Calculation of the Number of Cancer Deaths Prevented by the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project

Abstract

The Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project has completed remedial action at 22 uranium mill tailings sites and about 5,000 properties ("vicinity properties") where tailings were used in construction, at a total cost of $1.45 billion. This paper uses existing data from Environmental Impact Statements and Environmental Assessments, and vicinity property calculations, to determine the total number of cancer deaths averted by the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project. The cost-effectiveness of remediating each site, the vicinity properties, and the entire project is calculated. The cost per cancer death averted was four orders of magnitude higher at the least cost-effective site than at the most cost-effective site.

A Certified Health Physicist’s Reflections on a 40-Year Career in Radiation Protection

“…Some examples include:

How the United States spent US$1.45 billion to prevent 1290 theoretical (based on the LNT model) cancer deaths from mill tailings on the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action project. 7

Billions overspent on EPA Superfund cleanups. While some level of cleanup is indeed justified, the “how clean is clean enough” issue generally isn’t addressed.…”

“…How the United States spent US$1.45 billion to prevent 1290 theoretical (based on the LNT model) cancer deaths from mill tailings on the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action project. 7…”

“…Even I, for many years, went ''along with the flow'' because most of the radiation protection activities that I was involved in still made sense, and I didn't think that it was that completely unreasonable to adhere to the simplistic, default LNT model. Nonetheless, I witnessed millions of dollars being squandered on excessive environmental cleanup standards 7 and remediation of the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings, Grand and San Juan Counties, Utah FEIS, Yucca Mountain FEIS, unnecessary power plant overdesign requirements (ALARA, emergency plans, and operating plans), and nuclear medicine application obstacles (both physician and patient's unfounded concerns). These excesses and obstacles were also occurring (and continue) worldwide.…”