N.H. LEGISLATURE CONSIDERS BILL ON AIRBORNE MONITORING

“An Act Requiring Monitoring of Certain Radioactive Air Pollutants,” will be heard before the New Hampshire House Committee on Science, Technology and Energy on Tuesday, January 23 at 10:15 AM in room 304 of the Legislative Office Building in Concord.
New Hampshire does not currently operate or support a real-time radiation monitoring network in the vicinity of Seabrook Station, instead relying on proprietary readings taken by plant owner NextEra Energy Resources – as well as the passive data collected by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission through a system of thermos-luminescent dosimeters, or TLDs – that gather cumulative levels of ionizing radiation.

Seacoast legislators, including lead-sponsor Rep. Mindi Messmer (Rockingham-24) are again working to change that with the introduction of  House Bill 1779-FN ,

Rep. Messmer, an environmental scientist by training (pictured above), has taken a particular interest in the public health mystery of a  childhood cancer cluster  in the N.H. seacoast. While there are many forms of environmental pollution identified in the region, due to the known health effects of ionizing radiation, Messmer and her colleagues believe the state should be tracking airborne radiation levels.