Summary of Research and Development Functions an Activities 1951-1954

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OFFICIAL USE ONLY SUMMARY OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT FUNCTIONS AND ACTIVITIES OFFICIAL USE ONLY OF AEC ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE

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OFFICIAL USE ONLY ADVISORY COMMITTEE O N BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE SCHEDULE FOR FRIDAY JANUARY 14 Board bus at Pasco ..................... 7:30 AM SCHEDULE OF TOUR Board bus and leave for Area................ 9:OO AMa. Arrive at Biology Facilities ................ 9:45 AM Arrive at Works Laboratory Area ............. 11:15 AM OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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OFFICIAL USE ONLY PRESENTATION OF PROGRAM Library and Files Building OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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OFFICIAL USE ONLY Biology Control Unit ..................... Experimental Animal Farm ................. Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics ....... Plant Nutrition and Microbiology .............. Experimental Meteorology Unit............... Earth Sciences Unit ..................... Columbia River Studies ................... Instrument Development Unit ................ OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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OFFICIAL USE ONLY (To the Members of the Advisory Committee on Biology and Medicine) This summary report has been compiled to aid you i n becoming familiar (in some cases re-acquainted) with the objectives, scope and progress of biology and biophysics research at Hanford. The report is not intended to be a thorough treatment of the research activities and accomplishments in that phase of the Biology and Medicine Program under the management of the Radiological Sciences Department. sented in synoptic form with the intent that a cursory examination of the contents w i l l "program-orient" the reader and provoke questions and discussions to the extent that a full understanding of the program is obtained in the short time available for the review. Rather, the material is p r e - The functional organization chart included indicates how the research activities are managed i n the department. general scope of the program. supported by Biology and Medicine funds are shown in complete detail on It also serves to indicate the Only the two sections engaged in research OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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OFFICIAL USE ONLY The Biology Section laboratory facilities are located in the 100-F Reactor occupied in 1950, and additions w e r e completed in 1954; it houses the work of the Biology Control, Metabolism, and Plant Nutrition and Microbiology Units, and contains a total of about 20,000 square feet of space. The main Biology Laboratory (Building 108-F)was originally The new Aquatic Biology Laboratory (Building 146-FR) of about 9, 000 square feet was completed in 1952; auxiliary facilities include fourteen outdoor fish ponds and a thirty-foot river sampling boat. The experimental Animal Farm (Building 141-F) has been in use since 1949; a project w a s recently approved to convert a portion of this space and to make improvements to temporary building 1705-F f o r work of the Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Unit. The Biophysics Section laboratory facilities center around the Biophysics Laboratory (Building 329) completed in 1952 in the 300 Area. The main floor space of about 27,000 square feet houses the work of the Regional Radiation Measurements, Instrument Development, Physics , Methods, and Industrial Hygiene Units. 2 Mev Positive Ion Accelerator Laboratory completed in 1954. The Earth Sciences Unit operates from Building 222-U in the 200 W e s t Area, a building originally used as a process analytical laboratory. The Experimental Meteorology Unit is located at the meteorology station and tower near the 200 West Area. include test wells, radiation and weather monitoring stations, and sampling locations throughout the plant area and environs. The Physics Unit also operates the nearby Auxiliary facilities of the Section OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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OFFICIAL USE ONLY FUNCTIONS OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT COMPONENTS Perform research and development in biology for the continuing improvement of radiation hazard control. Sixteen of the more significant studies completed o r under active investigation a r e listed under the six units comprising this section. each problem assignment a r e brief statements of results noted since the last Advisory Committee Meeting at Hanford i n 1951. Conduct research studies to determine effects of process effluents on relevant aquatic life forms. Problem 1. Determine the amount of reactor effluent which can be discharged safely into the Columbia River without creating a health hazard to persons eating i t s fish and without affecting the salmon o r local game fish o r the food organisms. (This problem is not charged to research and development funds, since its purpose is to provide a routine measure of the actual hazard to fish of reactor effluent. However, this work is closely allied to, and is the basis for, some of the Greatest activity densities in Columbia River life occur in micro -organisms and insect larvae with decreasing activity densities in higher life forms. Abundance of aquatic organisms below reactor outfalls in the river are essentially the s a m e as those above. No depletion of local salmon is evident. Mortality among salmon embryos exposed to various concentrations of reactor effluent occur at a concentration of about two per cent. A t present, whitefish contain more radioactivity than other game fish; and it is estimated that a person may eat 37 pounds of its flesh per week before reaching the maximum permissible intake of P32 for large OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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OFFICIAL USE ONLY Problem 2. Determine the mechanism of possible future reactor effluent Temperature and chromate ion concentration of reactor effluent were observed to be more damaging t o salmon eggs than its w e r e found to be due to P32 primarily and resulted via bioConcentrations of radioactive materials i n fish BIOLOGY CONTROL UNIT Head, D. E. Warner Provide services i n radiochemistry, histology, electron microscopy, auto - radiography, and clinical laboratory analyses, as required in support of the section's functions; and monitor terrestrial animals and perform minor research related to services rendered. Routinely determine the concentrations of radioactive materials in terrestrial life forms indigenous t o Hanford Works. Problem 1 above, this activity is not supported by research funds. However, it is included here for the reason that results f r o m these investigations frequently suggest the need for Radioiodine and other fission products are found in local animals, but hazards to them are insignificant. Concentrations may be crudely related to separations rates and meteorological Determine whether the techniques of electron microscopy may b e used as tools to screen agents for mobilizing internallydeposited plutonium. (R. Borasky and B. Mastel) Collagen fibrils w e r e apparently stained with uranium and plutonium and de-stained with EDTA (versene) in preliminary EXPERIMENTAL ANIMAL FARM Head, L. K. Bustad Conduct research to determine the metabolism and toxicity of selected radioisotopes and the effects of ionizing radiations in large animals. OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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OFFICIAL USE ONLY Within a factor of three find the quantity of Il3l that may be ingested chronically by sheep without damage. Five microcuries per day fed to young sheep for periods of eight months to four years caused histopathology and decreased problem include the determination of radioiodine absorption and distribution, and finding conditions f o r causing damage under a variety of acute and chronic exposures. Other findings associated with this general Extend findings obtained from small animals to large animals in order to furnish more substantial basis f o r extrapolation of these data to man. Fractional uptakes of plutonium i n the gastro-intestinal tracts of pigs and rats were found to be equal. Find the beta irradiation dose required to cause radiation Damage was detectable at 2 , 0 0 0 rads; increased exposure caused more marked effects. Determine the dose required to cause skin burns in pigs f r o m very small sources of beta particles. Since much of this work is still in progress, possible conclusions will be discussed during the meeting. the pathology is markedly dependent on the source size, with beta particle flux remaining constant. It appears that Perform research to measure the absorption, distribution, and turnover of selected radioelements in small animals. Problem 1. Determine the absorption, distribution, and turnover of tritiumand tritium oxide. Approximately equal quantities of tritium from an atmosphere containing tritium oxide are absorbed into the human body through the lungs and through the skin. Tritium w a s found to bind in tissues to the extent that chronic exposure to a suitable environment may cause irradiation of some microcomponents OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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OFFICIAL USE ONLY of tissue to be double that normally predicted from the body water concentration of tritium oxide. Biological half -lives of tritium bound in tissue w e r e found to vary over a 100-fold range, indicating that many body constituents are not in the dynamic state formerly supposed. tion w a s found to occur in algae, the amount of protium incorporation being approximately twice that of tritium and deuterium. Tritium incorporation occurred about 10% less than deuterium. Animal fat showed a 7% differentiation in incorporation of deuterium and tritium. Measure the biological parameters necessary for establishing permissible limits of exposure to ruthenium in solution and in Gastro-intestinal absorption and deposition in the kidney indicated that the present permissible limit for ruthenium in drinking water is about 100 times too high. tion w a s found to be markedly dependent on the pH of the particles, the gastro-intestinal absorption w a s approximately one p e r cent of the absorption from acid solution. tion amounted to about five p e r cent in 24 hours when the ruthenium was applied in solution and was negligible f o r ruthenium applied as particles. Measure the gastro -intestinal absorption of plutonium in drinking water as a function of the concentration of plutonium. When ruthenium w a s fed as small In the concentration range from 0. 04 to 50,000 times the presently 'established MPC, the average absorption w a s found Measure the percutaneous absorption of plutonium and assess methods for decontamination. Absorption of plutonium through unbroken rat skin w a s found to occur about 20 times faster than absorption through the G . I. PHARMACOLOGY AND EXPERIMENTAL THERAPEUTICS Head, R. W. Wager Perform research to determine the toxicity and fate of in vivo radioactive particulates and to develop a practical means for mobilizing internally deposited radioactive materials. OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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OFFICIAL USE ONLY Problem 1. Determine the carcinogenic activity of inhaled radioactive Mice that spontaneously develop pulmonary papillary adeno - mata did not show a significant increase in the tumor induction when their lungs were exposed for 100 days to hydrosols of plutonium and ruthenium. However, lung parenchyma developed fibrosis associated with the presence of the particles. In a f e w cases epithelial proliferation was noted suggestive of tumor of small bronchi containing the particles. Problem 2. Develop a basis for the practical therapy of plutonism. CaEDTA was found to be preferable for the early field treatment of plutonism because of the instability of the recommended PLANT NUTRITION AND MICROBIOLOGY Head, F. P. Hungate Perform research to determine the uptake and translocation in plants of radioactive substances and to measure the relative biological effectiveness of ionizing radiations. Problem 1. Measure the absorption, distribution and toxicity i n plants of radioelements associated with plutonium production and proc - Results of this work indicate the strontium-barium, radioisotopes as the fission products possessing the greatest long-term hazard was found to affect rate of growth of plants irrigated with Determine the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of selected Field treatment with carrier to prevent uptake Dichromate in reactor effluent A new method for rapidly measuring RBE of ionizing radiations beta particles w e r e found to have an RBE that ranged from 1. 7 to 2. 2 depending on the kind of micro-organism used i n Relative to beta particles from P32, tritium OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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OFFICIAL USE ONLY Perform research and development in those physical sciences fundamental to the understanding of radiological phenomena and to the protection of plant Thirty-two of the m o r e significant research problems or assignment activities are listed under the Organization Unit responsible for their successinvestigation there is included in each case brief statements of results o r accomplishments since the last Advisory Committee Meeting at Hahford in In addition to a general definition of the problem under P e r f o r m research and development work in physics aimed at new and improved methods of radiation measurement and make special radiation measurements. Problem 1. Improve measurements of very high and very low energy gamma rays encountered at Hanford. Provide means for measuring and measure energy sensitivity of gamma instruments. Provide m o r e sensitive methods of measuring gamma rays; apply these, in particular, to measurement of ingested radioisotopes. Special calibrations were provided for instruments used to measure x-rays from plutonium; the surface dose rate f r o m plutonium metal and the shielding effects of various materials were determined. Calibration of the extrapolation chamber used for this purpose in terms of the free air chamber standard is now in progress. in the extrapolation process is also being investigated. . Bragg-Gray principle w a s shown to be valid at 6 . 3 Mev by means of thimble chamber studies and instrument calibrations performed a t that energy. A fluorescent x-ray source was built f o r energy sensitivity studies; many conventional instruments w e r e calibrated and a very intensive study made of the Hanford film badge; the source has been very useful in the development of new instruments. Proportional counters with special circuitry w e r e developed into sensitive dose meters. Scintillation counters were used for the measurement of ingested The validity of the Bragg-Gray principle OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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OFFICIAL USE ONLY radioisotopes in humans and animals; work in this field is continuing; measurement of plutonium i n small animals by detection of its x-rays is being studied. Problem 2. Improve beta r a y measurement methods for both routine moniThe use of an electron Van de Graaff for development and energy sensitivity studies w a s perfected. was developed asa beta ray standard. Two methods for improving routine monitoring were introduced; one involves a change i n the shape of ion chamber instruments; the other uses thin scintillation crystals for the detector. Special measurements were made of the tritium content of laboratory standard solutions, the surface dose rate of thorium metal, and the dose r a t e from instruments a r e now being developed. The mathematical theory of diffusion was adapted to beta ray dosimetry problems for use in estimation of doses and for investigations in which the experimental approach w a s not possible. The extrapolation chamber Routine calibration methods for beta ray Problem 3; Standardize and develop techniques for using radioactive neutron sources. Design a laboratory for research in radiological neutron physics and biology and, when constructed, use it to improve the measurement methods for neutrons of all energies. (W. C. pared by the nuclear emulsion method. A Hanford Ra-Be source was compared with the Argonne standard source and then Po-B sources calibrated against it by water tank, long counter, and sigma pile methods. A study w a s made of neutron scattering from the air …