FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Sarah Abramson, Executive Director
C-10 Research & Education Foundation
Office: 978-465-6646 | Mobile: 603-793-0600
sarah@c-10.org | c-10.org
Seabrook Watchdog Group Urges NRC to Reject Rule Rolling Back Radiation Safety Standards
C-10 warns proposed elimination of “ALARA” protections would weaken oversight at Seabrook Station and other U.S. reactors
NEWBURYPORT, Mass. — September 2, 2026 —
The C-10 Research & Education Foundation, the nonprofit watchdog group that monitors radiological safety around Seabrook Station, has submitted a formal public comment urging the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to reject a proposed rule that would eliminate the agency's longstanding “As Low As Reasonably Achievable” (ALARA) radiation protection standard.
The comment, filed on Monday with the Federal Register, is in response to the NRC's proposed rule “Reforming and Modernizing the NRC's Radiation Protection Framework” (Docket NRC-2025-1140). C-10 argues that the proposal to replace ALARA is a move away from an affirmative, continuous obligation to minimize radiation dose towards a weaker, threshold-triggered system — and that the shift is being driven by cost savings to industry rather than public health evidence.
“The NRC's own preamble admits the underlying science hasn't changed since the agency rejected this same argument in 2021,” said Sarah Abramson, Executive Director of C-10. “If the science hasn't moved, then this isn't a technical update — it's a policy rollback dressed up as a clarification, and it would leave the nearly 180,000 people who live within ten miles of Seabrook Station less protected, not more.”
Key concerns raised in C-10's comment
- A reversal without new evidence. In 2021, the NRC denied a petition to weaken radiation limits, finding no compelling evidence to support relaxing them. The new proposal does not cite new science to justify reversing that finding.
- Oversight moved out of public view. The rule would shift responsibility for setting dose thresholds from codified regulation to NRC guidance documents, which can be changed with far less public notice or comment.
- Cost savings, not safety, driving the change. The NRC's own regulatory analysis projects roughly $9.53 million in annual savings to industry, with no quantified public health benefit.
- No accounting for cumulative exposure. The rule does not address cumulative radiation dose to communities near multiple nuclear sources — a particular concern for Seacoast New Hampshire, situated near both Seabrook Station and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
- Vulnerable populations overlooked. The proposal does not explain how new dose thresholds would account for the most radiosensitive populations, including developing fetuses and children, rather than relying on adult-male reference data.
C-10 notes the stakes are heightened locally: Seabrook Station is currently licensed to operate until 2050 and its concrete structures are significantly weakened by a phenomenon called alkali-silica reaction (ASR) wherein some of the materials inside the plant’s concrete mix are reacting with moisture. The degradation, characterized by severe cracking and spalling, is widespread throughout the plant including its reactor containment enclosure building which protects the public from harmful radiation. The damage is severe enough that there are special license conditions and monitors in place to track this irreversible “concrete cancer” as it continues to get worse.
C-10's comment calls on the NRC to retain ALARA as a codified, legally binding requirement; to keep any dose thresholds subject to public notice-and-comment rulemaking rather than guidance; to preserve current monitoring and reporting frequency; and to launch a companion process addressing cumulative community-level radiation dose.
About C-10 Research & Education Foundation
C-10 is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) public advocacy organization serving communities within the 10-mile emergency planning zone of Seabrook Station in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The organization operates three core programs: real-time radiological air monitoring under contract with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health; public outreach and education on radiological emergency preparedness; and research and advocacy on public health outcomes related to the Seabrook nuclear plant. Learn more at
www.c-10.org.
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Click to read C-10's Formal Public Comment responding to the
NRC's proposed changes to radiation protection rules
[RELEASE]: Seabrook Watchdog Group Urges NRC to Reject Rule Rolling Back Radiation Safety Standards
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Sarah Abramson, Executive Director
C-10 Research & Education Foundation
Office: 978-465-6646 | Mobile: 603-793-0600
sarah@c-10.org | c-10.org
Seabrook Watchdog Group Urges NRC to Reject Rule Rolling Back Radiation Safety Standards
C-10 warns proposed elimination of “ALARA” protections would weaken oversight at Seabrook Station and other U.S. reactors
NEWBURYPORT, Mass. — September 2, 2026 — The C-10 Research & Education Foundation, the nonprofit watchdog group that monitors radiological safety around Seabrook Station, has submitted a formal public comment urging the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to reject a proposed rule that would eliminate the agency's longstanding “As Low As Reasonably Achievable” (ALARA) radiation protection standard.
The comment, filed on Monday with the Federal Register, is in response to the NRC's proposed rule “Reforming and Modernizing the NRC's Radiation Protection Framework” (Docket NRC-2025-1140). C-10 argues that the proposal to replace ALARA is a move away from an affirmative, continuous obligation to minimize radiation dose towards a weaker, threshold-triggered system — and that the shift is being driven by cost savings to industry rather than public health evidence.
“The NRC's own preamble admits the underlying science hasn't changed since the agency rejected this same argument in 2021,” said Sarah Abramson, Executive Director of C-10. “If the science hasn't moved, then this isn't a technical update — it's a policy rollback dressed up as a clarification, and it would leave the nearly 180,000 people who live within ten miles of Seabrook Station less protected, not more.”
Key concerns raised in C-10's comment
C-10 notes the stakes are heightened locally: Seabrook Station is currently licensed to operate until 2050 and its concrete structures are significantly weakened by a phenomenon called alkali-silica reaction (ASR) wherein some of the materials inside the plant’s concrete mix are reacting with moisture. The degradation, characterized by severe cracking and spalling, is widespread throughout the plant including its reactor containment enclosure building which protects the public from harmful radiation. The damage is severe enough that there are special license conditions and monitors in place to track this irreversible “concrete cancer” as it continues to get worse.
C-10's comment calls on the NRC to retain ALARA as a codified, legally binding requirement; to keep any dose thresholds subject to public notice-and-comment rulemaking rather than guidance; to preserve current monitoring and reporting frequency; and to launch a companion process addressing cumulative community-level radiation dose.
About C-10 Research & Education Foundation
C-10 is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) public advocacy organization serving communities within the 10-mile emergency planning zone of Seabrook Station in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The organization operates three core programs: real-time radiological air monitoring under contract with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health; public outreach and education on radiological emergency preparedness; and research and advocacy on public health outcomes related to the Seabrook nuclear plant. Learn more at www.c-10.org.
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