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Declassified record · U.S. Department of Energy

Specific Direction for Locating Records of DOD Human Radiation Experiments

Dated
May 25, 1994
Document type
Report
Length
8 pages
Open the original scanArchive record OSTI ID 16005139 · public domain

Document text

Machine-read from the scan, so expect some errors. Lines that couldn’t be read are left out.

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SPECIFICDIRECIION FOR LOCAlTNG RECORDS OF DOD HUMAN RADlAnON EXPERIMENTS Tbc Interagency Working Group 6as adoped the following debition of "human ndiation (1) Experimmu on individuals involving intentional exposure to ionidng radiarion This caregory does not indude common and routine dinid practices, such as established diagnosis md treatmmt methods, involhg incidental arpoaues to Experiments involving intentional & m d rel- of radiation thu (A) were designed to test human health &e% of ionizing radiatio~or (B) were designed to ten the d e n t ofhuman arposure to ionizing radiation The Interagency Working Group has also idcnti6ed several s p d c expcrimeuts for The clrperiment into the atmospheric d&sion of radio.cdve gws and test of det dili ty, commonly rdd to as "the&em Run test," by the former Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the Air Force in DeKmba 1949 in Word Two radistion warfive field cxpcrimcnts conducted at the AECs Oak Ridge 05ce m 1948 involving gamma radiation r d d 6um non-bomb point sources at or near ground level; S i tests conduaed during 1949-1952 of ndiation WrrEarr ballistic dkpd devices contaiaiag ndioadvc aggmu rt the US.Army's Dugway, Utah site; Four ltmospbmc ndiation mcking tests in 1950 at Lcr AJamos New Mmco; Aoy othmsimilarhuman radiation npaimcntsthat may lata be identified by the Imeragency working Group. For purposes of the identification process, the scope of the search includes all human

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ndiation Orprimems conducted 5om 1944 to present. Howmr, expabents conduaed &a M a y 20,1974 (the date of inarrncC of the Department of Health, Edudon and Welfarr Regulptions for the Protection 0fHuman Subjects, 45 CFR Part 46), must be clearty idaxrified B apaimmts conducted after M a y 20,1974,will probably be diffprm than quknmts w = d u wbm guidulcc onrrcordrntrid proceaurairpaovided expakaa h u 15W until May20,1974. The diffpmcer in mpkanents will be arpkinea Forma military personnel expored to ionizing &on iddent to the atmospheric nuclear test program d o r the occupation ofHiroshima and NagrtaLi are covcred by the existing Nuclear Test Personnel Review WR) program and by erdrting corn pad on rntchawms' . They are not included in the scope of this records identification process. Each DoD component requestedto submit a reponmusl identify an individualin the component a the component's coodimtor for the &on to iocatt records of Inman radiation arpaimarts. This individd will be responsiilefor the matracy and completeness of the required repons, and will r a v e as the contsct person for the Commaad Cmtcr. Each rcpon must identify the name, title, Iddress, telephone number, and teIeQr number ofthe repohg organidon's Part I ofthe requested repon r q k the identidcation ofDoD orpnidona that migtu hvt conducted or sponsored by comacl or p n i human &on Orperiments. Guidelinenfor this task indude the followiag. conducted or sponsored humrn radiation experiments must Conrider, if the organinrion k new. .rince 1944,tb rc rivi tito of my pra I ~ 0 ~ 2.Idm&dlm . Each organhtion identified as one that might have conducted or sponsored human dati on experiments must identify ddws or records centers where records ofsuch arpaimcnts, if'conducted, might be located. This must include my archives where such mods of any predecessor orgmhions might be i d .

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Also under Put I of the rcqutsted report, each organidon i d d e d as one tht might h e conducted or rponsorsdhuman ndirtion expaimmtr must, for itsdfrnd for any predecessor organization, document that it ananptsd to d e t d e whether it has conduacd or rponsorrd any such crrpaimans. S W c methods for searching may vary based on orguidon reports of rrsearch findinsr; review of the organidon's c o n m c ~ ~d o r grants rocordr, queries to ament or former employees with knowledge ofhiEtoljcal -es. Eacb step ofthe process should k doarmcnted md d e s a i io Put I of the orgaaization'sreport. In addition. tach #on must mahain a complete Be ofrll devant m a n o r m 4 m&ring notes, d&c md messages, nota of tdcphone wnvcm&ns d J1 othm matakls that doarment the rearch Utivities oftbe Organ id OIL Aa dmi further below, Put II of the rrquestod report id de srp a if ic Ctpaimcnts possiily within the rcope of the search and be& the reponing of key facu regarding the aCpaimmts. Guidelines regarding this put of the procar follow. For purposes ofthis initial identification of- arpaimmy orgdztions subreports should en on the side of inclusion Reported actkitis that an &de the scope of the records search can then be cxdoded prior to drecords retrieval. (?bowledge of dated rctiVities, dthougb outride the ccope, will bdp the Command Cmter deal with inquiriesotpened 60m the public through the Energy Deparrmmt hotliru.) or pid on, or predecessor organintio& or cponrwcd in &le or in pm by aDoD organizdon or prcdecasor orpniz#iontlmugb a ccmhau or grim For this purpooe.r and mother patty wdga bumrn didon npaimem. In cases in which more than one DoD organization was involved, or an agency outside

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DoD w involved, it k important to identify which agmcy should k wasidend the l a d agency. "hhwill help avoid dupliution of cffort in ramds rQienl rcrivitia. Ifit k not dear which orgaointonwruthe lead rgw,rrspectivc dvitiuoftbeinvolvcd ageada lhouldbc descnbcd EO that an appropriate assignmad of lead rrsponnbilityfor records r e b i d lcrivities Part I].of the nqucsted report rlso identifier existingrecords pmainiag to the possible human radiation arperiments &a! have bcen identified. Guideliner regarding this part of the 'Records" indudu a wide range of matcrialq including reports, letters, memoranda, notes, drsRr.logs, handwritten notes, written p d u r e s , medical records, and my other writings and documat.%OS well as photographr. chanr, dmwhp, machine readable matuiak video tape, audio tape, computaited info don, and my other ~llllteof physically retrievable information. The effort to losate rccofds ic rrstriaed to records that ammtly arist. In the e v a t of an cxperiment for which some or all rccords that may have at one time existed cnnnoi now k found, tbc task of locating records does not require M effort to fe~tatcrecords rrgsrding individual atpaimmt~.Ifthen ia a need to recolutruct additional i af odon rrgrrdingparticular apaimmts, that will be undertaken Kpmuly, purruaat to 'tnhctions govaning such a task. Pending further guideace on records r e b i d procedures, DoD organidons sbould &e iaitial pqmtions for submitdon of documentsto a ccmnlnpodtny. These kitidpreparations include identifiation of my classEdon 'hues that need to k conddcred, dctaminrtions Rcofds and steps to 0S.wm the UfeLeePingoftheh.It is rntidpstea that WhmreEOrdr mcords, one for mbmissioamd DOC for ratationby the organidon far purpola ofmy records repository. Howc~a,pmding instructions on recorda dd proccdureS records arc not to be forwarded to the Commsnd M e ? or other rep~Jitory.Ratha,the records amsf be maintained by the organization in the original records scrim in amdance with the organization's

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The Intntcragency Working &up bas established the policy that agencies should, upon locazing TccDTd( ofh mdiasion rxpcrimmts within the scope ofthis mrds scad, review the fecords for national sccuity chification and should declrssify such recordsIU coon as pnctiublc and to the maximwl adall pouiile. Ciarsi6ed info don must be reviewed by the lppropliate clsndfcation authorities before it caa be dec l ded. Consult DoD Dinaiw 5200.1-I4Chapter III, for guidance on dc&ssi6ca.tion procedures., Ifthere rue documents within DoD's possession for which another agency b the original cladication authority, that agency must make the detamktion to decLsrify the infomution. Evay effort sbould be mrde to expedite this dedarsificationprocess. When an organization determiner that rrcordsofrhumanmdiationapuimatmay bein the pouesSiw of I contmctor or grantee of the or p nid on, the organizdon must d0CUmCm the nature of those records and mnkc plans to pursue retrinnl. The organidon should loempt to h d the gwcmiag contnd or grant doaunmta pertainisgtotheresarchproject or program should proceed on an upedited buir. Bexuse there m y be personal privrCy. rearrity d & d o q or other restrictionson the release of records ofhuman radiation experiments, k b wuntial that DoD organkitions not

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rderrc records to thepubli~ualesstbe n l ~ harb cc nap pro vai b ythe Cormmud Center. Guih wJ1be provided in the vay near future throughF dom of IdormationAa (FOLA) ofice channek regding the handhag ofFOM rcqucsts patakingto human W o n The fonowiag format will ruia in the compilation oftbe information nquened. In any case in wbich the reporting organiZaton har no informationto report, a 1. Iden@ each orgsnization that, b e d on mission or Icrivitits,might have conducted or rponsod human ndiation upaimrat$. Give m e md location(s) of the orgrnintiond name(s) and I&OXI(S) of my predeceuor orpiations that might have conducted or rpontored 2. For each organizationidentified in item 1, identify the l d o n ( s ) ofrecords ofthe organization where records of human radiation experiments, ifconducted or sponsored, might be located (or have becn located). 3. For each organidon idcnti6ed in item 1 l a d cach records repository i d d e d in item 2, dcscrii in daail the efforts undenakcn to determine ifmrds adn of humaa ndistion expaimmtp. List all files and file systans searched and rd individuals consulted. 4. B a d ontbe results oftbe sarcb dcsaibed in itan 3, m e whether any records of posuile humaa radiation ocpaimmts wax found, ifso. id- the . - I mucb of the following information as is prcsady possiiblc. sm cach scpepante a p a b a r t 011 a For ea& possible human radiation experiment i d d e d in item 4 ofput I, +e as 1. Id- the possiile humm rrdirtion apu kut. 2. State where and when it took place.

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orpizatioly my 0th- fedad agency involved in wndueting or rponroring the proj- and my contractors, ~ ~ t e e s .or other @a. Identify the DoD organirationd o r the otha rgmcy tht was the lead agency. 5. Indicate the mrmba of humaD subjects ofthe experimmt. Jodicate any nnikblc information on known chactcristics ofthe 3au ofrubjcar. such as: &e duty memben, rueanhaqa ndat or ethnic group, prisonaa, ktkutionalized p n s . &cat pstieu, idmtifying information concuning the arbjccfs. 6. Summarize the arperimcnt, including m identification of the purpose of the expaimart and the nature of the use of ionidng ndiation. Ilr examph of the typtr of infomation that would be helpful ifavailable info don pcmits, pnliminarityJasdfy the possiile hum for the purpose of obtaining prrliminuy information &ut the crrperimmt that may fhditate organiLation of the records retried proceu. These M not o&id clatsificatioas for my records Klvch activity, but might be involved in the initirl idemificatioa because of the g u i h to err on the side of inclusion ofd gwikk human radiation orpaimmtr.) ndiarion ccpaimcnt into one of the following categories. mote that theK Colegories arc solely purpose. In dditio4 not all of tbese cafcgon'es are WithiD the schlal rcopc of the . .(a)--the purpose ofthe cxpaimmtwas to test the human h d t h cffectt of ionizing ndiuion h p l e : subjects exposed to mdiarioo for the purpose of measuring rdvape ractioas. . .(b)-- the purpose of the expaimrnt was to test the safety md cf6cacy of using ioniring radiation to diagnose or treat a disease or medical condirioa Example: clinical reJurth on bone m o w banspWon. (c) - tbe experiment was for motha purpose fie., o b than utcgoria (a) or (b)), but in the u1~113eof the mearehproject, ionizing d a t i o n wu din accordance with a roulioc, diagnostic prooedun. Jhmple: reKarch of effects of d d Carting to prevent cavities, monitored through paiodic d d X-rays. (a)-' - thew ofndiation was for a medial matmeat prrrpote, not a rrstarchpurpore,buI datawen mbtakd on resub or side effear. -le: (e)-- available info don does not indiute chsi6cation records an in the p o d o n of a w m o r or Wte an4 if so, wha! action will be initialed to 7. Idcntify the l~wion(s)of records regarding this apCrimcnt. Indicate whether my

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repim them Indicate the name of the individual rrsponnble for the maintauace of the records. 9. Indicate whaber the records an ckuified, ad,ifso, wha d o n has been or will be initiated to consider the clrudfiatiop n e initihl report on locating records of human radiation cxpai~~mtsis due Febntsry 14. It is anticipated tha! the identification of OrgaaLations that might have conducted or sponsored human Rdiation expehmtp (Put I of the report) will be complete or nrbnantially complete by that date. It is also wed that the identification of 9 spcci6c experiments possiibly within the scope of the search will not be complete, but that Put II ofthe February 14 report will be an interim report. A complete repon, condsting of both Pam, is due February 28. Any reporting organization that is unable to give a complete report by February 28 rrmn nonethelessreport by tha date and provide the nccessBIy supplemmu soon thereafter as porsiilc. E m d e r an organization provides its complete report, if my new information is divavtred repding the matters covered in the repom submitted,the organhion bas Iduty to supplema its reports to Every effort should be made to avoid the need to repest my of the steps iwoW in the records location task ll-Iadorc, organizations should be encouraged to resolve my questions or ~Ccrtaintiesat the earliest possible time. This should be done through the organizlltion's chain of .uthoriry and up to the commaad Center. feporrs arc to be sent md to whichinquiries maybe M de, UT: The address and telephonermmba ofthe Command Center,to which the requmed