Minutes of the 33RD Meeting of the Advisory Committee for Biology and Medicine Held at the AEC in Washington, D.C.

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The thirty-third meeting of the Advisory Committee for Biology and Medicine was held a t the Atomic Energy Commission i n Washington, D. C. on Friday and Saturday, September 1 2 and 13, 1952. ATTZNDANCZ Committee Nembers: Dr. Gioacchino Fail la Dr. John Ce Eugher Pir. Robert L. Corsbie Fir.' Robert Le Butenhoff Dr; Iiwl NO Wilbur pa. Duncan Clark tire Benjamin kj. Richardson Mre Philip J. Picario Mre Charles W. Imler Hiss Eliaabeth Hower

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LeFevre, new members of the Division's scientific staff. Dr. M. Edward Tolbert who resigned i n September, from the University of Southern California, and formerly held the dual appointment of professor of Biochemistry at Oregon State College and head of the He received his ?hoD. degree Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Division of Biology and Kedicine from the College of IbIedicine of t h e University of Vermont where he was associate professor of Physiology and Biophysics. He received his P b D . degree i n 194s in General Physiology under the direction of The Chairman convened the meeting on Friday a t 9030 P.M. The first order of busfness presented t o the Cormnittee was the d r a f t minutes of the meeting held i n St. Louis on June 7, 8, and 9, 1952. The minutes were approved unvlimously upon a motion by a..Wearn and RESEi.RCII COhTMCTS I n advance ofthe review and discussion on the resoarch projects, Dr. Bugher adh sed the Committee that there is being installed in the Division IEN equipment f o r the purpose of maintaining adequate records that will readily reflect information znd pmtinent statistics concerning the research program. He pointed out tkt this information will be invaluable for retaining permanent records and will include salaries of contract employees,

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academic and non-academic, consumable supplies, instruments, buildings or reconstruction of buildings such as a i r conditioning, travel, publications, fees of patients, overhead, and evaluation of scientific accomplishments. Committee was greatly enthused, and many favorable commcnts wcre expressed on learning of the instal h tion of tis equipment. manhours will be saved by the use of this cqulpmcnt when the Division i s called upon t o compile material for the Commission, Congressional reports, budget It was es tim tcd that mny renewsd, and declined by the iiesearch Com-itteo of tho Division &ring June, July, and August w e r e reviewed. Discussions lare opened by Dr. Pemson, D r . .i ..., Dunham, md Dr, Clzus. I n reviewing the biology projects, Dr. Stakman stressed t h s importance o f continuing and strengthening the work on insecticidos and I n conncction with t h e studics on phosphato, it was brought out that great savings are being made i n the use of fertilizer in the United States ! which is primarily due t o t h e research now being conducted by the AEC and i n conjunction with the UrLted Status Department of Agriculture on the tfImprovement of Soil Xmagement and Crop Production Through Investigations with IsotopedJ. A 'broad discussion ensued on the renewal of the contract for the Slonn Iiettering Institute entitled "aiological Effect of Radiation and Related So-chcmicd. Physical Studies". The Cornittee suggested thata progress report should be submitted to them for review based on that pat of

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ths vork actxally sugported by AEC funds rather t h m one that includss a U activities in certain ,areas rogmdless of the source of sumort. q res scd commendation or' the work performed under this poj ect ; nevertheless it was poposed that the investigator, Dr. C. P. Rhoads, be asked t o supply a new ;xldget statement at the l e v e l of support granted t o the project, or $2~0,000,instead of th one su'maittod previously at the mount requested, or $3u,119. The new budget statement will then reflect how the adjustments are t o be made, Upon receipt of this information the hrdget of this project will be reviewed a t a later meeting. The Committee was of the opinion t h a t they might bo of assistance tothe Division i n tb review of research projects if, in the 4 discussion of the project, the sponsoring staff m e m b e r would speak rzthsr candidly as t o the extent of his enthusiasm for the initial support of the project - or its renewal. This would be particularly true in the case of projects where doubt had bean resolved in favqr of su port,or where support was 'mine recoinmendud for reasons somewhat apart from a personzl es kim te of . It, was further suggested that it would be useful t o the Committee if on the list of projects the name of the staff member who last visited the institution could be added as well as the name of the staff member who is responsible for the project. DZVELO?I~Ui2I"S INDr. Dunham reviewed ths Comittoefs action taken a t the June mooting whcsein the Coximittee endorsed the item i n the lxdget of t k ' Division of Research for the ddvelopnent of methods for

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procecsing cesium which promised t o be an cxtrernely useful isotope f o r therapy. & full discussion ensued on t h e problm. The following motion was m-de by Dr. Stahan, seconded by Dr. T$xirn, and approved unzaimously by the Committees ''In view of thc considerable economy and effectivencss that may be expected from using cesium, were iterate our opinion thzt it would be of great advantage t o the general servicc of the Corinnission, t o Piedicirp and Biology, t o provide for and actively to prosecute those studies". Health and Biology Division of the Atomic mergy Project entitled 1fA Formulation of the Injury, Life Span, Dose Wlations f o r Radiations - (1)Application t o report6 that had becn prepaed under his direction i n tho i OF EXPOSURE TO the ?iouse, and (2) Application tothe Guinea pig, Rat and Dogn, The Committee reviewed t h e existing AMI policy with respect t o permissible levels of exposuro for various types of activities -- continual,. occasional, and extraordinary. tbmougllly deliberated =and it was the sense of tho Committee that the'pormissiblo exposure togmm radiztion for tcst Site pereonngl should be 3.9r without The problem was regard t o thr? rate of accumulation, provided this e qo sure represonts th total integrated dose over a pcriod of 13 consecutive weeks.. It was brought out that this permissible exposurc is i n accord with the authorization for test personnel as outlincd i n the following letter from Dr. Shields Warren, former Diroctor of the Division of Biology a d Picdicine, t o Nre GXTOU Tyler, I$anagcr of the

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Office, dated October 11, 199, herein made a p a t of these Tyler, 3ianc7.ger9 SFOO October 11, 1951 FROPi: Shields Warren, LD., Director, Division of In a letter dated September 28, Dr. Thomas L. Shfpman was notified infonodlly of the policy agreed upon within the Dlivision of Biology andliodicine as t o pernissible levels of radiation exposure for This Division authorizes a pcrmissibls exposure of 3 . 9 of gama radiction for Buster-Jangle test personnel, without regard tothe rate at which the dose i s accumulated, providing this exposure represents t h e total integrated gamma dose over any period of 13 consecutive we em ch includes tha test period, Specifically, this pcd ssi ble dose of 3.91- is not an extra alloiment for period. Should you consider it desirable t o s c t up somewhat more conservative Icvels for adririnistrative purposes, that is of course your prerogative. > Authorityto grant pemdssion for deliberate over-eqosure is deemed to reside i n the hands of the Test Director. t o seek thc zdvice of the senior rcprssentative available from the Division of Biology and Nedicine, Cut ha does not need 38N concurrence t o grant authorization for over-exposures, On the other hand, this Division does not look lightly upon radiation kxcesses. only true m rgen cie s should be granted special privileges, and no upper limit for permissible dose can logically be sot for ;I true cmurgcncy. ought not t o deputize project leaders with authority t o exceed the level of 3.9, although he might deputize one o r two competent individuals on his staff t o mako decisions for l?h, Each authorization should be bnscd upon complete documentation as to need for excocding 3.9,full explanation as towhy the He may wish The Test Director

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jQb camot 'be psrformd i n another mmner, how mcvy people are t o Le over-ex,?osed, how much over-eqosure, and f o r the racord history of the individuals a d what is planed to enable than t o pay off the over-exposure. copy of sach such documentation f o r reviewa Ril it aq j rcquests for blanket perrd.ssible exposures greater t i a i 3.9r per quarter will not bo granted by this Division, ' Xilitary personnel cannot be prevented froin ilidcing t h e i r own decisions, but i n so far as they act as an integral p?xt of this test organization, they are rsqucsted to fulfill the a'sovc rcquirement s for documcntation on over-exposures Monitors should not bear t h e responsibility of exercising police power over scientific groups i n a contanhated areao On the other hand, it would be a good policy t o expect such groups t o withdraw from the areas calculsted t o give overqo sure s until. a permit could be obtained from t& Test Director or from his deputy authorized t o allow overIexposureso It wadd seein that in most cases, a short wait, o r redeployment of forces, would encble the j o b t o be done within permissible levels o f exposure. I n other words, compliance with the pcmissible limit should become amak of distinction inthe gmcfse of ingenuity, rather than a concession t o be zvoided upon pretext. Indoctrination of this attitude early i n this series may save us much trouble, and 9ossibly radiation injuries, i n the severd series t o cone. In this connection, it was stated t h a t should the Test Director consider it desirable t o set up sanewhat more conservative levels for adrlunistrative purposes, pati cula rly during actual test periods, that of course would be The Coinnittee was very favor au y impressed with tb organization and scientific approach t o the problem of detecting, collecting, a d analyzing radioactive fallout from t e s t nucloxr detmations. It was apparent t o them that tremendous amounts

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of time and eff.xt are being put forth in this pragrai. The Cclnmittee considmod the program t o be indiqensable to the Cmidssim in fulfilling its health and safety responsibilities. Furtherinore, they were of t h opinim that the progr'un provides c wealth of fundamentd date on air mass movements -- infornation of inestinable value t o the U. S. Eeather Bureau and the Depwtment GG3KtEL STUDIES Dr. Claus reviewed the status of the Gabriel studies. After 8full discussion of the surveys that have been made previmsly, consideration was given t o t h s rccomiendation of the Ganeral JLdvisory Cmnittee - b a h t an attcrript be made t o set up another fXll-sccle survey. 0pini.m of tkie Cmmittee t h z t it wcjuld appear adviszble t o await results of future tests before atteinpting to engage a second graup t o make an independent study of the problem, particblarly in view of the difficulties encountered i n finding such a group. Dr. Bugher advised the Committee that the I3iomi~dical Test ?lanning and Screening Corranittee has held three mee-Lings, and t h a t he had oriented them concerning the general. problems of cmducting biomedical experinentd- profJmas a t bomb tests, particularly a t the Nevada Test Site. The Committee displayed unusual intwest i n a summruy presented by Dr. Plough concerning an important program for the biologicai tests that are being plamed. He stated th& such tests

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will give basic data 3n well Icn3wn genetic test objocts such as Tradescantia, Drosophila, molds, and Datura, md Terhaps mice, which can be extrapolzted t o spechens a t the weapons tests, use can be made of the detonation as a sauce of relatively pure neutron irradiation. The study af the irradizted material w i l l be carried on by university Dr. Plough further steted t i a t by prc)pur screening of the STRUCTURES TEST Kn. Corsbie gave ;u1 interesting roGort an the meetings of t h e Structures Test l?lanni% and Screening Committeeo He CObXITTEE likewise mt lined the Civil Defense Structures and AEC Shelter ,?rogram and t h e Civil Defense training and observer program. connection with the raport on Civil Defcnse, the Committee was @ at if id to learn that pr misi on had been mzde with the Depmtment of i gri cult um fm them t o take mer emergency feeding of the populace following m attack, and that an informal agreement had been m d e with the Gencrd. Services ;;dministration t o take ccre of tk?housing af medical supplies and instrunents across the nation. Thd status of dispersal of govcrrurrtnt a pnc ies from the Washingbn mea was prasented by Mr. 3ma.n (aff the rocord). Dr. Dunham reported on the recent progress repmt covering the ABCC. He reviewed the hfl ding program, tho medical progran, 2nd the present ad iii strat ive arrangments which have been placed i n aperation with the National ,rcadcmy of ScicncOs. The

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as Resiclent of the Acaderny, wmld be able t o visit the poj ect in J zp n .at an early date as it was his opinion t h a t it would help rei-tions between Japanese and American scientists if such a visit could be mader D r . Gregg further stated th?t unless the diplornztic problem nate r idly improved, the wisest general planning w~xiidbe t o continue t h e present operations as smoothly as possible and unU1 such t i m e as the iLEC mcy make a graceful withdrawd. The Committee displayed a great deal of interest in the graphs which hzd been carefully prepared by ISr. Stanwood and which depicted the status of the current budget for the fiscal. par 1953 covering the area fac il it ios and the Division of Biolow and !-lcdicine. D r . Bugher and Fs. Stanwood explained how the mmies allocated to the Division - ~2~,000,000- are t o be exponded, Nr. Firown outlined the tentative efforts D f the CoAdssion and the Bwokhzven National Labratory t o establish a long-range plan for the cmstruction of physical facilities, laboratory space, plan w ~ u l dprovide for ocon%3nricalgrowth and for the gradual replamnent of Thc Comdtteccs raaction was vctriod. The majar discussion centcred on whether n r not another sits loss vulnerable t 3 attack and mor0

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acckssiblt; wjuld be …