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Merger of BNFL, UKAEA and AWE Worker Epidemiology Studies into NRRW

UKHSA has published guidance on the planned merger of three separate nuclear-sector epidemiological cohorts — BNFL (approximately 42,000 radiation workers), UKAEA (approximately 75,000 radiation workers), and AWE (approximately 9,000 radiation workers) — into the National Registry for Radiation Workers (NRRW). The NRRW, established in 1975, is a national health surveillance registry for UK radiation workers. The merger aims to increase statistical power for radiation-risk research, enable internal-dose calculations for approximately 30,000 workers with bioassay data, and create a non-radiation worker comparison group to control for the healthy worker effect. Administrative efficiencies include reduced data-entry duplication, streamlined information governance, and improved data security through a single database. An NHS research ethics committee issued a favourable opinion in May 2021 (REC reference 21/SC/0063).