Alternative Biomedical Programs to Meet Expanded AEC Responsibilities

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largely independent of the technological process under consideration. .\.* i The kinds of information required t o assess bio logic d cost are to identify the>princip&. agents causing damage; t o characterize the origin, release and dispersal of these agents; and cIC) t o evaluate the short and'long term biomedical and 4 *.- - -environmental e f f e c t s of these agents. These kinds of information on radiation and radioactivity have been Still the'icformation is less than adequate t o nlcet all aspects of current decision making mi3 planning of nuclezr opcrations. iielatively little of this information is available for other sources prospective major sources of power will require atleast as great, md likely considerably larger, expenditures'of research effort developed on a broad and balanced scde over a quarter of a century. - . . of+enerGy. It is quite obvious that development of a compara3lc A t the present tine it i s our conviction that'zvaTlable data substmtially favors nuclear over fossil fuel generation from the biomedical and environnental points of vi-ew with radiation, current estimates of biological costs for fossil fuel use are unrealistically low and will inevitably.rise sharply as w e identify more of the ecological and nutwenic consequences .associated with pollutants released by these fuels. aascd on o m experience. Our recomendation, then, i s neither to ignore the problems,of poilutants frm non-nucleer methods of energy Froduction, nor, on . fractjon of our nation's scientific ampower -would be required. * the other hand to now t hastily a large-scale effort on their To do the latter, an enterprise several times

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1. FUTURISTIC - More than a doubling of DE44 funding would be required t o develop information on non-nuclear pollutants from energy production comparable to that ach3eved.for nuclear operations, and this could not be accomplished i n less than a decade. substantial reallocation of national resources (both men and dollars) and would impact (significantly) pn other national needs. Lack of existing facilities would 1imit.eifi.cient use of a major early extraining programs t o provide the specialized manpower need i n future years would be required. understanding of the biological processes and mechanisms means that an early crash effort'might result i n serious mi'sallocations of For these reasons we do not believe this to be a realistic alternative which could be addressed at this time for inclusion i n a FY-74 budget; accordingly, it is not discussed further in this document. This would require a Large initial investment i n capital equipment and in Furthermore; the. current lack of basic. :. 2. REALISTIC Because the evaluation of biological effects entails facilities, experience md scientific expertise which axe substantia1,ly independent of the specific technology under consideration, the Dl3M i s uniquely equipped to initiate promptly a broad and eggressive program t o provide the additional information required t o assess biomedical information required for the establishment .and implementation of national energy policy. ' .- biomedical costs'of energy production using ongoing programs as a f Such a program could develop into the major source of t h e Operating costs i n FY 1974 for such a program would be approximately . $30.5 million; costs i n f'uture years are presented along with those for other alternatives i n Table I. These projections and those..for the Intermediate program redress the initial imbalance arTsi-gi'from limited facilities to undertake large scale animal experiments. plan for implementation of this program i s presented i n Appendix A. 3. ??TERMEDIATE - An alternative program of research focused on develop- . i n g information on the dominating biomedical costs (late effects such as carcinogenesis, l i f e shortening, mutagenesis, etc.) of major etc.) from current major sources of power ( f o s s i l fueled steam generating stations and internal combustion engines) can be undertaken at, a lower level pf effort. the full potential of talents, expertise and facilities now existing at major AEC laboratories, but would substantially enhance our ability to develop more quantitative assessments of the biomedical costs of alternative energy sources. . This program would not utilize

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Initial FY 1974 operating costs would be approximately $21.5 million; costs for this program i n future years are presented i n Table I and plans for implementation discussed i n Appendix B. - -4. MDU3RJM - This program i s the minimal program w e consider necessary t o permit AEC t o be responsive t o recent court decisions requiring us t o consider environmental factors beyond the traditional scope of AEC’s health and safety responsibilities. costs for t h i s program would be about $12.0 million. future years are presented i n Table I and implementation discussed In the time available to us we have concentrated our efforts on evaluating and planning alternatives 2. and 4. contacted and t h e i r responses have assured us that.our analysis, implementation plans and recommendations are well founded. laboratory responses were prepared i n haste and axe not fully considered, 2., 3. and 4. can be mobilized. ’ All of our laboratories have been While many of the it i s very apparent that the capability and manpower for alternatives -- We axe, of course, prepared t o further develop and document any of the