The Government Accountability Office would like federal agencies to increase their collaboration on research into low-dose radiation, and it has recommended the Energy Department lead such an effort. But DOE hasn’t been eager to assume such a role, the GAO said in a Nov. 1 report.
People who work at nuclear power plants, defense waste cleanup projects, and in health-related fields that require frequent use of certain medical devices tend to get exposed to low doses of radiation over many years, the GAO noted. More research is needed into potential cancer risks for people in these fields, according to its report.
The GAO said there were many reasons DOE would be a natural for leading government coordination on this issue. After all, the department has a chief role under the 1954 Atomic Energy Act for research related to the protection of worker health during remediation of Cold War legacy nuclear sites. In addition, DOE has done a significant amount of such research in the past. An Energy Department advisory committee said in 2016 that more research is needed into the cancer risk from low-dose radiation.
“DOE did not agree with our recommendation,” the GAO said in its report.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission also have legal responsibilities in this area and they set their own priorities in accordance with available funding and advisory board recommendations.
“We believe that DOE’s concerns stem from a misinterpretation of our recommendation,” the GAO said. The congressional auditing agency said it is not looking for DOE to encroach on the legal turf of other organizations, but rather to “help agencies address shared research priorities.”
From fiscal 2012 through fiscal 2016, seven federal agencies—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Defense, DOE, EPA, NASA, the National Institutes of Health, and the NRC—committed roughly $210 million for research on the health effects of low-dose radiation, but annual funding has decreased, the GAO said.
During that span, those seven agencies collectively curbed their annual funding by 48 percent, from $57.9 million in fiscal 2012 to $30.4 million in fiscal 2016. During the period, DOE cut its annual funding obligations by 45 percent—from $32.6 million in fiscal 2012 to $18 million in fiscal 2016. The Energy Department decrease was primarily due to a cutback for its Low Dose Radiation Research Program.
The GAO noted that DOE and other agencies are also providing some funding toward an ongoing study of 1 million U.S. radiation workers and veterans. DOE’s Office of Science, which oversees the agency’s work in this area, did not respond to a request for comment.
There has been some interagency coordination on research, but the Government Accountability Office would like to see more. Its report was prepared for the House Science, Space, and Technology energy subcommittee.
