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BICLOGY AND MEDICINE The primary goals of t h e Commission's biology and medicine progran a. To protect and maintain the health of all persons subject tothe hazards of atomic energy operations. b, To promote and undertake research i n medicine, ' biology and biophysics as they relate t o atomic energyr C. To pr mote the training of sufficient technical and scientific personnel to proceed with the programs of research and health 'physics. During the quarter the scope of the training projects being carried on by the Commission was appreciablybroadened: The first awards of training fellowships i n health physics were made t o 18 individuals for one year's study beginning November 1, 1948, atthe Oak Ridge National-Laboratory and atthe University of Rochester. Regional fellowship training centers of two o r more educational institutions were established a t Durham, North Carolina; Houston, Texas; Denver, Colorado and Portland, Training courses in the field of radiological safety were started f o r personnel of t h e Armed Forces and the U. S, Public Health Service, atthe centers mentioned above, t o be supplemented by six months of training atthe Commission's I/- Durham, North Carolina is the training center for Duke University, University of North Carolina, North Carolina S t a t e College, Bowman Gray School of Medicine and Wake Forest College; Houston, Texas f o r Eaylor University, College of Medicine and Rice Institute ; Denver Colorado for the University of Denver and the University of Colorado (aoulder and Denver); Portland, Oregon f o r Oregon S2ate College, University of Oregon Medical School, College of Liberal A r t s of the University of Oregon' and Reed College.
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A seminar conference on the biological application of nuclear physics was held a t Brookhaven National Laboratory, covering the utilization of tracer techniques; a permanent program of training courses i n the Radioisotope Tracer Technique School was established a t the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies, and t h e first of several symposia on the bodily effects of overexposure t o radiation was held a t Argonne National Laboratory. A monthly publication of abstracts of declassified documents i n biology, medicine and biophysics was ini - tia ted by the CQlrmission and is being distributed without charge t o universities, 'colleges, and laboratories. tofore, much of the information accumulated from t h e research programs was not generally available to scientists at large. By the end of the ' third quarter 9g training fellowships had been awarded, out of a total goal of 350 annually. The awards were classified l bTechnical Fellowships and Health Physicists - Construction of a permanent six-story training building, costing an estimated $l,O@,Oa), was started in September atthe University of Its completion i s scheduled f o r September 30, 1949. (End of Test Site Surveys. The' second annual resurvey of Bikini was Measurements were made of radioactivity in the lagoon mud, the shore soil and the terrain of the reefs. Islands it was found that radioactivity had declined owing t o decay. Eut on one Island an increase i n radioactivity had actually occurred. -1/ This is explainable only on the basis of a'process of biological conand concentrate radioactive particles which are widely dispersed in the water and s o i l , The study of possible accumulation and concentration of radioactivity by plants and animals takes on greater significance 89 -1/ The University of Washington Applled Fisheries Lab0ratory, collecting Plant and animal specimens were collected from t h e Islands On a number of the t h a t is, while gathering food, plants and animals take up samples a t Bikini, reported there had apparently been a shift of radioactive material up onto the land mass and i n t o the vegetation.
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a result of these findings. They may also have a bearing upon the general problem of disposing of radioactive wastes by concentration and controlled disposal, rather than by dilution and dispersal. During the summer a resurvey was also made of the Alanogordo, Nevi Mexico, site of the test explosion Trinity. The University of California, Los Angeles, collected sanples of plants and animals from t h e area covered by the dust shower following the blast and measured the presence of radioactivity. Pre lm nary results show that there no longer exist any external radiation hazards t o humans and livestock. There remain t o be studied the possibly hazardous effects of wind and water borne particles from Wrinitite'r, a material formed by the blast, as well as the possible accumulation and concentration of radioactivity by plants and animals inthe area. 1Genetics Program. (UNCLASSIFIED) A major part of the biological research program concerns the effect of radiations on chromosomes and the inheritance characteristics of living cells, include t h e higher plants, such as corn and Ejotatoes; animals, such as cattle, dogs and mice; and micro-organisms, such as yeasts and bacteria. Research on these organisms, involving various types of radiation, are being sponsored under contract with a number of educational institutions. Test organisms being studied An illustration of a long-term genetic experiment is the study being made by Oak Ridge National Laboratory of mice exposed t o nuclear of generations t o a thousand-year span i n human genetics. 1/ Another genetic study, being carried on i n cooperation with the Uzversity of Tennessee, involves a controlled experiment on the breeding of a herd of cattle exposed tothe effects of a bomb blast, 'compared with a herd of cattle not subject t o such radiation. This is a 10 year program and is the equivalent i n numbers Isotope ltFarmingt*. Radiobiological experiment s tz t ions are being establish& at t h e University of Chicago and t h e Oak Ridge and Brookhaven National Laboratories. These 11farms" w i l l be developed as facilities for studying the biological synthesis of radioactive substances such as sugar, starch, cellulose, drugs arid other materials. Laboratory, Health In st it ute $evelopent Laboratory facilities have been temporarily deferred pending a restudy of requireLaboratory Construction. A t Hanford, plans for the Radio Biology and other la bra tory A t Brookhaven National Laboratory, plans and specifications were b e p on the construction of the recently authorized Life Sciences Laboratory a t an estimated cost of $600,000. I/ Facilities for this study are being conssructed-with completion scheduled for December 31, l9&, inthe electromagnetic plant a t The Laboratory i s designed t o tn The estinated cost of the facilities is S4qOy6O0.
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pernit the common usage of facilities for both biolom and ,xeclinLcal with completion i n january 1950. Construction is schzciriled t o begin about mid-1949 A t Argonne National Laboratory, plans are being prepared f o r construction of the permanent Biology Laboratory, having an est bats d cost Radioactive Isotopes. I n addition t o promoting and undertakirlg research i n medicine as it is related to atomic energy, the medical prograa is designed t o ?roxi.de the fullest use of the Unique facilities and materials, such as isotopes, which are atthe disposal of the Cds sion. studying living processes tGough tracer .techniques, rather than for therapeutic purposes. Those isotopes which have proven useful i n therapy are: phosphorous-32 i n t h e case of polycythenia vera and types of leukemia, iodine-131 i n selected cases of caxkinoma of the thyroid and toxic goiter, and gold-lgg is being studied f o r use in malignant processes where direct injection or selective uptake is indicated, A t present the Commission is distributing free of charge, for Recentlythe Advisory Committee on Edology and Medicine recormended t h a t there be added t o this list cobalt-60, a radioactive isotope which appears t o be a suitable and inexpensive substitute for radium. Cobalt-60 will probably be added as soon as further technical information is available because its gama radiations are essentially the same as those frm rzdium, it has a moderately long half-life (5.3 years) and it is relatively nonRadioactive isotopes 1/ thus far have been primarily useful for . Cobalt4 is z n important radioactive isotope Clinical Facilities. A t Chicago, plans and specifications have been started on the construction of the Argonne Cancer Research Hospita, which was approved by t h e Commission i n June. To be connected with the Nathan Goldblatt Hospital for Cancer Research and adjolning the Medical School of the University, the building i s scheduled t o be completed with all equipment installed, including a particle accelerator, late in 1950. A t Oak Ridge, preliminary plans and specifications were started on a two story addition toa wing of the Hospital t o provide 30 beds for clinical cases of cancer and allied diseases. The estimated construction Atonic Casualty Commission. Recent reports from the Atomic Casualty Commission i n Japan show that the studies of the survivors a t Hiroshima and I/ Fo r a f u l l ~ 'scussion of radioisotopes see the Commission's Fourth Semi-- annual Report t o the Congress, 194&
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dose effects of radiation on the growth of bones was undertaken. had been previously established by X-ray that there were visible lines of "growbh arrest" i n t h e bones of survivors. 'The Commission extends fin an cia support tothe Atomic Casualty Cds sion through a contract with t h e National Research Council. A special study of the massive (End of UNCLLSSIRED section,) Civilian Aspects of Radiological Warfare y) Establishment of the Noyes' Fanel on the military application of radioactive materials, mentioned in the last Quarterly Report, was followed by the designation of a panel t o study the civilian aspects of radiological warfare. The Chairman of t h e 16-man panel is Dr. Franklin C. McLean of the University of Chicago. During the quarter t h e Commission also made arrangements with the University of Chicago t o use t h e facilities of its ToAcity Laboratory, previously engaged during t h e war on chemical warfare studies, for technical research on the biological and medical implications of
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according t o the newly established budget program cfaaaea, are a8 Expenditurea by the Commission during the quarter, daa a if lsd Corresponbiry figurer a m not arailablo for earlier pr lod s, i n s a n h as tha program clarsos shown were Ofitabli8hsd &ly 1, 1948. In order t o indicate In so um we the trend of axpondifows aocarding t o program, ths fol lod ng flgrues, bared on the program olrreea exiating prior t o July 1, 1948, a m & tent
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The industrial accounting ayetan, approrad i n principle t b Compbroller Qsnersl and t o which reiersnce wae mado in the last report, w a instituted i n each accounting office of the Comiesion ,y of Jaly 1, 1948. Cvmpruhonrive financial rtaternents w h i c h will be prodnced thir rystsm are not yet availsble becatus the collateral work of utendiag the ryatera to the scants of the mor wet-tppe oontractora hu just begun. 'pbs plan ha#, for the mort p r t , met with the unqualified endorsement of the Conr~li.rioa'r contractorr and i r proceeding rapidly at mout pinta. lb magnitude o f tbe work i o conaidemble and will take mort of the currant fiscal year for full accompPiihmant. Adoption of the ppblic accounting type atuilt of aontractors* bisbarasments, a8 contrasted vlth the conventlod vaucher e t haretofore sed, uas delayed because of the aiffbculty in sstabliahlng certain routine techniques w h i c h would meet the requirements of the General Accounting Office urd tb his sion. them prouebruea in September and initial instructions permitting the adoption of the new type o f d t were i8rosd early in Ootober. Sub atanti& aavin&a in cleriaal rvanpover bsre alraady been effeated rhsm the neu proaebnrea have been edopted. Oak at*, for example, has ti doami i t r Wt Branch by more than 9 per o a t aiace July 1, dg+eernent war rrached on Pralimfnaxy eurveyo of the WQ* involved i n establlahiag the mamortised coat of the Coarmissioa'r facilitiea were completed by engineering and accounting fiwa dtrrlng the quarter.. The reporto of these coneultanta will be reviewed before est s bl iwf nal plans for the complete imentory and appraisal of tb pproperties.3