US DOE
exposure to very low levels of ionizing radiation procedures medical common, air travel, and industrial processes expose people to such radiation every day. But the impact on the health of these very low doses are not well understood. A bipartisan bill failed on January 7 by the US House of Representatives seeks to change this landscape by revitalizing an existing service of Energy (DOE) to low dose radiation research program.
The bill prompted in part by concerns raised by the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, calls for a study by the National Academies and require DOE to produce a 5-year research plan. But it provides no new funding, and to this day the bill is not a champion in the Senate, which will also have to adopt legislation for it to become law.
However, supporters of the DOE program, which has seen its funding and visibility down since it was created in the late 190s, are pleased by the move House. "Unfortunately, this program has not been a priority to DOE in recent years and has seen systematic de-emphasis," said Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX), Chairman of the House Science, Space and the technology Committee, in the statement before the vote of the House vote on the bill. It will, he says, to "ensure the maintenance and improvement of this important research program."
The energy industry nuclear also welcomed the initiative. "given the pervasiveness of nuclear technologies in the modern world ... it is logical that we better understand the health effects of low doses of radiation," said the Institute based in Washington DC, nuclear energy, the main industry trade group, in a statement.
The health effects of low-dose radiation have long been a puzzle. "We know that high doses of radiation cause cancer," says biophysicist David Brenner, director of the Center of Columbia University for radiological research, "but as you will ever lower the dose, it becomes less and less clear what happens. "Detecting small increases risk of cancer, for example, is difficult. Some scientists have proposed that there is a threshold level below which exposure to radiation are not dangerous, but there is no consensus on whether such a threshold exists, or that the safe level of exposure would be, Brenner said.
radiobiologist William Morgan, radiation biology and biophysics director Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, said researchers are shared among several theories about low dose radiation say it is good for you, others say it has no effect, and the rest think it is terrible for you. "Here lies the confusion in the low-dose radiation field," he said.
Congress was designed to help answer these questions in the creation of the radiation research program low dose of DOE in 1999. In particular, researchers and policymakers say solid science is necessary to establish appropriate exposure regulations for radiation workers, the infrastructure of nuclear energy, and evacuation plans in case of nuclear accident or terrorist attack. But funding for the program has generally declined over the years; low-dose research is located within a larger DOE funding pool that has gone from a peak of about $ 28 million in the mid-00s to less than $ 16 million in recent years.
The Fukushima accident in 2011 helped revive concerns low dose, however, and in 2013 eight leading researchers in the field, including Morgan Brenner writes in the White House science adviser John Holdren asking a National Academies report on the issue. They also gave presentations to the House Energy Committee. Efforts, Brenner said, were inspired in part by a 09 roadmap for research on low radiation dose systematic produced by the Commission and experts from the radiation research community at low dosage of the European Europe.
The result was the Low- Dose Radiation Research Act of 2015 (HR 35), supported by Democrats and Republicans. It first passed the House last year, but the Senate took no action, meaning the law died in December at the end of the 113th Congress. (The sponsor of this version was the representative Paul Broun [R–GA], which are no longer in power after losing in the first US Senate.)
Last week, the vote on the draft non controversial law was one of the first business bits performed by the newly seated 114th Congress. This time, the main sponsor was Representative Randy Hultgren (R-IL), a member of the scientific committee representing a district that includes Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory DOE. She again passed by a vote of the votes.
"While there is little doubt that there is a threshold above which humans should avoid exposure to radiation, this bill will ensure that the Department of the Office of energy science prioritizes the necessary research to understand what this level is actually, "said Hultgren in a speech on the floor of the House before the vote.
Bill defines a low radiation dose as less than 100 millisieverts exposure. For comparison, a person living in the United States receives an average annual rate of about 6 millisieverts, half of which comes from natural sources of background. CXR contributes a dose of about 0.1 millisieverts, and a whole-body CT scan about 10 millisieverts.
The National Academies report required by the bill would follow the footsteps of the report of the European Commission in 09. The lawmakers want to sketch the present state of research, address remaining challenges and scientific objectives and recommend a long-term research program. The bill said that the report should examine the effectiveness of the costs and benefits of the proposed research. DOE then produce a 5-year research plan that responds to the conclusions of the study. The bill does not authorize additional funding for the DOE, which means the agency would have to use existing funds unless Congress appropriators say otherwise.
Supporters of the House bill now looking for loans senators to the cause. "We are optimistic" to get the bill approved by the Senate, a press aid Hultgren wrote Science Insider in an email. The White House has not taken a position on the bill
Correction, 11:33, 01/12/2015. Article misstated the designations of the current year and Congress. These figures have been corrected.
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