Minutes of 105TH Meeting Advisory Committee for Biology and Medicine U.s. Atomic Energy Commission

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OFFICIAL USE ONLY ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE September 24, 1964 - AEC HQ, Germantown, Maryland OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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OFFICIAL USE ONLY Minutes, 105th Meeting, Advisory Committee for Biology & Medicine, Page 2 , last paragraph, add the following sentence: "Subsequent information indicates that the diagnosis of carcinoma may have been incorrect i n each instance." OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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OFFICIAL USE ONLY The 105th meeting of the Advisory Committee for Biology and Medicine t o the Atomic Energy Commission was called to order in Room E-401, AEC Headquarters, Germantown, Maryland, a t 9:00 A.M., September 24, 1964. Committee members Bale, Cohen, Green, Hodges, Russell and Sterner were in attendance ; Dr. Moore participated in the meeting on September 25; Dr. Loeb, member, and Dr.Patty Scientific Secretary, were unable t o and Medicine, and various members of the DBM and representatives of other AEC Divisions, Dr. Paul Tompkins and Mr. Claire Palmiter, of the Federal Radiation Council, also attended. Dr. Dunham's presentation of general interest items noted several changes i n the composition of the staff of the Division of Biology and Medicine, notably the impending departure of James Liverman, who has been appointed Associate Director of the Biology Division a t Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the appointment of Dr. John Kirby-Smith to replace Dr. Liverman inthe Biology Branch; the acquisition of Dr. Martin Minthorn from the University of Tennessee as biochemist t o the DBM staff, and the temporary detachment of Dr.William Burr for four months' internship at the Washington Hospital Center. Dr. Dunham also announced the resignation of General A. R . Luedecke as General Manager of AEC and t h e appointment of Dr. Anton Lang, plant physiologist, from California Institute of Technology, has been made director of the Michigan State University Pian t The Committee was briefed concerning the present situation and activities of the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission i n Japan, recently visited by Dr. Dunham. The revised amortization agreement between the Division and Michigan - - State University was outlined for the committee, and the initial meeting of the National Research Council Radiation Effects Committee advisory t o the Federal Radiation Council, was described by Dr. Dunham. It was reported that among those who were on the Island of Rongelap March 1, 1954 and exposed t o approximately 175r of external radiation over a period of forty - eight hours and t o approximately 150r additional radiation t o the thyroid gland from ingested radioactive iodine, two children have been found t o have papillary carcinoma of the thyroid. Thyroidectomies have been performed on both children. OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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OFFICIAL USE ONLY We were told that by Congressional Act the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements has been chartered and has been reorganized witha $50,000.00 budget, hopefully t o be derived from various interested organizations,including AEC and the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, among others. It was reported that the General Electric Company is withdrawing from its managerial position at Hanford and that Batelle Memorial Institute has been asked t o take over operation of the laboratories.Policies and practices related to the provision of medical care for workers and their families must be r e - evaluated in the light of legal restrictions regarding the corporate practice of medicine which did not apply s o long as the The Committee was briefed on the recent radiation accident in Rhode Island where a small, privately owned non-#EC plant was engaged inthe recovery of fission able material from fuel element manufacture. This was -not processing of spent fuel elements. aiie death occurred 49 hours after high exposure. Although no serious spillage or surface contamination had occurred, hospital personnel and others shunned the patient. was a licensed one and the question of possible AEC legal responsibility The Committee was informed that in keeping with its recommendation Dr. Gertrude Cox has been invited to become a member of ACBM. Dr.William Pollard ' s medical program a t Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies has been reviewed by a committee of which Dr. Henry Kaplan was chairman. This is a $1.3 million project,Dr, Dunham described the committee's report and offered his own comments. Salary schedules inall government activities, newly revised, were presented and described by Mr, Stanwood and the status of the budget for DBM for FY 64 and 65 was described and discussed by Mr. Whitnah. The 71million budget for FY 64 was increased to 78 million for FY 65, 2million less than the amount requested by AEC. The comments of the procedure were again reported to us. construction projects have been approved. AEC-NIH Cancer Project at Oak Ridge, and the building at Livermore. various AEC agencies under DBM have requested $93,000,000 f o r FY 6 6 . Co mission approved a DBM request of 89.5 million and the Bureau of the Budget has submitted reduced target figures for consideration. There seems t o be reason to believe that ceilings are insight for federal research .' Joint Committee on Atomic Energy concerning offsite project approval In addition to qe rating funds three One a t Hanford, one for the Joint OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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OFFICIAL USE ONLY Mr. L. J. Deal reported interesting information concerning the BREN 2 project (re-named HENRE - High Energy Reactor Experiment) involving the production of a 14 MEV neutron beam by means of a newly designed accelerator t o be mounted on the original BREN tower. neutron flux of 5x1013. This instrument will have a Dr. Liverman reported on the survey of Iceland as an interesting and valuable site for a cooperative human genetics program. has much t o recommend i t and cooperation of the Icelandic government appears t o be assured. limited basis at the outset. It i s planned that DBM will enter the study on a The Committee he-ard from Dr. Edington a most interesting discussion on genetics research in which he argued for utilization of some of the basic techniques from drosophila genetics in genetic research in order to obtain faster and more accurate results. The entire Livermore project was outlined and described by Dr. Loug!i. In general, the review committee was favorably impressed with the project. The California Institute of Technology-and the University of California plan to utilize new knowledge developed a t Livermore for teaching by means of " telet ec " transmissions of lectures and discussions. One member of the visiting team prepared a minority report concerning undesirable depth of effort and needless diffusion in his estimation.Mr.Jared Davis reported on the DBM studies in Alaska and Mr. Arnold Joseph did the same fora resurvey of Bikini and Eniwetok Atolls. AEC research support were once again reviewed by Dr. Walter Claus. goals of DBM were again enumerated. the most desirable aims for future activities. The long range plans of Committee members were asked regarding The meeting on Friday, September 25, was held in Room 1167, of the DBM i s involved. Robert Lowenstein and his associates presented . - .the. present status of regulations regarding licensing of physicians who employ radio nuclides.Dr.Barr reported on research activities in radioI n the executive session,Dr.Totter, who had been requested t o do soby ' the Committee, presented in detail the procedures utilized by DBM i n reviewing requests for offsite research support. thoroughgoing review by DBM of these procedures preparatory to the Committee's forthcoming report to Chairman Seaborg. Drs.Totter and Dunham offered unlimited assistance by DBM staff members t o the Committee inits Plans were laid - for OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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OFFICIAL USE ONLY review and report. t o each member i n the very near future. Material requested by the Committee isto be forwarded The Minutes of the 104th meeting were read and approved. The next meeting isto be held at Chalk River, Ontario (Atomic Energy of Canada, Ltd.) Friday and Saturday, November 13-14, 1964. OFFICIAL USE ONLY