cancer in children born near the sites.

According to a spokesperson for the agency, the NRC closely monitors the amount of radiation the public is exposed to around these sites. The NRC does not expect to see any increased cancer risk in any of these communities, he said.