Assessment of radiation exposure and public health before and after the operation of Sanmen nuclear power plant

Hong Ren; Shunfei Yu; Ziyou Wang; Taotao Zheng; Hua Zou; Xiaoming Lou; Peng Wang; Lei Zhou; Dongxia Zhang; Meibian Zhang; Jiadi Guo; Zhongjun Lai; Yaoxian Zhao; Zhiqiang Xuan; Yiyao Cao

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1131739

Assessment of radiation exposure and public health before and after the operation of Sanmen nuclear power plant

Front Public Health. 2023 Feb 6:11:1131739. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1131739. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Hong Ren¹, Shunfei Yu¹, Ziyou Wang², Taotao Zheng², Hua Zou¹, Xiaoming Lou¹, Peng Wang¹, Lei Zhou¹, Dongxia Zhang¹, Meibian Zhang³, Jiadi Guo¹, Zhongjun Lai¹, Yaoxian Zhao¹, Zhiqiang Xuan¹, Yiyao Cao¹

Affiliations

¹ Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
² Sanmen County Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Sanmen, Zhejiang, China.
³ National Institute of Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Sanmen nuclear power plant (SNPP) operates the first advanced passive (AP1000) nuclear power unit in China.

Methods: To assess the radiological impacts of SNPP operation on the surrounding environment and the public health, annual effective dose (AED) and excess risk (ER) were estimated based on continuous radioactivity monitoring in drinking water and ambient dose before and after its operation during 2014-2021. In addition, the residents' cancer incidence was further analyzed through authorized health data collection.

Results: The results showed that the gross α and gross β radioactivity in all types of drinking water were ranged from 0.008 to 0.017 Bq/L and 0.032 to 0.112 Bq/L, respectively. The cumulative ambient dose in Sanmen county ranged from 0.254 to 0.460 mSv/y, with an average of 0.354 ± 0.075 mSv/y. There is no statistical difference in drinking water radioactivity and ambient dose before and after the operation of SNPP according to Mann-Whitney U test. The Mann-Kendall test also indicates there is neither increasing nor decreasing trend during the period from 2014 to 2021. The age-dependent annual effective doses due to the ingestion of drinking water or exposure to the outdoor ambient environment are lower than the recommended threshold of 0.1 mSv/y. The incidence of cancer (include leukemia and thyroid cancer) in the population around SNPP is slightly higher than that in other areas, while it is still in a stable state characterized by annual percentage changes.

Discussion: The current comprehensive results show that the operation of SNPP has so far no evident radiological impact on the surrounding environment and public health, but continued monitoring is still needed in the future.

Keywords: Sanmen nuclear power plant; ambient dose; drinking water; radioactivity; risk assessment.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Drinking Water*
Nuclear Power Plants
Public Health
Radiation Exposure*
Radiation Monitoring* / methods

Substances

Drinking Water

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Zhejiang Provincial Foundation Public Welfare Research Project (No. LGC21H260001), Zhejiang Health Science and Technology Plan (Nos. 2019KY353, 2021KY613, 2022RC120, 2022KY130, 2022KY132, and 2023KY643), and Project of South Zhejiang Institute of Radiation Medicine and Nuclear Technology (Nos. ZFY-2021-K-003, ZFY-2022-K-001, and ZFY-2022-K-006).