Minutes of Meeting of Advisory Committee for Biology and Medicine, AEC Idaho Falls Operations Office

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was held at the meeting of the Advisory CcarmLttee for Biology and Medicine Atomic Energy Commission,-HeHdqirafters Building, Idaho Falls Xdaho, on Friday and Sate, March 9 and 10, 1956, with the follming Biologbr and Dr. Charles L. Dunham, Director Mr. A. lbmmaro, Asst. General h nager for .Research & Industrial Development Efr. Frank 'mbb, General Electric Co. Miss Hargaret Berlin

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OFFICIAL USE ONLY A planned tour, arranged by Mr, Allan C- JOhnson, Manager of the Idaho Operations Office, was conducted for the committee and the staff of the Division of Biology and Medicine to inspect the facilities of the National Reactor Testing Site which included the Health and Safety Division. me Chairman convened the meeting. Mro W e C. Funk, Deputy Manager, 100, then welcomed the group and offered any dssistance that he and his- staff could lend t o the Cm it tee to &e their. visit both profitable and pleasant, of the Division of The Chairman asked BeI)wham t o proceed by discussing the current activikies of the Division. Dr, hnham stated that the medical report on the study of fallout on the Rmgelap people has been turned over t o the Government Printing Office and it should be available in si)t o r eight weeks. BoIxlnham made reference t o the last two meetings of the committee wherein Dr, Claus and Mr. Eisenbud briefed them on plans for monitoring the waters of the Pacific during and immediately a f t e r Operation REIMING. The Navy has made a ship available f o r this purpose. activities 'the Japanese have a five-vessd-.expedtion which will move down 4to the equator west of the test site about midway through the test schedule. An exchange of samples is planned between a group +der the direction of I k e Roger Revelle, Director, Scflpps Oceanographic Institute, LaJolla, California, and the Japanese oceanography groupo Dr. Dunham reported

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that the project had the Cumission's concurrence. Dr. Dunham then reported on the meeting of the Program Directors a t and Dr. Kornberg are going well and that the group vas particularly impressed w i t h Dr. Wager's observations of carcinoma of the lung produced He mentioned that the programs under the direction of Rr. Parker Rr. Dunham spoke of a l e t t e r that he had received frm Dr. Warren Weaver of the Rockefeller Foundation requesting- crerta$n information for the Genetics Panel of the Bational Academy of S,ciencts. He s t a t e d that this Panel is tentatively considering certain pxxnmuepdatim concerning limits of radiation which ought t o be set up for total population arposure Dr. Rmham told the Canmittee that while contacts u i t h on-site contractors m-2 zippmpriate, he w a s reluctant to,seek.the information from non-AEC contractors and that he f e l t that it uuyld &.more appropriate that the questions i n these instances be submitted directly frm the Pati onal Acadeqy of Sciences. Ad Hoc Research Advisory Group. Austin &ues and Orr Reynolds had been appointed by Dr.Shilling for the purpose of assisting the Division of Biology and Medicine i n reviewing the research program of the Division of Biology and Hedicine and t o Rr. Arnham aqoun$ed+t h a t an ad hoc 1/ A copy of Dr. Weaver's l e t t e r and JIr. Dunham's reply previously was

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OFFICIAL USE OILY identify those research areas which should be emphasized, curtailed o r eliminated i n its opinion. JCAE Heaidnss on Peaceful Uses before the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy on the peaceful uses of the AEC's responsibilities i n health and safety -- as they relate t o State and loeal governments. ACE9.I h of ntt a ent Dr. Dunham announced that, subject t o security clearance, the recommendation f o r Dr. Fred19 appointment as a member of the Advisory Zk. Dunham spoke of t h e 202 Hearings The JCAE evidenced considerable interest w i t h respect to Committee had been approved by the General Manager. future of that Laboratory. Laboratory vi11 remain i n the field of atomic weaponsiresearch and developMr. Ttunmaro told of the concern of Dr. Bradbory, He said that uhile rthe qrimary mission of the ment for maqy years t o come, Dr. Bradbury believes that i n order t o retain tap quality scientists, the Laboratory should have a definite role in the concern about L o s Alamos pointed up the broader problem of defining the missions of a l l the National Laboratories. He,reportcd that the definition of laboratory missions and the integration of laboratory.L into a smoothly meshed over all research program was an important problem t o which his office would give top priority in the coming months. Atomic Bomb Casualtx Dr.Uarren and Dr. Bugher reported on their visit t o the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission i n Japan. lk. Warren 2J Visit to ABCC by Drs. Cannon, Bumett, Hastings, Francis and others

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believes that Ih.. Holmes, the present director, had done an outstanding job in establishing contacts w i t h the various Japanese agencies and in maintenance of these contacts. Dr. Bugher commented on the genetics program. He said it should be carefully reviewed with respect to future developments. full-time geneticist be added t o the staff of the BBCC. Dr. Bugher mentioned that the JapaneSe Advisory Council are considering the change of name f o r the ABCC. (A change of name f o r the project had been reconnuended previously by the ACBM). They arc boping t o come up with a name w h i c h would be symbolic of the change peacetime uses of atomic that there is bitter resentment i n Japan of the placement of the "Atomic Energy for Asian program i n Manila. Cammission i n increasing the amount of fissionable material uhich could be made available t o the Japanese has been of tremendous value. On the other .hand, the action of the Dr, Warren's belief that "the more we can do to help the Japanese in developing this program the better dl1 be our-foothold i n Asia; and our hope t o meet the challenge of the Communist way of l i f e against our own way of life can be presented t o the people of Mia." Ik. G l a s s stated that he thought Dr. Eugher's rekirks on the genetics program were very encouraging and he agreed ccm$letc&$ with the need f o r a very careful review. I \ D r . Bugher continued at this point by saying #I sfiDulmIke t o pass on t o you a clear idea that I received af the essential desire of the

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independence with respect to aid. take encouragement from the United States and Japanese to maintain their great pride, lhey want t o look f o r our technical training and guidance, but they uant t o do the work the fact there will be a great amount of additional data on world-wide It w a s the sense of the Committee that i n view of fallout available from the New York Operations .Office Health and safety M oratory in the near future that they uould prefer t o have this material in hand before making an over a l l statement on Project Sunshine, The new data w i l l be considered a t the next meeting of the Camnitteeand the results of this discussion will be forvarded t o $he Cds sion. Department discussions on possible Italy and Luxembourg, 7he program Special Operation l4.r. Butenhoff aid t o an btomic energy program among Petherlands; West Germany, France, reported on*& operation knoun as A further report on this prbject is t o be made ata subsequent Special Health and Division of the Idaho Operations Office, invited the Camittee's Dr, G. Victor Beard, Director, Health and Safety attention t o several prablems which concern the Health ad %few Mvision. He said that a t the present time 35 off-site wells a r e OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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being sampled f o r radioactivitg; that if t h e State of Idaho adopts legislation requiring one-tenth drinking water tolerance a t t h e point of intake, this could, if strictly interpreted, require weekly sampling of some l!WI dlls in the area of the State of Idaho. Dr. Beard said he did not think it vas too much of a health problem as there has been no radioactivity found in any samples t o date. ut were getting a good screening sample -if 1s well ~ .,wit hno radioactivity in them, t h i s should be a good example of what .tocslcptct." ?he second question raised by &.Beard coaaerned t h e concentfation of radioactivity uhich should be pm it ted in ple-abos@!ax of cmanwfties near the AHP site. It uas his estimate fAat exposure to the lungs frwn airborne activity W d be about lo0 times greater than external uhole-bo@ q o s u r e s . Should the permissible dose be as low as 1.56 rem per year to the lungs, as presumably vould be required by recommendations, o r should the permissible dose be more comparable t o that used i n the Nevada Test Site area - that is, based on external eqosare?: Atoms-for-Peace Dr. Pearson referred to the rqort. of the Panel on the Impact of the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, a l s o known as the McKinney Panel Report. He said that the McKinney Panel had attached great importance t o the peaceful use of atomic energy in biology, .medicine, and and Hediciqe and the Division of Internat io d Affairs t o implement the A program has been developed between the'Division of Biology

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OFFICIAL USE ONLY Panelgs findings, The program consists of three steps: The first phase of t h e program is to send small missions of scientists to foreign countries to study the potential uses of atomic energy in those countries in the fields of biology and medicine, (This part has been approved by t h e -State Department and by t h e International Cooperation Administration), The second phase involves bringing scientists, particularly younger scientists, to this country f o r training in the techniques and in the use of atomic entrgy in biology and The third phase of this program is to make available atomic energy tools and isotope laboratory or perhaps a gannna field so that when a scientist returns to his native country he may utilize his newly acquired knowledge, --: Dr. Peafson mentioned that sane definite action has been taken in respect to sending out missions to foreign countries, $lans_&e being formulated to send a group to South America, uhich will include It., qobert J. Hasterlik, m, Dr, Paul Aebersold, ORUL, Dr. Karl Yilbnr, of Duke of Biology and Medicine, and now stationed in Peru, has been asked to Dr, Nathan Hall, ,formerly of t h e Division Join the Sfottp on its planned touro r -. 5 Minutes of Meeting held at The rnirmtes of the meting held at the Atomic Energy Canmission. in Uashington, the AEC November 30, Do C. , on Wednesday, November 30 and December 1 and 2, 1955, were OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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OWIU USE ONLY approved unanimously upon a motion made by Dr. W a m e n and seconded by for ,their next meeting, 'uhich will be held at the & i n Ueshington, D. C. the ABX with special reference to the reports made& &.Warren and Dr. Bugher upon their return from visiting theqmojcct i n Japan. ?he Committee selected the of7Gy 26 and 27, 1956, Further consideration was given CQ t h e problems of Upon the conclusion of the discussion ,iLwas - voted unanimously that the following resolution should be formrdcd.~.the Chairman of the ACBM t o the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Canmission: -cognizing t h e very unsatisfacto bptratI?oR of the @X of the present situation, md mindful of' &e importance of the knarledge t o be gained i n Jarpan to the United States and t o the world, the A C H recannuends that the AEC discuss .with the HAS the steps necessarg t o improve radically and immediately the operation of the ABCC. In the unanimous and consid& opinion of the ACm, this requires transfer of the operathg contract frcmn the NAS t o another organization, such as a univcrsity,.or2 group of universiC) Letter t o Mr. Strauss from Dr. Failla dqted 3/13/56 OFFICIAL USE OELY

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Mational Acadq of Sciences conference held under the chairmanship of Tl.. R ith Cannan at which the present status and future program of the A t a dKE Bamb Casualty Commission were thoroughly discussed. concern about the future of ABCC and to report the views of the Atomic Energy Commission's Advisory Canmittee for Biology and Medicine on this matter as expressed at a recent meeting in lfashington. now you will have received the report of the November 27 ad hoc I am writing to.express my oun lhe AEC has a bo-fold interest in seeing that t f \ e.pro grb is not interrupted: the necessity for nuiHng €hia ost oscientifically of all available daterial on the effects of ionizing radiations on humans coupled uith a need for assuring that misleading and u n s d reports of the effects of radiation on man emanating fxcOm Nagasaki and Hiroshima are kept t o a minimum. Wore the United States tp pull out, the VELCUUIU created would assuredly be filled by something, and it might well be something bad, even flavored with occasional tinges of red. Especially mi@t this be t h e case at Hiroshima. In such an event, both t h e world scientific connuunity and the United States aS 8 country would be w e losers. B e conference recommended in its unified program plan,a broadening of the scientific intei;tst and scope of the requirement for interesting the best qualified people to undertake what is more and more an aepidaniologicm approach'to the long-term radiation effects study. I cannot but2gree with this idea,especially in the light of my searal years' contact uith the ABCC and its many vicissitudes uhich have in great part stemmed f r m too narroy and limited an approach to the radiation problem. An exception, of course, is t h e genetics program which was broadly conceived and perhaps as a consequence of this w a s quite successful. I note that the conference recommended that y w be asked to call a high-level meeting of interested and potentially interested governmental and non-governmental agencies. and the immediate next step towards -cantqal resolution of the Academy's problems in administering the AgcC program. This is logical and necesr;ary

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I wish to go on record as wholeheartedly supporting the report and recommendations of the ad hoc conference, A t the same time, I want you to know that …