Press Release: 7/20/2026

Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility Applauds Rebuttal in Lancet Pointing to Health Harms and High Expense of Nuclear Power

** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ** 

 

Media contact: Anna Linakis, Executive Director, Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility. Email: info@gbpsr.org / phone: (617) 239-1977

 

Brookline, Mass. – July 18th – Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility (GBPSR) is pleased to share a Letter to the Editor* published July 18, 2026 in The Lancet countering the narrative that nuclear power is “safe, clean, and affordable.”

 

Boston College Global Public Health Program Director Dr. Philip Landrigan, a pediatrician, and GBPSR Board member Dr. Brita Lundberg, a specialist in internal medicine, find that nuclear power is not safe, not clean, and not affordable.   They reject the claim that nuclear energy is a solution to climate change or that it will meet rising demand for electricity. They observe that: 

 

Nuclear power is not safe. Uranium, the fuel of nuclear power, is radioactive. It releases radiation all along the nuclear fuel chain. Uranium miners are exposed to this radiation and suffer increased death from lung cancer. Nuclear fuel production workers are exposed to uranium hexafluoride and radon. Reactor operators and communities near nuclear power plants are exposed to radioisotopes. Residence in communities near nuclear plants is associated with excess mortality.

 

Nuclear power has unique dangers that are far greater than those of any other energy source. These include meltdown, fuel diversion, and weaponization.

 

Nuclear power is not clean. Nuclear power produces significantly more carbon emissions along the fuel cycle than wind, solar or geothermal power. Most of these emissions are generated during uranium mining and nuclear fuel production. They degrade the environment, accelerate the pace of climate change, and increase climate-related disease, disability and death.

 

All nuclear plants, large or small, produce large quantities of radioactive waste.  This waste is highly toxic. It will remain radioactive for millennia endangering the health of our grandchildren and their grandchildren.

 

Nuclear power is not affordable. The levelized cost of nuclear energy is higher than that of renewable energy, and it is rising. Also, nuclear power has many hidden costs, including health-related costs, reactor construction costs, frequent cost overruns, and the massive costs of nuclear meltdowns.

 

These costs are not covered by utilities, banks, or investors. Instead, they are shifted onto ratepayers, taxpayers, and governments.

 

Nuclear energy is more expensive than renewable energy. The costs of solar power have fallen by 90% since 2010. In the same time period, wind energy costs have decreased by 70% and the costs of storage batteries have fallen by 97%. Meanwhile, the costs of nuclear power have risen by nearly 50%. 

 

Nuclear power is economically viable only when it receives massive subsidies, tax breaks, and liability exemptions.

 

Nuclear power cannot meet rising electricity demand. Nuclear power plants take years to build. These long construction times mean that nuclear power cannot be the answer to the immediate and rapidly growing electricity demands of data centers. 

 

The takeaway: Nuclear power is a poor investment for Massachusetts and New England. It will cost taxpayers money and enrich venture capitalists. It will not meet rising energy needs. It is not safe.

 

The time has come to move beyond nuclear power and to invest in renewables, which truly are safe, clean and affordable. Renewable energy is New England’s future.

 

With a consortium of partner organizations, GBPSR is currently embarked on a clinical study of the health effects of decommissioning nuclear power plants with Harvard School of Public Health. This will be the first study of particle radiation emitted during decommissioning of a nuclear plant in the United States.

 

********************************

 

Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) is a physician-led non-profit advocacy organization with approximately 1,600 members whose mission is to raise public awareness of the twin existential threats of climate change and nuclear weapons. Our chapter includes experts in public health, cancer epidemiology, occupational medicine, environmental health, emergency medicine, and disaster preparedness. For more information, please contact us at info@gbpsr.org / (617) 239-1977

 

################################