Excess Infant Mortality after Nuclear Plant Startup in Rural Mississippi

Abstract

In the United States, utility companies have recently begun ordering new nuclear power reactors, the first such orders in the country since 1978. One potential site would be the Grand Gulf plant near Port Gibson, Mississippi. In 1983–1984, the first two years in which the existing Grand Gulf reactor operated, significant increases were observed in local rates of infant deaths (+35.3%) and fetal deaths (+57.8%). Local infant mortality remained elevated for the next two decades. These changes match those experienced in the same five local counties during atomic bomb testing in the 1950s and 1960s. This report examines potential reasons why an indigent, largely African American community may be at higher risk than other populations from exposure to an environmental toxin such as radiation. It also considers potential health risks posed by new reactors at Grand Gulf.