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JOINT ATOMIC ENERGY “uir.1 WEE BEST COPY AVAIWBLE Mchael W. Friedlander, Ph.D. Anaocinte trofessor of Physics, AtinocloteProfessor of Medicine and DirPctor, Xrene Walter Johnson Institute af Rehabilitation
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To the general public, the most Important question about fallout from nuclear tests is: “’*’hatis the risk of medical harm to the population as a result of fallout; if there io l rick, what can be done to reduce it?” .Jinceits inception, tho United Jtates pr~gram of nuclear tests has included a considerable effort to detenmine the deposition of fallout outside the actual test area, to estimnte the possible medical haxard of such f~llout to pexsons exposed to it, and to warn of needed co’mtermemsures wt~enthe occasion ariaou. Contributing to this effort has been t)iework of the AEC, the agency directly responsible for nuclear test operation, the U. S. }ublic Health Service, and the hearings conducted bytho Congressional Joint Committee on Atomic ~ergy. Two separate lspects of the problem need to be coasldered: (a) ‘rho m~ical risks to the total population resulting from the widespread disseminatim of radioactivity from tests which occur anywhere in ~.heworld. (b) The medical risks to ~ wh$ch spreads rapidly from the test site iL Nevada to surroundtions “ to diH”:aXl:areas in the oontimntai United States. ‘lbe mation (CIK) haa previously mubtitted lxtenslve
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k tbo prosen’?teetlmony we are concerned with the aocoti part of the problem: Whet medical risk may be faced by local— populations am a roault of snort-range fnllout from the lfamth Test Sit.? ‘he Technieal Division of WI has made l detailed 1) The AEC h~s maJntalned l system for monitoring fallout radioactivity in reGionn aurroundlng the Hevada Test Sit., in order to @cseac the ~-.~~iolehazards to local populations and to warn of zeeded precqf~tionarycieaauroso ~ Of tho temeaauros have been preaentod by the AEC jn reports and h testimoay be:’orethis Committee. The general conclusion put forward in these MC reporttihs~ been that the test prograa has been carried out without any discernible threat to tho Safety of local ~OJXll&tiOn6. In some instances local groups wore adtised to stay indoors for l short period, or to evaouato~ brlofly, l particular iocation in whloh lxcesmlve lxpocuro W8S 2) & eon~raa~ our analysis of the same monitoring tits p~bliah~d by the AX .~i.ow~-hat as a re8ult of nuclear tests local populations especially Id Nev4a, Utah and Xdaho, arid latal Unltud States hmve b*9n tixpoaedto fallout so tittiao as to roproeent a uodically ~cceptable hasard to ehildron
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3) ‘X’hereas& for tho serious Qiacrepancy between MC o~clusions and our own conclusions regarding the safety of tha— Bovada test program is the following: ‘ lfearlylll monitor- d@a reported by the AEC reproseat radioactivity measurements of either the gamma-ray intoneity lmanatiag from the ground, the total beta-radiosctitity depoaitod an l mad film placed on or near the ground, or of tot~ b.ta activity in the lir. There are eatabllsbed safety standu’do r@g*i~ expouuro to the body froail given Icvol of radioactivity which has its source Qutsim the body. lheae 8tandards for ~erna~ exposure have been used, by tha ~, to lvaluate environmental radioactivity measurements duriag nuclear tests. In most cases, the measurements in the reglona mighboring the test site did not exceed $Q& safety limitc Tho UC therefore concluded that there was no hazti to tho nearby populations. In the few Instances where the gamma ad beta measurements indloated that this safety level for lxtorM1 lxpoauma would be exceeded, protective messuroa (remahing indoors, or lvacuation) were recommended. ~e forogoiag AEC interprotation of gamma and beta radia- ~. If fallout radioisotopes do enter the food chaia and f@d their way into the body, certain isotopes become highly a~contrated in l particular part of the body and exposo it to very iatense radiation. lxpoaure art then no longor
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ticular problem ~n this regard for it become~ quickly concentrated in the thyroi!lgland ‘ii,er,taken in with the food. Thuo if a–~amma rad~ation monitor in a pasture outsido the Nevada Test Site shows l readinu of .CM7 r/hr at 12 hours lt 12 hours fcllowing a teat. However, if a milk cow feeds on can be shown that this same ~3~8 reading (i.e. .08’7x’#%r) probably r-~lects a cpnrecrrnrion of itiiue 131 in the gra6e, which after passing into the :OW’S milk and being consumed by the child may deliver to tilechild’s thyroid gland a radiation dose of 175 to 1?00 ra46. This dosage exceeds even tho safety standard:;!’orridititio[;‘]orker~(n rade to the thyroid per year) by a ft:tor of 5 to f$~ and is so high as to reproThus che ‘J;-:(~n(.:uslcl~s‘e(,ardlngsafety in the Nevada Test Site re~ion becoze i?,val~dif it can be shown that tho readings on whi-:ht,:lJ,Var(,based were taken in the re#,i~8 in which ciik rv:~ ~r~zo it.ir:~Iuce milk that is freohly cc)xisumedby cnildxen localiy. our study ot a number of regions around the Nevada Test Site s!iowsthat in many caees fallout sufficiently intense to corAtmit.such excessive amounts of iodine 131
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hac probat,lyoccurred in areac which produce milk Lllatis freshly conmmed by si~iif~~~t numbers of children. Therefore the publ~shed value~ of gazma and teta radiation indicate, in many instmccs, no+,Lr.at -,)in ;’ep~~~rl 18 totally safe for its inhabitants, but that local ct,ildrenhave been subJected to Wadlinct:jnco~?ty, [ft.~ with a live birth rate of more than two hundred can cerve aa an example of the problem Confronting commun~ties around the llevada Test Site. At least roid doses in the ~ to 10G rad range or higher. Milk for these children 8eem6 to come almost entirely from local frozzcows in thrse surrounding countiee. Hence, fam children drinking milk frcn the family cow were not alone among children exposed in Lhe cewnty. On Nay i9, 19>3, in the whole of Washington county, gamma readings from shot “Harry” show that the minimum dose a child probably received would be 50 rads. Hurricane showed ASC to ..6 rad value8. Later, on Auguqt 31, mated 10 to 67 rd thy~!cidL;ISOover an t3000square mile area outside the Nevada Test S~t~, ncluding Washington county. The local fallout pattern from that shot spread significant dories as far as 700 axles nort?lto Rock Spring8, Uyo6ing.
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licenses for the handllng of iodine 131 concentrations higher— of times the milk in these areas could contain more than .05 ticrocurie8 per liter. Strictly Speaking, the farmers sad dairies should ha%-ehad an JWC license to handle the milk lt 4) The biological el’fect,~of radiation exposure of the thyroid, at t}lclevei~ e;cpest,e~in the region of the Nevada Test Site, are readily deil~cea frm the available literature. agreed, es etated In the Federal hdiation Council Report No. 2 to the carcinogenic effe~~G af radiation than the adult tt,yroid. This conclusion is based ~’ponseverul studieo in recent years of the zocur.~ol]ceof thyroid carcinoma in children who had previously receivd tlierapeutlcX-irradiation in ths neck region for enlnrged thymus or for other benign head and neck conditions. ‘lbeincidence of thyroid carcinoma in these children was 8i3alficartly hi~.er than in control groups who had not been pre~”iously.ir.’adiatefl.In these studies cance~ of the thy~o’i wac obct’rve~ i.nch~ldren after expoeurea l s low
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carcinogenic by the Federal k~~dlationCouncil. On the assumption that the Induction of cancer is pro~ortional to radiation exposure, an estluinteof ri~k can be made. Beach and Dolphin, eral sources of data, rolcvlated that, on the average, 35 casea Of thyroid cancer may be expected per million persons exposed ‘1 to one rad of thyroid radidtlon. In term~ relevant to the present testimony, : i.~286 children exposed to 100 rad t~oid radiation may develop thyroid cancer. w w Btandard, thlu is an unacceptable risk Eetimates of radiation damtiCeare difficult, not only because of -the uncertaintie~ of ~ome of the assumptions, but after the exposure has tuken piace. The average latent period between radiation and cancer of the thyroid approximates 10 years; in some instances, the latent period may extend to 20 years. If t}~~thyroid radiation exposures near the Nevada Test ate are as nigh as suggested in this testimony, careful medical follow-up ot”exposed populations might yield evidence of damage by this ..ne 5) A survey o! tho a-.ailablegmma and beta radiation measurements of f~ilo~t resulting from 31 of the total of ~ to hazamtolaethy~o..,lexpos~res in children have occurred aot only in areao neighboring the Nevada Test Site, but also in
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local re@one scdttered acroas the continent aa far as WOy, New York. This comes about ns a result of weather conditions at tl,etiae of a porticul~r e~;io~ion, which my quickly carry it to the ground where an inten~e thunderstorm occurs. Local fallout depositlml Vrhic!;(ou-d have resulted in thyroid exposures to children in the ra.n~eof 5 to 40 rads have, for Roswell, New Ecxico on April 25, 1953. Salt Lake City values were 3 to ltirads for ftillotlton Eay 7, 1952, and 2 to 12 rad8 6) ‘X’hishazard has arisen not only from nuclear tests in the atmoephore and fiL the earth’6 eurfece, but also a~ a w suit of certain underground nuclear tests. J’entimg(produetion of radioactive clouds capable of producing fallout) has been reported for at least seven underground nuclear tests: Shot WG of’op(?rdtlon”Teapot, September 15, 1%1; Project Gnome shot, Deceiator10, 1%1 ; the Des Plotiesshot, June 13, April 14, 1962, &a\!M6:J19, 1’)62, Although data for these shots are relative!.ylimited, we calculate that, for example, fallout to ti~-vic:nit+:.cl’(“nrlabad,New Mexico to cause thy-
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7) If the gamma and beta radi~tion measurements taken during NQvada tests had been correctly interpreted at the tirno that they weriimade (i.e. taking Iricoaccount the re~ultant exposure to childreA’8 thyroid: where the food chain conditions led to iodine 13L intake) , simple ~reventive measures could have been taken to avo+d cxpoaure. his would require only that inhabitants of the region be warned to avoid the drinkregions, or powdered milk, could have been readily substituted, lood milk. We know of ao instance in which suuh a warning waa issued. until the summer of 1%2, when high i,odine131 levels obse~ved in commercial milk mpplied in Utah led 8) Correct interpretation of gamma and beta ratiatioa monitoring measurements should have bees possible by 19W om the basis of then-available scientific known at that tiresthat (a) iodine 131 fraation of the total fiuaion product, from overall meast.rements(f gamma aad uhich can be estimatti beta radiation and doaagq to the body. After 195’7 there was not only l theoso& practical illustration of it~ importance, In that year a
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Rritish nuclear raac!or at l.’in<tic~leaccidcntly emitted a very considerable amollntof radioactive dehrio. Eetiiiled by this fnllout productxlmilk so hea’rilycontaminated with which can be US.:IJ to t.e~elopthe proper interpretation of the pecially to the tk.yroid,*/asrecognized by at leaat one AEC official in 2959 (see Gordoa L..nmg testimony to Subcomadttoo nlterod tc brug them In line with tti~sconcept. ThUS, tho inadequate inter~retative procedures which have until now from nuclear xestd m Nevadtiicould have been corrected soao atniGsp.herlcar.~*Jr.,i>rg>-ourq~.urleartests, but also hagtis
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Site prepared by the iit.Louis Committee for Nuclear information reaches tle following conclusions: 1) kNii~y816 of the available evidence 8howa that children residing in the states bordering the Nevada Test Gite have, as a remit of Zallout from nuclear teat6 at that site, probably been exposed to medically significant radiation, 2) These exposures were avoidable, for on the basis of radiation monitoring carried out by the AEC during the teat prOWamZ, the probability of exposure should have bean lvldent in time to warn the population to take simple precautionary 3) ~m$toriq$ prOcdire8 in the Nevada Test Site regloxaa have been Inadequate in that they do not take into amount the irriportanceof internal exposure to radioactivity enterhg the body in fallout-contaminated food. Direct and prompt measurement of iodine 1>1 in local milk, which is the most effective method of estimating the hazard from this isotopo have not been done, or, if done, have not been reported. Moreover, indirect but nevertheless useful estimates of the iodine 131 hazard, which can be determined from the available gross gamma and beta radioactivity measurements have not been made heretofore. ‘\ 4) Past assurances of the safety to nearby popplatioas of the Nevada test programs are not subatsntiated by the present analysis of available data. Assurances that ‘the hazard has been eucceesfully confined to the controlled areaa
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of the Test .jite”are not J~stifled in the abser,ceof direct uieiisurements ‘of’ radio,~ctlvltylevel:;:n Locah milk. Even the inadequate indirect measurements that have been carried out, if properly interpreted, ~hould have alerted the responsible agenoles to the serious potential health hazarls during test program and to the nece88ity of warning the population to take siaple, readily available protective moasurea. 5) mese haz=ds are not re~+.rlctod to atmospheric tests alonel Available data show that following at lea~t 7 underground tests, local fallout contamination comparable to that urgently, a thorough review of pretientfsllout monitoring with respect to data, ixitcrpretatioc,,~nd public inforuiat~on regarding precautionary measures. In view of the probebl~ high radiation exposures to the population in the Nevada Toet Site region we recommend a careful medical follow-up study Of Qxpoaed Indivltiuala,in order to facilitate Qetection and treatment of possible diaeasea.
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This report ia an inquiry iuto the hazard resulting trorn exposure of local population, especially in the vicinity of the Nevada Test Jite to iodine 151 In f~.lloutproduced by nuclear lrplodons at that site. At the hearings of the Joint Congressional Committee oa Atomic Energy held in 195’/, fir.Lyle Alexander summarized the iodine 131 hazard briefly: “For a period of days foilowi~ a heavy deposition of fresh fallout, iodine 151, which has a half life of 8 days, nay be of iraportancein direct contamination of vegetation. Radiolod.ne is selectively concentrated in the thyroid gland, whore excessive accumulat.ionscauee cancer and cell destruction. ~njury to the gland may not be detected untl~. long after the iodine has decayed. ”l The Federal Sadiation Council, in ita Report #Q, statee that “In the special case where nearly all of the annual i~take some small nu=ber o? irdividunl infants could conceivably primarily to one high exc~:rsim of levelc in 1762 was 620 millirem in Salt Lake Cit,y,~hei-eaost of the dose did
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The highest individual dote, there~oru, could have been— 50 times the averaCc, or J13.6 reas, a potentially important hazard fron fallout, Until recently, COn8ideratlons of this problem, with fcw exceptions, have been limited to iodine 151 exposure6 expected in the population as a wholo during periods of nctive testln~. ‘I’his problem hae been discussed in detail before the JC~, and the Lt. Louis Committee for tiuclearInformation haa reported on it.5& It has been recognized that rapid mea~urementa of iodine 131 in milk provide a useful index of the radiation exposure t-othe thyroid oxpectcd in a child con6uaing tho milk . dhile this type of information is therefore imp~rtat b eutimatin.gthe iodine ljl hasard froa fallout it has c8rtain llaitations. Nearly all available measurements of iodine 151 in milk are based on lar~~ecommercial supplies. i’heserepreeent pooled milk from aaqy widely ecattered farms. Such measurements me, of course, valuable in e~timating tho iodine 151 intake of children who drink couercial udl.k of this type. Howevert the pooling ~rocess conceal~ variatims in iodine 131 levels among separate regions ,andit Is ire-” po80ible to deternine how much iodine 131 would be taken in …
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