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ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION United States AtonLC Fnergy Commission &cause of Dr. Stakman's absence from the country a t the present time, it i s my privilege as Vice Chairman of the Advisory Cornittee f o r %olo~=yand Nedicine to report to you concerning the matters treated during the Comdtt;ee's meetkg i n Washington on December ll and 1 2 , kle hzve had many hours of discussion during the past year beariqg upon the policy problems i n connection with the f is pos al of radioactive wastes. Various forms of eq res sion of smha policy 'nave been reviewed, and it i s the unm-imous opir-ion of the Comit teeth at the Division of &tolob? and Kedicine has arrived a t a workable and sox ? policy expressed in the proposed issuance entitle2Wm it at ions on t h e Release of 3adioactive Materials1t. props ed bulletin is (1) t o define for the gdidmce of those engaged. i n the atomic energy program the objectives i n the control of the release of radioactive waste t o the envirornent, and ( 2 ) t o provide practical crit er j - afor the control of radioective wastes i n response t o requests from Federal, State, a.?C local piiblic health organizations. The purpose of this In the general field of radiological protection wlizre z dr his tr at ive act iom mst be based on knowledge that is knotm t o be inadequate so that firm criteria do not in fact exist, we ere always re li ick nt t o see .-*egd.ai,iom publjshed or disse nina td in such a form that the specific crj-ter5.a and to3.erance levels become incorporated i n knowledge advances; therefore State m.d Federal regulations should 'be worded i n such a manner as t o permit ready administrative response to changing situations. The Cormittee theref ope approved for Jiology arid Zedicine proposes t o release. We recognize that the standards will inevitably be changed as
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The problems encountered Ln the dis;>osal of radioactive vast esme only a. part of a much larger area which 'He feel should now be much inore vigorously explored, and that is the ent j re problem of the costs of practical radiological ?rotection i n atorric energjr 5.~st&l-ations. There sbocld be a continuing study t o deterr5ne tbe relationship beti-ieen per r is sib le exposures and protective construction costs so that reliable quantitative answers nay Le given t o questions concerning the real impact of changes i n protection criteria. these problems i n mind, the Committee suggests tothe Comnission that. afirm of experts be employed t o make a survey of the costs of radiological. protection hith respect t o ner:!iissible levels i n The Division of ?Lology and Kedicine'E progra? f o r a permanent medical facility and medical research reactor a t Brookhaven was unanimously endorsed by t h e Cornittee, arrived when the established and prodcctive -x&ical program a t eookhaven be proTridecl the housing it s o urgently needs. Apart from cannot cent-hue t o nzintair. indefinitely sick patients in inflammable iflade so that the 3rookhaven Croup i s ready t o groceLd ritn the design a?d construction of are actor primarily for ncciical purposes. reactor a d medical center I~uildLn~constitute what I s really an lie feel that the time has now The necessary prelirrLnary studies have been The Cornittee also endorsed the "uivisionls ?~o?osa': t o s-qport a md2czl resezrch rez cte ratt hsU CU Xedical 5chool dthir, the policy lines of the Commission for the sup?ort of research reactcrs. nrt her support fora limited time of a research ?rogram in the use of this reactor would be advisable, The design of this reactor 11s cectron fluxes of the react cr proposed fo r 3o&ha.veti, znri therefore Zoes riot conflict55th the latter, it does meet the research
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cancer research v?i..ich the f Ji vision of Bi01o;y ad. I:ec!icine has and recomiended that the res3l:itiofi be transrr,ittedt othe Coirmission: !‘That this Cow it tee reels that the sub sid imt ion of isQto?e distribution for cancer re sex dl and therapy has been of substantial benefit to the efforts to cor,trol an? cure csncer, and t h a t it 1x1s brocght Feat credit to the Atomic Enersr Comrlission. Cornnittee views :&h regret th9prc os alto abayidon this project and hopes thata vzay nay Le found t o