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University of Montana

ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Graduate School

1988

Radioactive fallout monitoring before and after the 1963 nuclear weapons test ban treaty Robert E. Tarkalson The University of Montana

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COPYRIGHT ACT OF 1976 Th i s SUBSISTS.

is

an

An y

unpublished further

manuscript

reprinting

of

in

its

which

copyright

contents

must

APPROVED BY THE AUTHOR. M a nsfield

Library

Univ ers ity of Montana Date :

1 S

be

R A D I O A C T I V E FALLOUT MONITORING BEFORE A N D AFTER THE 1963 N U CLEAR WEAPONS TEST BAN TREATY

by Robert E. Tarkalson B.S., Weber State College,

1971

B.S., Weber State College,

1976

M.S., University of Montana,

1986

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA 1988 Approved by:

________

Chairman,

Board or Examiners

Dean, Graduate School

Date

UMI Number: EP39703

All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete m anuscript and there are m issing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.

UMI Dissortation Publish*ng

UMI EP39703 Published by ProQuest LLC (2013). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This w ork is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code

ProQuest ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 4 8 1 0 6 - 1346

AC K N O W L E D G E M E N T S Interest

for

this

research

was

sparked

by

Dr

E.W.

P t @ i f f e r . I a m indebted to h i m for his p a t ience d u r i n g m y search

for a nswers

locating study, Dr

in f o r m a t i o n

and

ideas on

His suggestions

issues n eeding

for

further

p r o v e d invaluable.

Wayne

necessary

VanMeter,

Reference

spent

background

r a d i o a c t i vity,

have

to key questions.

for

time this

to

teach

study

in

a

por t i o n

of

environmental

and nuc l e a r and radiochemistry.

materials

appreciated

for

this

the

topic

w ere

phenomenal.

correspondance

with

I

many

e n v i r o n m e n t a l personnel.

Num e r o u s o rganizations have sent

documents,

volumes,

information were

journals, sent

most

by

many

beneficial

U.S. -

the

E n v i r o n m e n t a l Protec t i o n Agency, H u m a n Services,

Hardy,

booklets.

G o v e rnment Department

and

of

Energy,

D epartment of Hea l t h and

Department of Energy

G u idance

Compliance,

C onversatio n s

(DOE), Office of and

Edw a r d

Jr. , Dir e c t o r En v i r o n m e n t a l Studies Division,

a l s o enli ghtning.

11

The

o rganizatio n s

and D epartment of Commerce.

w i t h Carl G. Welty, Environmental

and

P. were

TABLE OF CONTENTS pa ge A C K N O W L E DGE M E N T S LIST OF FIGURES

I.

.........................................

.......................................................

1

.....................................

1

.........................................

1

.............................

2

INTRODUCTION PROBLEM

PURPOSE STATEMENT SCOPE

............................................

BACKGROUND II.

v

........................................... vi

LIST OF TABLES TEXT

ii

2

......................................

2

H I S T O R Y OF U.S. O F F I C I A L R A DIOACTIVE F A L L O U T M O N I T O R I N G SYSTEMS ......................

9

A.

E A R L Y M O N I T O R I N G SYSTEMS - BEFORE 1963

..

...........................

First A t t e m p t s

St r o n t i u m - 9 0 of Great Concern

9 9

.........

10

H i g h Incidence of Strontium-90 in N D

.. 11

P ublic H e a l t h Service Rep o r t in 1959

.. 13

B. C U R R E N T M O N I T O R I N G SYSTEMS - A F T E R 1963 Systems U p d a t e d

. 14

..........................

14

EML D i e t a r y S t r ontium-90

....................

15

H u m a n Bone and Strontium-9 0 ............

17

W o r l d w i d e D e p o s i t i o n of St r o n t i u m - 9 0

111

.. 2 0

pa ge EPA E n v i r o n m e n t a l Protection A g e n c y

.......

1. Dri n k i n g W a t e r and Surface W a t e r

28

3. M i l k P r o g r a m ........................

29

..................

C O N S I D E R A T I O N OF C URRENT EFFORTS A.

1980 's Bring N e w Programs

.............. 39 39

B. F o r u m Special Rep o r t - Documents, Studies, Personal T e s t i m o n y ............

45

......................

Sci e n t i s t s Search for A n swers M e d i c a l Studies Ot h e r V i e w p o i n t s

V.

36

..............

Personal Te s t i m o n y

IV.

. 26

2. A i r P r o g r a m .........................

The Cherno byl A c c i d e n t III.

24

.........

48

..........................

50

.........................

51

C O N C L U S I O N S A N D R E C O M M E NDATIONS G L O S S A R Y OF TERMS

46

..............

53

...............................

54

VI.

REFERENCES

.......................................

58

VII.

APPENDICES

.......................................

61

A. H i s t o r i c a l O v e r v i e w - Age n c i e s R e s p o n s i b l e for R a d i o a c t i v e Fallout

.....

61

B. R a d i a t i o n - External & Internal/ U n i t s / S o u r c e s ...............................

65

C. R a d i a t i o n Pr o t e c t i o n Standards

71

IV

...........

LIST OF FIGURES pa ge 1. P r o d u c t i o n of Sr90 by n u c l e a r w e a p o n s tests 2.

Sr90 in total d iet

3.

S r90 in liqu i d w h o l e m i l k in N e w Y o r k C ity

4.

S r90 in adult v e r t e b r a e

5.

F a l l o u t s a m p l i n g stations

6.

Annual

7.

C u m m u l a t i v e Sr90 d e p osits in N/S h e m i s h p e r e s

8.

D r i n k i n g w a t e r s a mpling sites

9.

S u r f a c e w a t e r s a m p l i n g sites

...

............................... ....

.......................... .......................

fis s i o n y i e l d tests in N/S h e m i s p h e r e s

6 18 18 21 23

. 23 .. 27

..................

27

....................

30

10.

A i r & p r e c i p i t a t i o n s a m pling sites

............

30

11.

Kr85 in air samples

..............................

31

12.

P a s t e u r i z e d m i l k s a m pling sites.................

31

13.

H3

in Kingston,

33

14.

H3

in s u r f a c e w a t e r Doswell,

15.

1131 & Csl37

16.

Sr90

17.

Csl37

18.

T N ............................... V A .................

33

in p a s t e u r i z e d m i l k ...............

34

in p a s t e u r i z e d m i l k ........................

34

.......................

35

P h a s e s of O R E R P soil c o l l e c t i o n ................

43

in p a s t e u r i z e d m i l k

L IST OF TABLES

p age 1. Est.

y i e l d s of atmos.

2. A n n o u n c e d U.S.

n u c l e a r w e a p o n s tests

n u c l e a r t e sts

...

6

....................

7

the d iet d u r i n g 1982 ...................

19

3.

S r 9 0 in

4.

S r 9 0 / 8 9 c o m p o s i t e s in p a s t e u r i z e d m i l k

5.

R E E v a l u e s for v a r i o u s t y pes of r a d i a t i o n

6.

G e n e r a l r a d i a t i o n p r o t e c t i o n standards

VI

.........

35

.....

69

.........

72

INTRODUCTION Problem In

1939,

it

was

discovered

that

energy

the a t o m ' s n u c l e u s c o u ld be released. numerous

technological

fuels d windled, supplying small

the

thoughts

of

within

F rom this d i s c o v e r y

developments

followed.

As

fossil

the fe a s i b i l i t y of n u c l e a r reactors world

scale

locked

in

with

1942,

this

power

at

was

demonstrated

Hanford,

potential

to

WA.

serve

on

However,

humanity

a

with

came

the

r e a l i t y of a n o t h e r use of n u c l e a r power.

During the month

of

August

history

In

a

194 5 the

concerted

course

effort

of

to

mankind's

consummate

d e v a s t a t i n g e f f e c t s of W o r l d W a r II, weapons Japan. th e

were

detonated

S i n c e then,

legacy

of

Although

the

power

such

in

o ver

a quick

was

a

manner,

and

and

the

first

it

is

nation

to

conceivable,

the

fact

furthered by

the

the

development

A s a r e s u l t of the e v e n t s described,

organizations

were

standards

appendix A ) .

agencies instituted

for

ionizing

and

and to

States nuc l e a r nuc l e a r

a multitude

assisting

radiation

nucl e a r

for m i l i t a r y

stockpiling

monitor,

effects.

eventually,

of

weapons.

governmental

testing

use

United

and

set

fusion

remains,

fission

of

the

Nagasaki,

rad i a t i o n

s o m e n a t i o n s w o u l d h ave u s e d s i m i l a r d e v i c e s

initiated

to

two m a n - m a d e nuc l e a r

Hiroshima

environmental

U.S.

Yet,

end

m u c h of the w o r l d has had to deal wit h

man-made

purposes.

changed.

public

regulate,

and

e x p o s u r e (see

2

P u r p o s e of R e p o r t The

following

monitoring

research

systems,

with

reviews

an

U.S.

emphasis

on

radiation

t h ose

systems

c u r r e n t l y in service. A l o n g w i t h c u r r e n t pol i c i e s r el a t e d to

radioactive

radioactivity are

in

food,

examined.

documentation te s t imony, of

fallout,

this

maximum

water

After of

a

review

are

and

types

of

and the n e c e s s i t i e s of life

recent

conclusions

a mounts

of

available

literature given

to

and

the

data,

personal

primary

purpose

s t u d y - are w e or aren't we m o n i t o r i n g rad i a t i o n

levels

adequately

United

States

toward

the

is

for

our

protection.

responsible

potential

for

hazards

a

Ultimately,

major of

the

contribution

environmental

r a d i o a c t i v i t y - p a s t and present.

Scope This

research

systems

that

radioactive the

data

have

are

c o n c e r n e d w i t h U.S.

assessed

fallout

fro m

facilities

is m o s t l y

the

e ffects

from n u c l e a r w e a p o n s

low - l e v e l i n cluded

of

monitoring atm o s p h e r i c

tests.

However,

r a d i a t i o n v e n t i n g by two n u c l e a r -

in

particular,

the

Chernobyl

a c cident.

Background The

Atomic

Site(NTS), N evada,

Energy

located

conducted

65

C o m m i s s i o n 's(AEG) miles

atmospheric

northwest nuclear

Nevada of

Las

weapons

Test Vegas,

t e st s

in

3

the

United

States

from

1951-1958.

The

t est

site

was

e s t a b l i s h e d to e x p e r i m e n t w i t h n u c l e a r fission d evice s of low-yield th e



up

to

efforts

of

the

high-yield

tests

mid-Pacific Pacific 1962,

50

Pac i f i c

up

to

ocean,

test

Proving

develop

thus

after

complimenting

Ground

a

discontinued

only

-

15 m e g a t o n s (MT)

to

sites

however,

Kilotons(KT)



performing

- loc a t e d

hydrogen

bomb.

atmospheric

dispersing

large

r a d i o a c t i v e d e b r i s into the stratosphere,

in the The

testing

in

amounts

of

tha t w o u l d take

d e c a d e s to fall to the earth's s u r f a c e (16,17). There the

several

detonation

These of

are

effects

of

important

played

radioactive otherwise

500

important to

KT

or

the

debris

stratosphere, to

the

later If

the

lower it

is

of

the

stratosphere, during

the

in the

adequately

injected

the

it

the

placement

cover

debris

large

into

U.S .

the

percent

of

stratosphere, in

the

is n e a r the equator,

most

into

remain

the

s l o w l y m o ves

upper

by

equatorial

gravity,

sett l i n g

s t r a t o s p h e r e and m o n t h s or years

troposphere

device

a

radionuclides

pushed

equatorial

nuclear

lati t u d e s,

is

then

enters

role

greater,

t r o p o s p h e r e . If the h i g h - y i e l d of

af t e r

If the d e t o n a t i o n has an a p p r o x i m a t e

debris most

an

systems

population-exposure. of

e f fects

a low or h i g h - y i e l d i n g n u c l e a r device.

monitoring

magnitude

atmospheric

is is

at

temperate

detonated i n j ected

near

into

latitudes.

the

the

tem p e r a t e

lower

polar

t h e n it is t r a n s p o r t e d into the t r o p o s p h e r e spring.

The

exchange

between

the

polar

4

stratosphere is

and

accelerated

tropopause

in

-

separating

the

of

troposphere

the

the

at

late w i n t e r

temperate

and e a r l y

intermediate

st r a t o s p h e r e

discontinuities transfer

the

radioactive

spring.

atmospheric

and

in the te m p e r a t e

latitudes

troposphere

regions

that

The

layer -

has

facilitate

fallout d u r i n g w e t seasons,

from

t h e s t r a t o s p h e r e to the t r o p o s p h e r e (1-4,17). The

geographical

chosen The

because

desert

had

fallout

population

in

During

eight

the

nuclear

The the

force

or

north

the

and

radioactive

fallout

very

favorable.

downwind NTS All

fallout that was of

leading

was

a

of

d i r e c t i o n (16). detonated of

these

detected

descended

Nevada with

tests

into

in

states

Tes t

Site.

precipitation

c o n t r o l l e d b y the m e t e o r o l o g y of the areas involved. states late

recorded 1950s.

conducted 1962,

The NTS

and

levels

have

deposition

have

been

P acific

local

to

radionuclides

of

Pro v i n g

fallout

with sharp -

Some

during

the

atmospheric

tests

Ground,

194 5-

Besides the U.S.,

i n v olved

contributed of

of

combination

t o t a l e d 212(16,17,18).

countries and

by

h igh

100

off-site.

products

the

to

sparse

the n u c l e a r y i e l d

fission

northeast

supposedly

there

atmosphere.

dropping

was

meteorology,

testing,

car r i e d m u c h

t r opos p h e r e ,

nearby The

in

of

was

Als o

prevailing years

NTS

safety

dispersals.

atmospheric

energy

the

predictable

the

devices

produced

of

r a d iological

a rea

fan-shaped

locations

from

four other

atmospheric rises

in

especially,

testing, worldwide

stront i u m -

5

90(Sr90)

(Fig.

Kingdom(UK), th e

These

France,

fiv e n a t i o n s

tests

c o u n tries

and

China.

involved

include USSR,

The

est i m a t e d

Sta t e s

t o t a l e d 768, NTS.

yield

by

in at m o s p h e r i c n u c l e a r w e a p o n s

nuclear

tests

however,

Sin c e

from

July

1945

-

Dec

1961,

of f - s i t e (16) . It location,

is

more

than

45

i n teresting

and p u r p o s e

of

these

underground

the

conducting

underground

p r o g r a m (Table

have

fallout

given

the

NTS

tests

year,

to

atm o s p h e r i c

is

that

radioactivity.

from

rise

note

2).

nuclear

environmental

radioactive

to

detected type,

of the n u c l e a r tests since the A E G

initiated

off-site

198 6

540 have b e e n con d u c t e d u n d e r g r o u n d

t e s t s h a v e r e l e a s e d en v i r o n m e n t a l radioactivity,

that

United

f rom 1945-1980 are summar i z e d in Tab l e 1. A n n o u n c e d

United

at

1).

may

pro d u c e

However, tests

controversy,

presently

of

during

it the

is pas t

the

history

1950s

brought

of t h e a t o m i c energy program. As

noted

about to

by

Barry

an e x p a n s i o n

try

to

meet

of the

the n e eds

B y t h e e n d of 1958, exploded changes

in

C o m m o n e r (1-1) ,

the

r a d i o a c t i v e m o n i t o r i n g systems of a glo b a l

atmosphere

in r a d i o a c t i v e

not

seriousness nuclear and

adequate of the

tests.

d e t ona t e d ,

It but

p o l l u t i o n problem.

t h e r e h a d b e e n 2 00 U.S. with

levels

a n d p l a n t and animal tissues. were

the

for

appeared a f ter

tremendously

of air,

water,

The U.S.

detecting

radioactive

n u c l e a r bombs harmful

soil,

milk,

m o n i t o r i n g systems the

extent

and

fallout p r o d u c e d by these

the

b o mbs

that,

a

c o uld

lack

of

be

produced

scient i f i c

20

en o

3 o o CT* v ^ p —

I)

'

?

Finnnr

5

(13).

Fallout

Smmplino

Station*

100

100

0-1970 1965 IQ51'1PAS

I960 A 0

- A n n u m I E^tln'otai T l a o l o n - Annual Catlmat«4 F l a alon

Y l« Id - A t w o o p h m r Ic

FIGURR

6

(13)

1975

1900

1905

Ta«îta-Nor th»*rn I l n m j a p K m r m T « a t « - S o u t h * r n M«?ml « p h m r «

24

deposit

of

Sr90

for

1955-1984

in

the

N or t h e r n

and 0.1 PBq

on

since

PBq

the

MCi).

of

the

was the

During

equaling

co ndu cte d

16.5

39 tests

1962

-

mo s t

0.008

was

0.3

Peta

MegaCuries(MCi),

earth

during

lowest

1984

total

fallout

Total was

yearly

p rog ram

in

recent

China,

in

was

the U.S. MT

of

conducted

fission

yi eld ing

test year

38

yield,

60.5 MT.

The

in h i sto ry was

pe rformed

by

the

People's

198 0 at

the

Lop

Nor

Octo ber

Test

latitude 40 d egrees N (13). has

Sr90

1984

the

1962

a t m os phe ric weapons

It

De position of Sr90

global

a ctive

site,

Hemisphere

The wo rld wid e cumulative d eposit decreased

USSR

of

7.

for

most

Republic

Sou thern

in the Sou thern Hemisphere.

started

tests

the

and

equals

This

(9.6 MCi).

atmospheric while

PBq

surface

EML

the mid-1950s. 357

0.3

the

(0.011

de po s i t

to

-

Hemi sph ere

(0.003 MCi)

deposition PBq

North ern

are com pared in Fig.

Bequerels(PBq)

0.4

in the

been

sp eculated

injected

weapons

into

testi ng

the

was

that

by

1970,

atmosphere,

d e p o s ite d

on

most

during the

all

the

of

the

period

earth's

of

surface.

W o r l d w i d e d e p o s i t i o n of Sr9 0 reached a p e a k of about 12.5 MC i

by

late

diminishing decay;

1967. at

however,

a

Since rate this

then, of

has

Sr90

2.5%/year been

deposits due

to

p ar t i a l l y

have

been

radiation offset

by

mi s s i o n

to

o c c a s i o n a l tests by China and F r a n c e (17).

Environm ent al P r ote cti on AaencvfEPA) Th e

EPA

was

establis hed

in

1970

w it h

a

25

ensure the

public

EPA,

he alt h

and

environmental

quality.

Throu gh

a n e w system for mon ito r i n g the nation's

levels

of r a d i o a c t i v i t y in the environm ent was initiated,

called

the

Environmental

S y s t e m (E R A M S ). O f fic e

of

Radiation

ERAMS

came

Radiation

Ambient

under

the

Programs (GRP) ,

Monitoring

direct ion

of

and

over

took

EPA's the

p r e v i o u s l y m o n i t o r i n g network set up by the U nit ed States Public

H eal t h

monitoring

Service(PHS). radionuclides

precipitation, ERAMS

has

locations,

and

and of

local

ERAMS

and

and

the

an alyses

them

for

are

program,

then

viz.,

responsible

air and

network

specific

drinking by

ORP's

released EPA's

E n v i r o nme nta l R a d i a t i o n Data,

to

the

Eastern

State

tests

for

for

analysis.

involved

quarterly

and

Environmental

AL,

groups

test

number

sampling

Mongomery,

water.

changing

radionuclides.

collect

for

particulates,

increasing

to

Facility(EERF),

data

in

PHS

agencies

send

is

surface

g e n e r all y

h eal t h

Radiation These

milk,

modified

fr equ enc y

ERAMS

in

the

publications-

and Radiological Q u ali ty of

the E n v i r o n m e n t in the U . S . (14). ERAMS the U.S. to

has and

assess

gathered trends baseline

established its

and by

in

sampling

stations t hroughout

territ ori es to facilitate ORP's ability control

ERAMS

is

long-lived

radiation

information

268

aids

radiation used

in

developing

to

d ete rmi ne

radio nuc lid es

levels in

to

doses

the

man.

Data

environmental

and

establishes

environment.

nu merical

limits

This of

26

permissible

e x p o s u r e (14,17).

large

c o n t a mi nat ion can be derive d

by

scale

monitoring

ex p o s u r e and so

from

allows that

public upon

pathways major

other

and

p riv ate

request.

states

in

sources.

can

the

is

and

ERAMS

are

also

all

population

follows

supplied in

m a jor

trends

in the U.S.,

Resear che rs

also

of

from ERAMS data

tests

p erformed

in

a sse ssment

significant

followed.

sector

U.S.

t e rm

to gath er

be

Sampl ing

short

for

countries

rad iat ion

A

and

the

information

most

of

po p u l a t e d

the

50

areas.

ERAMS has 4 sampling programs.

1. The

water

Drinking Wat e r and Surface Wat er program

provides

data

levels in the nation's rivers, supplies. sites

Dri nking

(Fig.

8) ,

centers

or

sam ple s

are

annually

for

90,

w a t er

w h ich

near

a n a lyz ed gamma,

radium-226/228,

samples

include

are

either

nucl ear

quart erl y

gross

ambient

radiation

streams and dr inking water

grab

selected

on

alpha,

iodine-131,

taken

major

at

population

facilities.

for gross

These

tritium(H3) beta,

78

and

strontium-

plutonium-238/239/240,

an d u r a n i u m - 2 3 4 / 2 3 5 / 2 3 8 (14). Surface w a t e r sampling comes from

58

sites

downstream that to

are

(Fig.

from

pres ent

o p e r ati ng or

large populations.

quarterly activity.

for

9) , again

H3

or

po tential

in most future

and

nucl ear

sources

Surfa ce w a t e r annu all y

p o p u lat ed

of

areas,

facilities

dr ink ing

wate r

samples are analyzed for

s pecific

gamma

T rit i u m c o n cen tra tio ns are d e t e r m i n e d by liquid

27

1075

1055 i051-1005

3 ; gel::!:: î:iz:\ï

:;:S l: îi::

FIGURE

7

D r in k in g wmter sampling s it n s

FIGURE

8

(14)

(13)

Z::g:::r:

28

sc int i l l a t i o n health

counting

ana lyses

of

are

distil led

made

on

samples.

an

Dose

individual

and

not

on

p o p u l a t i o n exposure.

2. The

air

program

precipitation

radiation.

10) , of w hi c h

EERF,

der i v e d

rainfall these

filters

meter,

beta

in

Gross

and

and

on

beta A

gross

water

2 3 8 , 239 ,24 0

67

submit

samples.

showing

cubic

of

impact

all

sampling

analyses

p r eci pit ati on

exceeds

10

pCi

u ra n i u m

234,235,

of

sites

results to

filters pe r week.

precipita tio n are

is

counts

of

levels

submit test

gamma-scan

beta

and

potential

from two air particulate

occurs.

particulate

environmental

4 3 routinely

re gularly

filter

national

on

consists

(Fig.

airborne

assess

sources

It

Twenty-two

tests

to

contributing

Air Program

samples p erf orm ed

p erformed

g re ate r samples

as

on

than if

per

liter.

and

238

1

the

on all

pCi/ gross

Plutonium

analyses

are

p e r f o r m e d on samples w h i c h exceed 2 pCi/lit er gross alpha (15- Rep o r t

49) . Kr ypton-85

atmosphere

by

radioactivity,

nuclear

and

locations

collect

co m m e r c i a l

air

shipped separated

to and

from

w e apo ns

dry

released

tests.

co mpressed

where

counted

is

facilities

suppliers,

EERF

(Kr85)

in a

dealing Twelve

air

annually.

These

Krypton-85

is

liquid

into

the with

sampling

samples samples

from are

c ryogenically

s ci nti lla tio n

La t e s t results for Kr85 w er e for 1976 and 1978

system.

(Fig.

11).

29

Th e

total

air

sampling

approximately

34

has

percent

been

of

e stimated

the

air

p r e c i p i t a t i o n exposure of the U.S.

pasteurized

stations

(Fig.

c o ns ume d States.

by

Pr oducts

the

The

p o p u l a t i o n (14).

m a j or

the

Branch,

p r og ram

consists 80

of

percent

pop ulation

centers

65

sampling

of of

the the

milk

United

program EPA,

Milk

is

ORP,

a

cooperative

and

Sanitation

the

Dairy

Section,

sampling

and

Food

Lipids

and

Drug

(F DA) . The pri mar y function of ERAMS is to

rel iable

radionuclide trends.

M i l k Program

cov ering

milk

b et wee n

Administration obta in

12) ,

and

This is estimated to cover 41 percent of the U.S.

population. program

m i lk

cover

pa rti cul ate

3. Th e

to

mo nit o r i n g

data

concentrations

relative

and

to

determine

current long-term

The co nsu mpt io n of fresh m ilk by a large segment

of the general pop ula t i o n makes possible an evaluation of the

types

and

radionuclides. spectral 137,

amounts

Monthly

analyses,

for

an d potassium-40.

determined

by

beta

of

biologically

samples

are

iodine-131,

total

analyzed,

are

analyzed.

EPA

stable data

1127, show

C14,

gamma

cesium-

and strontium-90 strontium

are

precipit ate

w h i c h has been c hem ica lly separated by exchange. y e a r l y H 3 , 1129,

by

barium-140,

Strontium-89

co unt ing

important

At least

p l u t o n i u m and uran ium

several

important

findings.

For e xa m p l e a recent assessment of surface w a t e r sampling at Kingston,

Tenn ess ee pr oduc ed

a dose and heal th

impact

30

FIGURE 9 ( 1 4 ) .

FIGURE

10(^1/^'),

Surface water sampling sites

F and precipitation sampling s it e s

31

e

f-j

«V

t» *0

©8-®®

oo

OO

Y Ê nn

Krypton 05 in a ir san^jlcs FIGURE

FIGURE

12

(Id)

11

(M )

Pasteurized milk sampling s i t e s

oo

OO

32

calculation safe

for

over

a

for

13n

i ngestion 4

y e ar

Ci/1,

(Fig.

H3

concentrations,

13).

period

the

Dosewell,

downstream

from the North Ana nuclear station

T his g ra p h

represents

concentrations. Water

EPA's

Regulations

concentrations 8 pCi/1;

National

Interim

the

of radionuclides:

H3,

5 p C i / 1 (14,15-Report 49).

in

and

atmospheric 1976-1977 the U.S.

fallout

(Fig.15). Sr90

and

17) .

Envir onm ent al

Sr89

had

1985

t hro ugh

of

milk

regions, 1987

m a ny

up

peaked

Radiation

1987.

from

milk

Chinese

the

Ten

the

15 pCi/1,

and

milk

fo l l o w e d test

in

nuclear weapons

tests

in

from

1964-1965 (ERD)

low

with

analyzed

(Fig.

16,

Sr90

and

show

levels

regional

states

samples

Sr90,

nuclear

Data at

for

from

October

composite

samples

each

for

of

Jan

EPA's

10

1987-March

(Table 4). from ERAMS tests

for Oct

1985-Mar 1987,

s a m p l i n g stations for radionuclides were:

water

H 3 , 0.1-5.8

nCi/1, 0-23

the

fluctuations

show

The r e sul ts U.S.

from

limits

Sh ort-term increases

pasteurized

During

March

m ade

in

Csl37

14).

Drinking

20,000 pCi/1;

50 pCi/1; gross alpha,

Csl37

site,

(Fig.

Primary

following

Ra226/228, 1131

VA

increased long-term trend in H3

allow

gross beta,

being

T r iti um steadily increased

near

an

as

3)

nCi/1,

Pa s t e u r i z e d

pCi/1,

1131,

particulates, Precipitation,

2)

milk

Drinking Csl37,

0-136 pCi/1,

gr oss

beta

w a t er

0.01-66

Sr90,

0.01-5.8

at

1) surface

H 3 , 0.01-5.6 pCi/1,

Bal40,

0-5.5 pCi/1,

4) Air

pCi/m^ , and 5) 2 gross beta 0.01-6.59 nCi/m , H 3 , 0.01-1.4

33

o

o

®

‘9

' « ' C ‘= 79.»,‘=«9,,, '981

Kingston, TN

FIGURE 13 ( 1 4 ) ë

Vo

N. o VJ ^ 2

10 7 5 * 1 0 7 0J A M

JAM

M-3 In surface water at Ooswell, VA FIGURE

14

(14)

34

VP

o

JRM

JAM

JflM

jnn

1 - 1 3 1 a n d C s - 1 3 7 ( p C l / L l t e r ) In p a steu rized m ilk-network averages

FIGURE 15 (14)

Srt-OO p C i / l l t v r

IN rASTCUni7E0 MILK

o

I9 b 3 1966 I9 b 9 1972 I9'75 19*78 19b I 19ÏÏ9 Sr-90 in pasteurized FIGURE

16

(14)

milk

35

1 c# 137 rCi/Lit«i IN rnsTEunizco

hilk

n

I9ÏÏ3 19'66 19(59 19'72 19*75 l o V o

C«'I3Z

19ÜI

I n p a î l e u r l i e d mille

FIGURE 17 ( 1 4 ) TA0LB 4 (15) 6TnONT!UM-90

AND « T W 0 N T I U f l - a 9 epA

90 neoioN

p c i/1 0 .0 2.1 1.1 2.0 1.9 1.5 2,3 1.4 0.0 0.4

I 11 M I IV V VI VI I V III IX X

n -

AffiMA

c % T r N r « . % r "

PASTRURtZRD N ILK

neaioNAt. c o n p o s it e s

J ANU AR Y -

'

IN

MARCH 1 9 0 7 . Or i 0.9 0 .5 1.2 0 .9 0 .0 0 .0 1.0 0.4 0.0 0.4

* ’ or p C l/1 2 1 1

1 2 2

COUNTTNN BRROR A rm oxm m TM

t i.r

19&ÎT

36

nCi/1 and

- these

figures were the m ax i m u m mont hly averages,

included

the

Chernobyl

accident,

April

1986

(15-

R e po rts 44-49).

The Chernobyl Accident The

reactor

St a t i o n

in

accident

the

at

USSR,

w o r l d w i d e concern.

the

April

The

bui l d i n g s

followi ng

hous ing

the

into the

combustion

the

accident,

atmosphere.

26,

1986,

N uclear

Power

caused

great

accident was caused by procedural

errors that led to 2 explosions; the

Chernobyl

35 fires were started in

reactors.

radioactive

For

about

emissions

2

weeks

were

sent

The combination of high temperature

and dry w eat her conditions in the area spread

ra dio a c t i v e debris to great heights. A f ter the explosion, the

plum e

went

north

and

northwest,

then

south

across

N o r t h e r n Europe.

It reached the Unite d States on May 4th,

at

Olympia,

Portland,

Id aho falls, on M a y

7th.

OR,

W A on Ma y 5th,

ID on M a y 6th, EPA,

and Boise,

Bismark,

ND and

ID and Lansing,

w ith FDA assistance,

MI

increased sampling

c o l l e c t i o n and analyses procedure of air particulates and s a mp les month in

of

pr eci p i t a t i o n

to twice per week.

fission

products

in

and

milk

tests,

Because of the general the

air,

increased

fr e q u e n c y started the first week of May, to

norm al

when

background sampling

airborne

levels

for

from once

activity

the

third

week

tritium

was

disco nti nue d

interest sampling

and was returned

reached

in

each

of

that

June.

after

of

the

However,

May

16

for

37

lac k of ac tiv ity above normal. to

the

public

Chernobyl in

Sept

accident

1986,

EPA's results in responses

were

and

first

contained

released

raw

data

to

the

from

the

ERAMS p a s t e u r i z e d m i l k and air pa rticulate networks R e p o r t 46). at

Generally,

various

accident, was

U.S.

e l e vat ed

the data indicate slight increases

sampling

from Oct

sites,

1985-March

du rin g

(15-

this

during

1987.

interim

H3

from

the

Chernobyl

in drinking water a

normal

high

of

0.6 nCi/1 to 5.6 nCi/1. A ir particulates showed the gross be t a

high

g r o ss nCi/m

of

beta 2

. The

increases

(15-

3

3 5.8 pCi/m . The 2 0.50 nCi/m , rose to 6.59

increased

p a ste uri zed

Csl37, were

significant Sr90

pC i/m

in precipitation,

increases:

and

1.8

went

slight,

increase

m il k

from 17

had

pCi/1

from a

assessments

44-49).

for

the

to

most

significant

to 66 pCi/1,

23 pCi/1,

31 pCi/1

Dose

U.S.

the

27 pCi/1

had averages of 2.6 pCi/1

Reports

to

high to

Bal40

1131 had a 136 pCi/1,

increase to 5.5 pCi/1

calculations

population

that

and

milk

resulted

from

the a c ci den t are still being e v a l u a t e d (15). In re spo nse

to the Chernobyl

nuclear accident,

the EPA

has issued a R a d i a tio n H ealth Effects Question and Answer pamphlet

that

radionuclides

includes

emitted

n o rma l

e x p osu re

water

standards,

from

a

Chernobyl,

from radiation and

listing

possible

consideration

in the U.S.,

long-term

of

health

of

EPA drinking effects

from

r a d i a t i o n (21). The Chernobyl accident has been deemed the w o r s t that ever occurred to any reactor. A first to yield

38

radiation

casualties

residents

-

and

environment.

su mma r i z e d The

United

Atomic gathered

widespread

Since

Organization(WHO) Pr ote c t i v e

- requiring evacuation of near - by

Guid es( PAG *s ) ,

from

Nations

accumulated Scientific

Radiation(UNSCEAR), by

accident,

the

of

World

the

Health

has helped various countries by issuing

A cti o n data

the

contamination

numerous

and

by

mo nitoring

Committee

has

mon itoring

coordinating

been

activities.

on

Effects

given

networks,

the

and

p r e s e n t i n g interpretations in future r e p o r t s (17).

of

data

will

be

39

CONSIDER ATI ON OF CURRENT EFFORTS A. It

has

the

bee n

1980's Bring N ew Programs

difficult

relationship

low-level

ra diation

important

to

firsth and with

that

resolve

might

exist

questions between

and health effects.

consider

exper ien ce

environme nta l

1977,

to

new

that

shed

ra dioactivity

exposure

Therefore,

literature,

may

involving

new

produced

it is

programs

light

on

by

to

or

coping

man.

Since

the U n i t e d States government has been involved with

l i t iga tio ns

against

Department the NTS

of

the

Department

of

Energy

and

the

Defense by residents of states surrounding

and m i l ita ry personnel that had observed on-site

atmospheric claimed

nuc lea r

exc ess ive

e f fec ts

to

animals.

them

Some

tests

from

1951-1958.

radiation

and

of

in

the

some

The

residents

exposure

caused

incidents,

death

mi litary

personnel

who

harmful to

their

had

been

i n volved died

and

family members were left to testify on

their

The

outcomes

mixed. AEC,

behalf. In

one

case,

denying

ruled

the

off-site

at

fault

population.

these

decisions

negli gen ce

AEC

of

As

in for of

law suits have been

were made c ond ucting

not 1985,

in favor of the the

provi din g about

tests,

protection

4,000

r a d i a t i o n injury were pending against the U.S. by

those

working

S i t e (16,17).

It

is

or

living

conceivable

near

the

that

but

claims

to for

government

Nevada

personal

Test injury

c l a i m s will be ongoing for some years to come. P r es sur e

was

being

put

on

DOE

by

the

news

media

and

40

U.S.

co n g r e s s m e n to make information available for public

scrutiny.

In

Ma r c h

Office(NVO)

were

disseminate fallout

1979,

DOE

di rected

historical

and he alt h

to data

effects

would

to

p la y

assist a

special

g i v e n directive. Inc(REECo), and

DOE

at

a

role

Nevada

"collect, related

Operations

preserve, to

and

radioactive To

NVO recruited almost a dozen

project. to

help

Each of the agencies NVO

accomplish

their

Reynolds Electrical and Engineering C o . ,

prime NTS,

p e r f o r m the data this

in the

the

from nuclear t e s t i n g " (22).

c o m p l e t e this enormous task, a g e nci es

and

contractor(since

was

establish

the

co llection and archive

they est abl ish ed

C e n t e r ( C I C ) , that

to

mid-1950)

for

AEC

capability

functions.

to

To do

DOE*s Coordination and Information

was

formally

opened

to

the

public

in

J u l y 1981(22,23).

CIC's purpose is to provide the public,

the

governmental

news

groups, s ite

media,

and

individuals

r a dio act ive

f o l l owi ng

is

a

w ith

fallout

list

of

units,

data

and

other

interested

documents

on

from nuclear weap ons tests. task

offThe

groups that offered special

e x p e r t i s e in the project: 1. Nevada Ope rat ion s - Project Manager. 2. R E EC o - Soil analysis and CIC management. 3. Law rence Livermore National Laboratory(LLNL)

-

M a ke s field in situ measurements. 4. Los Alamo s National Laboratory(LANL)

- Modeling

and e sti mating external radiation. 5. C o lor ado State University(CSU)

- Radioecology,

41

analyze the ingestion of radionuclides from fallout through the food chain. 6- Desert Rese arc h I n s t i t u t e ( D R I ) - Selection of sites with EML,

statistics and data management.

{The following determine where fallout occurred.) 7- En vironmental Protection Agency(EPA) 8. Environmental Me asurement Systems Lab(EMSL) 9- National Oceanic & Atmospheric Admin(NCAA) 10. W e a t h e r Service Nuclear Support Office(WSNSO)

The

age nci es

be ca m e

known

involved as

the

with

this

Off-Site

enormous

R adiation

undertaking

Exposure

Review

P r o j e c t ( O R E R P ) . U nd e r the directi on of NVO, this body had 2 objectives. dat a

and

secondly,

The first was to c onti nuously make relevant

information reconstruct,

available

to

the

public,

insofar as possible,

estimates

and of

the e x p os ure s to the off-site public from n uclear testing at the NTS,

and the doses to these individuals resulting

from the e x p o s u r e s (1-1,22). In A u g u s t t hey w e r e 1980,

1979,

the Dose Ass essment Steering Group,

called,

as sembled to oversee ORERP.

as

As of July

this g r ou p was formally renamed the Dose Assessment

Advisory

G r o u p (DAAG) .

representatives, disciplines,

Members

chosen

and

state

from and

of

DAAG

numerous public

possessed

by

these

i n c lud ed

experience,

professional

14

scientific

sources.

qualifications working

included

The

representatives expertise,

and

42

an

understanding

fields

we r e

functions,

support

ex p o s u r e

and

committee,

and

give

open

directives

of

sciences.

to

the

in

to

DAAG

DAAG

oversee

through

the

All

the public.

committed

one objective:

history

relationships

and biological

announced

advisory

that

d isc iplinary

of radiological

meetings an

of

is

ORERP

recommendations

to reconstruct the radiation

general

population

surrounding

the N e v a d a Test Site as the result of the 1950s and early 1960s

nuc l e a r

designated of

wea pon s

tests.

3 geographical

study

that

U.S.A. ( Fig l o cations

w o uld

18).

of

ensure

regions;

eventually

Phase

lowest

To

III was

priority

this

goal,

DAAG

each would be a phase cover

the

continental

rated as having the most

for

radionuclide

activity.

However,

DAAG encouraged the ORERP to complete the Phase

III

as a last potential source of offsite radiation

area

from

a t m o sph eri c

printed du e the

to

as

of

DAAG

Jun e

years.

1988.

influence

plutonium 170

before

and

2)

isotope

Two

over

s t o c h a s t i c (linear

assessment,

gave

test

w ork

important

ORERP

has

not

been

accomplishments

include

hypothesis)

1)

following

approach

to

dose

facilitating the declassification of

ratios

and

r e c om men dat ion s that

submitting

This

their

final

other

documents.

The

DAAG

improved ORER P efficiency, report

the

last

day

of

A u g u s t 1987(22). U p d a t e d and current environmental information on Nevada Test

Site

picture

of

is

of

the

vital effects

importance of

in

forming an accurate

radioactive

fallout

from past

PHASES OF THE ORERP SOIL COLLECTION CESIUM ACTIVITY • PRELIMINARY (mCI/km^

«T t.t OH

«0 It) ).l

XT MVCRTOM

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t . | » IC O T T M tu rf

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e 11)

_

3.1

PHASE III

PHASE WIOMTA

I

m

31 LONO M A C M

122

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w

ALtUOUCrautI

PHASE 1.4

comms CNMST1 L 41 \ 0.1^ PLUTONIUM ACTIVITY • PRELIMINARY (mCl/km^) FIGURE 18 (22)

w

44

and

present

revised

weapons

yearly

include

1)

w i th

United

"Announced do c u m e n t will

be

from

Service.

United

available

1961

obtained

States

R e l e ase d throu gh through

Nuclear

States

2)

Test

the

National

added.

They

Onsite

Area

Areas," Tests."

and A

entitled,

These

and

"Radiological

Continental documents

Technical

3)

fourth

for publication,

from Announced U.S. 1987"(27).

and

are

"Radiation Monitoring

Nuclear

1988,

3 reports

information

is being reviewed in June

1988,

Effluent

for the NTS,"

of value

Ef f l uen ts

As of

pertinent

" R adi olo gic al

M o n i t o r i n g Rep ort Around

testing.

Tests

can

be

Information

45

B. Forum Special R e p o r t (24) Studies. C ur r e n t ca u s e d and

literature

the

state

including - Documents.

Personal Testimony

made

available

scientific

community

officials'

past

radioac tiv e

fallout.

researcher

for

newspaper,

brings

unresolved

"The

to

Fargo

practices

Forum,"

new

in

a

public

staff

with

writer North

government

theories,

has

government

dealing

a Fargo,

informative

issues,

the

question

Springer,

forth

past

investigations,

Pat

to

and

Dakota

reports,

studies

and

and a search to answer questions from the

a t m o s p h e r i c rad ioactive fallout y e a r s (24). High radiation levels

in

U.S.

matter

of

record

an d

Dakota,

residents exposures

to

radioactivity health

from

harmful

guidelines learned

of that

these

the

of

Since

biological

the

in

when

ongoing

and

these

wit hin

1963,

a

environmental

that

were

true

However,

government

public

they

limits.

the

forms

are

reports

especially

questioned

many

food

G overnment

was

areas

the

because

and

and Minnesota.

NTS,

advised

MFC

this

various the

m il k

1950s-1960s.

Dakota,

in

o ff ici als

not

water,

confirm

South

living

air,

d uring

documentation

North

w ere

soil,

state levels

established

scientists

effects

of

have

low-level

r a d i a t i o n m a y be more harmful than p rev iously considered, because

of

experiments

r e lat ionships. years

were

response

to

The

based

MPC

guidelines

upon

ra dia tio n

regarding

a

exposure in

threshold

effects

b e low

the

-

response

open-air

hypot hes is

a certain

test -

no

exposure.

46

U s i n g those guidelines, s ystems

would

safety.

numerical results from monitoring

be less

Presently,

protective

for

that

ap p r o a c h

- any

res pon se

(linear h y p o t h e s i s ) . Therefore,

radiation

considered

at

of

the

guidelines

exposure

n ow

should use

reflected

exposure a

for

the

value judgement

exposure. lowest

the

no matter how low,

in

e x p o s u r e (16,17,22).

permissible

risks

safe

are

health

it is gen era lly accepted by government

programs

standards

public

-

Ra diation

practical

stochastic

may elicit a

lower radiation

tighter

Limits general

fo r

protection

gained limits

low

as

on

maximum

population

benefits

level (as

limits

are

versus

are

kept

reasonably

a c h i e v a b l e - A L A R A ) (20).

Personal Testimonv Du ring the NTS *s 1957 Operation t hat

are

Plumbbob), direct

th ese tests.

series of nuclear weapons t e s t s (

several

results

of

ranches

the

Near Belle Fourche,

reported

radioactive

incidents

fallout

from

SO, on the Floyd Fischel

r a n c h , 3 3 calves died from mucosal disease - deteriorated intestines, been

res ul tin g

detected

background, officials

in

hemorrhaging.

at levels

that summer.

i nvestigated

of

2.5-2500

rain

times

had

normal

When government and state health the

radioactivity

areas,

2

years

after

the

levels

sli g h t l y

above

normal

chemist

Fallout

and A E C consu lta nt

fallout,

they

background.

in

hay

found

storage

radiation

J ohn Willard,

living in that area,

a

admitted

47

"hot s p o t s ” - areas of abnormally high radiation - in the Belle

Fourche

period. them

U po n

to

finding

NTS

r e a din gs

dumped.

high

invalid

Willard

city

were

Reports

The

and

a

did

amateur

students living in that area, counter

readings

health

offic ial s

ra d i a t i o n

during

levels,

the

he

time

reported

believed

publicize

of

fire

processed

his them.

hydrants

to

from that area

prospectors

and

geology

confirm unbelievable geiger episodes

assured

those

that

was

it

that

levels,

not

flushing

had mil k

from

during

government

and

ordered

streets

common

radiation

officials.

were

However, wash

location

of

f a l l o u t . Public

questioning

no

health

the

threat

high

to

the

public. Another

incident

suddenly

died

shrinkage

of

occurred

from

flesh,

in Minnesota,

weight

loss,

and paralysis.

severe

records

background

of

a

radiation

y ear

Clifford

Monicker,

Radiation

Research

t hat

radiation

ate,

c o u ld

higher

very

after a

graduate

Project,

levels

on

easily

e a r l i e r that year.

deliberately

w it h h e l d

levels

the

in

the have

92

sheep

diarrhea,

AEC officials refused

c l a i m e d damages for the dead livestock, had

when

even though, 100

fallout. student

times

One

they

normal

researcher,

work ing

on

the

Knoxville

TN,

commented

veg eta tio n

the

livestock

been

thousands

of

times

It appears that the government

information

about

fallout

S a u t e r *s farm to avoid unwanted p u b l i c i t y (24).

on

Joe

48

S cientists Search For Answers From

1957-1965,

E.W.

P fe i f f e r ,

U n i v e r s i t y of North Dakota biologist, the u n u s u a l l y high Sr90 "hot spots" N o r t h Dakota.

possible

fallout, state

from

consistently ra dio a c t i v e the

around the

is

and

Sr90

that

radioactive North

were within

nation's

highest

of

Of

Sr90 This

limits

Pfeiffer

North

Dakota

levels

of

particular

interest,

from

to

ranch

later become

After

Dakota

- to what they

why

ranch,

known

considering

as

several

he concluded North Dakota's environment or be

a maj o r key

and m ore

ecology,

a

No w at

of

experts

investigate a

the

retired

Un iversity

have

the had

However,

he

effects

high

on

human

in the

zoology

Bert Pfeiffer has not lost hope

determine

s tro nti um

team

should

d e p t h (19,24).

env iro nmentalist

to

in finding a solution to

suggested

the M a n d a n M il k Mystery.

radioactive

Some

reasons

Mystery.

at Missoula,

po s s i b l e

Pfeiffer

g o v e r n m e n t (24 ) .

Dakota.

Pfeiffer

in

atmospheric

milk.

levels

N orth

soil,

professor

solving

logical

Milk

problem.

phenomenon

in regions of Central

overreacting

the

in

Mandan,

Montana,

by

d i f f ere nt

weather,

of

str on tiu m

m e t e o r o l o g y may

it

amounts

the

Mandan

was concerned about

testing.

he was

scored

possibilities,

the

felt

for

from

weapons

acceptable

searched

were

risks

NTS

h a rml ess

deemed

(former)

by using available government data,

health

officia ls

called

a

In two published a r t i c l e s (1-3,19),

i n formed the public, of

then

of in

is not sure levels

health

in

of the

49

North says

Dakota

of

AEC

1959.

for

is

residents

on

Not

ri s k it

It

may

be

too

late

to

find

out.

He

a step in the right di rection would be intense bone

studie s the

area.

12

North

m u ch b on e

k n o wn

from that location. Dakotans

evidence

ca ncer that

was

or

were

bone

conducted

found

leukemia cancer

Bone studies by

to

from

support

a

at that time.

1958health

However,

typically

requires

15-20

scientist,

W illiam Dando,

y e a rs to de ve l o p s y m p t o m s (24). A University t r i ed

to

find

phenomena, wa s

by

North

f all out

Pfeiffer's study.

Department

might

have

spots"

rain

USSR,

m ay

of

duplicated

have

been

Satellite

data

analysis

venting

health

Dakotans

effects

from

Dando had hopes that,

C h e r no byl stu d y

disaster, of

he

long-term

from nuc l e a r

through

sound

testing

in

after

fallout.

was

review

studies.

to

"nuclear

g ro w

of

from

have

to

out

cloud

the

fallout

of

modify

given the

cover

Chernobyl

(in effect) not

of

up

on

1950s

and

through a grant to study the

could apply that knowledge toward

scientific

Nevada

other

due

appear

N o rth

project

Dando theorizes the

that

the

the

Agriculture

clouds

d uri ng

meteorological

However,

shows that r adioactive nuclides

lingering

Da kot a

U.S.

it

clouds.

weather.

1960s.

proposed

"hot

-

the

plant,

a

a

to

it has not been studied,

Dakota

di str a i l s "

the

a

bec a u s e

Even though,

over

answers

with

denied

panel,

of North Dakota

a

effects

on

humans

in

North

His intent is to establish,

evidence, m a jo r

proof,

that

c ont rib uti on

to

nuclear health

50

problems, So m e

loss of livestock,

scientists

po s s i b i l i t i e s and

USSR

coul d

Scientists

fallout have

Ernest

Pittsburgh,

has

n o rt h-c ent ral

linked

Pacific

into

high er

states,

the

state.

the n u cl ear

the

these

He

at

in the Dakotas that

areas. the

worldwide

nuclear

A

and

radiation

University

infant death

speculated

other

Proving Ground

especially

Hanford

several

theorized

Sternglass,

pla in

from

Washington

from

on

Sr90 levels

have

funneled

physicist,

release s

speculated

for the unusual

Minnesota.

ra d i o a c t i v e

have

and hum an d e a t h s (24).

rates

North plant

of

in the

Dakota, in

radioactive

to

eastern

gases

from

reactor d rifted eastward with the prevailing

wi nd s

into

North

rises

of Sr90

Dakota,

in milk,

and

was

responsible

for

sharp

leading to u nusually high numbers

of infant d e a t h s (24).

Medical Studies Me dic al death 1960s.

rates

atomic

that

has

Dakota.

done

radioactive found in

are

bomb

relationships

have

have

rates

mortality South

wit h

They

le u k emi a states

doctors

attacks. been

regional

to

not

that

in

though been

linking from the

patterns

adjoining

Evidence

found

Even have

fallout

several

similar

studies

in Japan of

and

increased

following

unusual

some

proven,

1950s

central-northern

Minnesota, in

of

leukemia

and

the

leukemia North

studies

and

causal

correlations

have

b e en e s t a b l i s h e d to suggest a high p r oba bil ity that open-

51

ai r t e s t i n g before the nuclear test ban treaty of 1963 is responsible. stu die s

Some

have

disease

no

links

specialists

showing

have

argued

statistical

these

validity

for

e p i d e m i c - l i k e patterns of h igher leukemia death rates

in

the

30

studies.

However,

the

medical

doctors

have

had

yea rs of study w it h significant populations to make their figures reliable. University is

confirm

the

fallout,

and

The m e di cal

the

a medical doctor and

of Utah profe sso r and researcher,

ab s o l u t e l y

in mind.

Dr. Victo r Archer,

ne cessary

relationships is

prese ntl y

doctors*

They

nuclear

to

conduct

it

studies

to

bone

between

overseeing

believes

bone

cancer

such

a

and

s t u d y (24).

studies were done with future needs

feel society should know the outcomes t esting

program,

to

date,

in

the

from

United

States.

Other Viewpoints How

the

effects

of

environmental

radiation

have

been

de a l t w i t h in the past and present by the U.S. government is

controversial.

" E n v iro nme nta l surveys and

to

g ro u p s

plants

of

investigate in

the

U.S.,

on the

Basically, the

the

working

in

nonscient ifi c

energy

conducted

the attitudes

p l a n t s w ere not safe, whereas, those

Eisenbud

Radioactivity, **

safe?"

majority

Merril

a

series

"Are

of

nuclear

indicated

community

thought

that the nuclear

scientists in general,

related

of

of various segments

question study

author

fields,

answered

and

in the

52

a f f i r m a t i v e (17). Edward

P.

Division,

c on c e r n

coal

systems,

a dequate

ra dio a c t i v e of

Jr. , Director,

De partment

monitoring pu b l i c

Hardy,

combustion,

Energy,

have been,

pr otection

fallout. are

of

the

He

NY,

the

believes

pesticides,

believes

and still

from

toxicity

Environmental

of

are,

harmful

Studies the

U.S.

giving the effects

of

that

problematic

areas

other

pollutants,

viz.,

and

other

noxious

ar t i f i c i a l l y introduced into the e n v i r o n m e n t (25).

agents

53

CONCLUSIONS A N D RECOMMENDATIONS

The to

cu r r e n t

be

radioactive moni tor ing

adequate

assessing

for

U.S.

citizens

environmental

systems have proven

- on

the

radioactivity

in

whole the

-

for

nation's

air, water,

food,

and other necessities of life. There is

ample p r o of

that

radioactive mo nitoring systems have the

technology

to

m e asu re

r adi onu cli des h e al t h

in

the

protection.

several

respects;

collect

nee ded

limits

for

es t a b l i s h m e n t proven

in b on e c o ul d

of

to

more to

medical studies,

conduc t

evident

help

assess

systems

in

public in

working

together

to

m axi mum

permissible

exposure.

The

could

correlations

of

have milk,

There seems to be a

on behalf of the EPA to assist

was previ ous ly done by the

intensive

of

differ

locations

and human bone.

experts as

the

radiation

Sr90

levels

assist

set

sampling

the

to

they are

environmental

valuable

for

is

however,

data

sensitivity

environment,

It

total d i e t a r y intake, n eed

with

bone

studies

as

PHS.

suggested,

EPA in

areas of the U n i t e d States that had unusually high levels of

radioactive

strontium

c e n t r a l - n o r t h e r n states.

in

the

past

-

especially

the

54

G L O S S A R Y O F TERMS

1. C u r i e (Ci)

- a unit used to represent the activity of 1

g of pure radium. One curie decays at a rate of 3.70 x 10 _ 10 atoms pe r second.

2. Beauerel(Bal

- a recently def ine d SI unit of activity,

eq ual s one d i s i n t e g r a t i o n per second; 1 Bq = 1 decay/s 1 Ci = 3.70 X 10

3.

The

curie and

10

Bq

its s ubm ultiples are the most commonly

use d units of activity,

such as m i l l i c u r i e ( m C i ) , and

m i c r o c u r i e ( u C i ) , however,

oth er combinations can be

u s e d for both curies and bequerels,

viz.,

P e t a b e q u e r e l s ( P B q ) ,M e g a c u r i e s ( M C i ) , n a n o c u r i e s ( n C i ) , and f e m t o c u r i e s (f c i ). Prefixes for powers of ten E P T G M k c m P n P f a

cxa pela fera

g'ga nicga kilo cent! milli micro nano pico fcmio alio

10" 10" 10" 10* 10* 10’ 10’ 10 ’ 10* 10* 10" 10 " 10"

55

4. Ion izi ng r adiation - E lectromagnetic radiation rays or x rays) particles,

or particulate radiation

beta particles,

neutrons,

(gamma

(alpha

etc)

p r o d u c i n g ele ctrically charged particles,

capable of directly or

in directly in its passage through matter.

5. E x p os ure - A measure of the ionization produced in air by X or gamma radiation.

The special unit of exposure

is the roentgen.

6. R a d i o a c t i v i t y - The property of unstable nuclei of atoms to emit particles or rays in the process of b e c o m i n g stable.

7. Ra d i o a c t i v e particles - includes alpha and beta p a r t i c l e s and gamma rays. The most p enetrating to the skin are gamma rays.

Beta particles are high speed

e l e c tro ns emi tte d from radioactive atoms. Alpha p a r t i c l e s are large particles that cannot penetrate the skin,

8.

but are harmful

if inhaled.

F a llo ut - The descent of airborne particles c o n t a m i n a t e d w i th radioactive material.

9 . B a c k g r o u n d Rad iat ion - Radiation that naturally occurs in the env iro nme nt from radioactive elements in the su n l i g h t and the earth's crust - u sually a low-level

56

radiation.

10. H o t s p o t - an area of u nusually high radioactive fallout.

11. KT - a Kiloton.

The energy of a nuclear explosion

t hat is equivalent to an explosion of 1000 tons of TNT.

A M eg a t o n

(MT) wou ld produce one million

e qu i v a l e n t tons of TNT energy.

12-

Dose - A measure of energy absorbed in tissue by the action of ionizing radiation on tissue.

13. Rad - R a d iat ion absorbed dose.

This unit describes

actual exposure received by an individual.

A dose of

1 rad means the absorption of 100 ergs of radiation en erg y per gra m of absorbing material.

14. R o e n t g e n - A special unit of exposure(radiation dosage)

to radioact ivit y that is measured by the

n u m b e r of ions pr odu ced as radiation passes through d r y air. rays)

It is that amount of radiation(gamma or x-

that will produce one electrostatic unit of

c h a r g e ( p o s i t i v e or negative)

pe r cubic centimeter of

a i r at standard temperature and pressure.

15. R e m - R o e n t g e n equivalent man. A unit of biological

57

dose of r adiation or of dose equivalent,

wh ich is

equal to the product of the number of rads absorbed and the "quality factor" of the radiation.

16. S tro nt i u m - 9 0 - A hazardous radioactive element with a h a l f - l i f e of 28 years.

The bones are susceptible to

its r a d i o ac tiv ity through absorption with calcium. E x c ess ive amounts have been linked to bone cancer and leukemia.

17. Ce sium-137 - Has a half-life of about 30 years and is ab so rbe d w i th potassium.

The muscles are sensitive to

its radioactivity.

18.

Iodine-131 - Can be absorbed through the skin, and dig est ive tract,

lungs

but concentrates in the thyroid.

A c u t e or p r o l on ged exposures may lead to thyroid cancer.

19. O b s e r v e d Rat i o - A met hod used to calculate the t r a n s f e r of a radionuclide in the food chain by using an elem ent similar in nature that is absorbed with it.

58

REFERENCES (References 1-1 through

1-9)

Fallout From Nuclear Weapons Tests. (1959-1960). H e ar ing s before the special subcommitte on radiation, 86th Congress. U.S. Government Office, Washington, D.C. 1-1.

Commoner,B. (May 1958):

"The Fallout Problem." vol 3. 2572-2577.

1-2.

Commoner,B. "The Hazard of Fallout - Nuclear Bomb Test Policy Should Be Decided." vol 3. (Dec 1958): 2161-2170.

1-3.

P f e i f f e r ,E.W. "Some Aspects of Radioactive Fallout in North Dakota." vol 3. (Autumn 1958): 2153-2161.

1-4.

S h e l t o n , Dr Frank H. "Statement of Dr Frank H. Shelton, technical director Armed Forces W e ap ons Project." vol 1: 762-779.

1-5.

Comar, Dr C.L. "Statement of Dr C.L. Comar, Cornell Univ." vol 2: 1290-1291, vol 1: 2124-2125.

1-6.

"Strontium 90 Burden: 846-855.

1-7.

Press Releases, HEW-J80. "Report on R a d i o act ivit y in M i l k . " vol 1: 197-210.

1-8.

Press Releases, HEW-K70. "Report on Ra dio a c t i v i t y in Milk.": vol 1: 211-213.

1-9.

Press Releases, HEW-L6. "Report on Ra d i o a c t i v i t y in Milk." vol 1: 227-229.

Atmosphere" vol 1:

10.

Feely,H.W. and others. Annual Report of the Su r f a c e A i r Sam pling Program. Dept, of Energy, EMIi-4 40. Springfield, VA: U.S. Government P r i n t i n g O f f i c e . , Mar 1985.

11.

Klusek,C.S. Strontium-90 in the U.S. Diet. Dept, of Energy, EML-4 29. Oak Ridge, T N : Government P r i n t i n g Office, Jul 1984.

12.

K l u s e k , C . S . Strontium-90 in Human Bones in the U . S . . 1987. Dept, of Energy, EML-4 35. Springfield, VA: U.S. Gov. Printing Office, N o v 1984.

59

13.

Larsen,R.J. and others. W orl dwi de Deposition of Sr90 T hro ugh 1984. DOE/EML-4 57. Springfield, VA: U.S. Gov. Printing Office, Oct 1986.

14.

Broadway,J.A. and others. Analytical Capability of the Environmental Radiation Ambient Monitoring System. EPA/ORP-520. Montgomery, AL: U.S. EPA/ORP.

15.

P e t k o ,C.M. and others. Environmental Radiation D a t a . Reports: no. 44-45, Oct 1985-Mar 86; no. 46, Apr 1986-June 1986; no. 47, July 1986Sept 1986 ; no. 48, Oct 86-Dec 86; no. 49, Jan 1987-Mar 1987. Montgomery, AL: U.S. EPA/ORP.

16.

Friesen,H.N. and others. A Perspective On A t m o s p h e r i c Nu c l e a r Tests in Nevada. Las Vegas, NV: U.S. DOE/Nevada Operations.

17. E i s en bud Merril. Environmental Radioactivity. Orlando, FL: Aaca dem ic Press, Inc. 18. Of f i c e of Public Affairs - U.S. Dept, of Energy/ Nevada Oper ati ons Office. Announced United States Nu c l e a r Tests J uly 1945-Dec 1986. Springfield, VA: U.S. Dept of Commerce. 19.

P f e i f f e r ,E.W. "Mandan M ilk Mystery." Scientist and Citizen, vol VII no. 10 (Sept 1965): 1-5.

20. Volchok,H.L. and others. 1983 E M L Procedures M a n n u a l . N ew York, NY: EML, 1983. 21. E nv iro nme nta l Protection Agency. Radiation Health Effe cts Ou estions and Answers in Response to the Ch ern oby l N u cl ear Accident. Montgomery, AL: U.S. EPA/EERF, 1987-1988. 22.

D e par tme nt of Energy. Dose A s se ssm ent Advisory G r o u p . Final Report. Las Vegas, N V : U.S. G o v e r n m e n t Printing Office, May 1987.

23.

De p a r t m e n t of Energy, DOE/NV Coordination and In fo rma tio n Center. Las Vegas, NV: U.S. G o v e r n m e n t Printing Office, Sept 1987.

24.

Springer, Pat. "Forgotten Fallout - A Forum Special Report." The Fargo Forum Nort h Dakota N e w s p a p e r 1 (May 1988): 1— 8.

25. Hardy,E.P. Jr. Director Environmental Studies Division, EML, N e w York. Interview by Telephone, 24 Feb. 1988.

60

26. V a n Heuvelen, Allen. Phvsics - A General I n t r o d u c t i o n . Boston, MA: Little Brown and C o . , 1982 27. Randolph,K.K. Public Affairs Officer, Las Vegas, NV. L etter w i t h Environmental information, April 18, 1988. 28. Corley,J.P. and others. A Guide For: E n v i r onm ent al Radiological Surveillance At U.S. D e p a rt men t of Energy Installations. Richland, WA: P aci fic No rth wes t Laboratories, 1981. 29.

F r i e d l a n d e r ,G. and others. Nuclear and R a d i o c h e m i s t r v . N e w York, NY: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1966.

30. Denham, R.E. and others. A Guide for: Envi ron men tal Radiological Surveillance At U.S. De p a r t m e n t of Energy Installations. Attachment 2, R e v i s i o n 1. Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest Laboratories, 1985.

61

A p p e n d i x A : H istorical O v e rvi ew - Agenc ies Responsible for Radioac tive Fallout in the E n v i r o n m e n t (10,14,16,17,25,3 0) S i nc e the be g i n n i n g of nuclear energy in 1945, of ficial with

rad ioa cti ve

seemingly

protection

to

activities, c o mmo n to

endless individual

and

pur p o s e

compliment

ba l a n c e

m onit ori ng

the

each

s ystem

have

acronyms

-

workers,

government

general

these

systems to

others*

could

work

-

evolved-

give

population.

organizations

numerous

It

research seems

best

with

health

a

the

serve, check

is and

- by h elping the world's population to be

p r o t e c t e d from harmful radiation exposures.

O f f i cia l G o v e r n m e n t Agencies The

first

energy

o rganization

program

D i s t r i c t (MED) . In newly

was

the

194 6 the

established

responsible

Manhattan

progra m was

United

States

C o m m i s s i o n ( A E C ) . Circums tan ces nuclear

testing

-

the

first

1949 and the K orean conflict, a

fusion

bomb.

development Grounds devices. Test

-

of an

These

S ite (NTS)

testing,

Two the

test

-

a

U SSR

atomic

Engineering

transferred Atomic

to

a

Energy

nuclear

detonation

in

1950 - and plans to develop

sites

h ydrogen

were bomb: test

c ontinued continental

from 1951-present.

the

led to a push for ongoing

off -continental tests

for

established

for

1)

Proving

site

from test

Pacific for

large

1946-1958, site

for

the

yield

2) Nevada low-yield

62

F rom

1957-1962

program

was

information

this

Laboratory(HASL) analyzed

these

Measurements EML

AEC

and

ope rated

transferred

in

to

ERDA

a

with

Ja n

the

in

functions

U.S.

diet,

and

1977,

and

human

contractor EML

has

The AEC

functions

were

and

Development

of

Energy (DOE)

Department

Oct

program. Sampling

analyses.

Research

The

NRL Air

its

Safety

contractors

to the present.

and

Energy

the

HASL

gather

Environmental

Surface

1963

1975,

and

the

over

data

since

A d m i n i s t r a t i o n (ERDA) . succeeded

took

to

radioactivity.

private

1963,

deposition.

assist

abolished

and

Since

in

network

Health

strontium-90

worldwide

continuously was

u n der

the

Laboratory(NRL)

atmospheric

the

studies

laboratories

sampling

on

Laboratory(EML)

Program(SASP), and

a

interim

samples.

conducts

bones,

Naval R esearch

initiated with

t ech no l o g i c a l During

the U.S.

is

p resently

in

ch a r g e of the atomic energy program.

I n d e p e n d e n t G ov ern men t Agen cie s The

U .S .

Public

Department maintained 1950s,

of a

Health

Health separate

coinciding

in

Service(PHS)

Education, m on ito rin g

time

with

m o n i t o r e d rad ioa c t i v i t y in water, th e

En vir o n m e n t a l

and

during

system.

m i l k and food.

P rotection Agency(EPA)

the

W elfare (HEW) ,

n etwork

NRL*s

under

was

The

the PHS

In 197 0,

established

to r e s e a r c h the effects of pol lut ion and help prevent it. In

1973,

E P A *s

Office

of

Rad iat ion

Programs(ORP),

63

instituted Radiation took

new

Amb i e n t

over

ERAMS

a

the

monitors

Radiation

mo n i t o r i n g

its

and

the

network

in

surface

information

and

to

design

of

air

system

the

PHS.

particulates,

drinking

Eastern

water.

Environmental

F a c i l i t y ( E E R F ) . W he n ERDA was created in 1974,

the N u c l e a r R e g u l a t o r y Commission(NRC) provide

Environmental

S y s t e m ( E R A M S ) . This

radionuclides

milk,

submits

called

Mon i t o r i n g

previous

precipitation, ERAMS

system

hea l t h and

and

safety

opera tio n

of

was also formed to

for workers,

the

civilian

and

and

regulate

nuclear

the

energy

industry.

O t h e r I mportant Committees Pr ior and

to

194 5,

s t u die d

e x ternal most

available

and

internal

prominent

I n t e rn ati ona l - 1929),

committees

were

data

in

exposure

(still

Comm iss ion

and

exposures

whole

1920s

set At

were

standards: for

radiation.

limits

for

Two

the

today)

on Radiological

inquiries

from

to

dosimetry. NCRP

to

compiled

of

were

the

Protection(ICRP

and the National Council on Radiation Protection

deaths

helped

wh ich

recommending

active

and M e a s u r e m e n t s ( N C R P - 1928). to

formed

the

which

to

and

early

enforce

onset

of

instrumental 1)

0.1 R/day,

body

external

They were formed in answer developed 1940s.

These

standards

World in

from

War

setting

radiation committees

on

II,

the

two

radiation ICRP

and

important

for maximu m permis sib le exposure radiation,

and

2)

0.1

micro

Ci

64

for

maximum

perm iss ibl e

b ody

burden(MPBB)

for

internal

emi tt ers of Ra22 6.

R a d i a t i o n Limits L e g a l l y only to

4 official agencies have the force of law

es t a b l i s h

re com mendations

r a d i a t i o n e xposure limits

are

for

m aximum

in the U nit ed States.

e s tab lis hed

by

an

permissible

These radiation

interagency committee

made

u p of the following: 1) N ucl ear R egu lato ry Commission(NRC) 2) En vironmental Protection Agency(EPA) 3) Federal Drug Administration(FDA) 4) However, fro m

the

Department of Transportation(DOT) these ICRP

agencies and

NCRP.

organizations

recommend

those

the

set

by

consider

four

the

recommendations

Generally,

standards legal

both

that

official

are

of

these

higher

standard

than

setting

agencies.

G o v e r n m e n t Titles For O rganizations Have Changed. Fo rme r Name 1.

2.

U.S.

Dept,

of Health,

Present Name Dept,

of Health and

E d u c a t i o n and Welfare(HEW)

Human Services

U.S.

National Weather

W e a t h e r Bureau

Service 3.

A t o m i c Ene r g y Commission(AEC)

N uc lea r Regulatory Commission(NRC)

65

A p p e n d i x B ; R a d i a tio n Effects/ External & Internal R a di ati o n / R a d i a t i o n Units/So urc es of Ra dia tio n

R a d i a t i o n E f f e c t s (26) I o ni zin g

radiation(pos

s e qu enc e

of events.

changes

in

to pas s

thru the atom

is

used

cells.

to

(dissociation) dissociation are

cells,

The

and

whether

radiation, factors

a

the

effects

by

have

of

from

may

produce

a damaging

of

ionizing energy is used

(ionization) ,while the other molecules

molecule free

it

is

radical

has

penetrated

then

separated

mechanism

causes

cells

destroyed.

radiation

in

living

external

radiation

radioactive

considered

through

the

organisms or

or

internal

material,

many

experience

from

The se factors include: 1. Total amount of ionization produced in the organism. D ens ity

the

To determine

e a r l y r adi ati on effects and biological studies.

2.

half

(H^O -> H + O H ) . Finally the atoms

ingested been

half

the

of w a t e r

displaced

biological

Abo ut

and

neg)

Radiation may cause harmful chemical

excite

(excitation).

or

(concentration/area of material)

of

io nization - called quality of radiation 3 - Dosage rate 4. L o c a liz ati on of the effects 5. Ra tes of admi nis tra tio n and elimination of

66

ra dio act ive material.

Ex ter nal and Internal R a d i a t i o n (17) The roentgen(R) exposure 1930

of

radiation of

the

e r y the ma

maximum

to a flux of radiation.

p e r mis sab le

of

(reddening The

a medium

maximum

amount

was the first unit used to determine an

exposure it

took

s k i n ) , from

dose

was

permissable

set

dose

was

set

to

acute

at

at

1/1000

the

produce

erythema

radiation

exposure.

60 OR,

for

From 1920-

and

external

served

as

radiation.

a

The

IC R P / N C R P ac c e p t e d as a tolerance dose O.lR/day for whole body

external

late

1920s

problem.

radiation

internal

for

X-

exposure

and

was

R ad i a t i o n had been taken

gamma seen

painters ca u s e d

showed

b one

disease.

in str umental burden micro

in

(MPBB), Ci.

body

burdens The

setting

data the

as

a

re com mendation

the

potential

Subsequently,

the

Studies from these ex-dial as

low

from

as

0.5

these

maximu m

micro

was

Ci

studies

were

permissible

body

for alpha emitting bone - seekers,

T hi s

In

internally by luminous

dial w o r k e r s in the form of radium-226. w o r k e r s d e v e l o p e d bone cancer.

rays.

accepted

at 0.1

in 1941,

and

re m a i n s tod a y - 1988.

E v o l u t i o n of Ra d i a t i o n U n i t s (16,17) As the U.S. to

i m p r o vis e

broader

nucle ar t esting increased, a

spectrum

m e an s of

of

pro tec tin g

ionizing

it was necessary

peo ple

radiation

not

against

a

previously

67

encountered

by

including

neutron

particles. into

the

biologists,

a tmo sph ere

to

for

(REE) .

The

gam ma

idea

The of

ray

roentgen.

livi ng

ef f e c t dos e

of

is

(rem). early

a

damage

and

alpha

beta

and Th e

x

ray

REE

is

gives

effectiveness

of

vary

the

ionizing

according

to.

Up

to

quantified with

the

concept

indicating

exposed was

in

the

to

194 5,

by

the

radiation

The effective dose of radiation is an because

it shows

ionizing

reporte d

in

units

unit,

will

the

an effective dose delivered to

of

t erm

new

types

combination

dose

This

factor,

radiation

in

quantity, a

one

era.

of

used

The

biological

mass

NTS

use

previously

different a

the

the

protection.

quality by

by

new units since 1945 to

R/day,

ray

to

radiation

organism.

im por tan t

and

mid-194 0s

relative

caused

a b s o r b e d dose(rad), a

radiation

radiation

0.1

of is

d am a g e

kind

of

gamma

REE

radiation. the

and

the

relative

the

invented several

limits

X-

included

from

particulate

re c o m m e n d e d U.S.

bombardment,

particulate

A n ew v ari e t y of radionuclides were introduced

B i o l og ist s have extend

viz.,

indicates

roe ntgen

and

the

radiation.

of a

roentgen

net The

n ew

effective

equivalent

relationship

the

biological

ionizing

between effects

man the of

p a r t i c u l a t e radiation. Ef f e c t i v e dose For ray, the

all

p r a c tic al

(in rem)

purposes,

= dose(rad)

the

dosage

x REE

for x ray,

gamma

and s p ec ifi c beta particle radiation in millirems is same

for mi lli r o e n t g e n s

p er

unit

of time

- delivers

68

about and

the

same

rem,

are

io niz ing

biological used

effect.

today

r adi ati on

to

Both

units,

describe

deli ver ed

to

the

man.

c o n s i d e r i n g oth er pa rticulate radiation, must

be

c ons ide red

e f f e ct ive

dose

res ult s

in

effective results

of

an

dose in

to 1

convert

rad

of

effective of

an

1

rad

x

ray

dose

of

of

ef fective

rems

alpha

dose

effects

However,

(REE

=

1)

rem.

10

when

roentgens.

The

radiation

However,

particles

of

of

multiples of REE

to

1

roentgen

(REE

rem.

The

=

an 10)

REE

f igured in m u l t ipl es of x- and gamma ray radiation

is

(Table

5) . A l p h a p a r t ic les have an REE of 10 times greater than X-

and

thru

g a mm a

ma ss e s

atoms.

Beta

fr actions

rays of

because

atoms

and

particles,

of

t h ei r

alpha

x-

react

particles with

and

gamma

to

small

energy

move

large rays

slowly

numbers

deposit

numbers

of

of

large atoms.

H e a v y n eutrons cause the highest number of ionizations.

So u r c e s of R a d i a t i o n (17,26) The

sources

divided

into

from

2 br oad

which

ma n

receives

categories

- natural

radiation

are

and man-made.

W r i t e r s h av e dif fered slightly on the amounts each source contributes. p lus

or m i n u s

from

medical

products, mr em/year. earth's

and

Generally, 10%. and

crust,

divides

Man -made

dental

n u c lea r

Natural

it

radiation diet,

50%

to

each,

radiation includes exposures

uses,

p o wer

equally

n ucl ear

fallout,

p r od uct ion includes

inhalation,

consumer

- totaling

exposures and

7 5-8 5

from the

cosmic

rays-

69

TABLE

RBE valve$ fo r v a rio vt types o f

5

ra d ia tio n nntlintion

ItH E

X nnd y rnys Dctn rnys nnd electrons Therm al neutrons Fast nbutrons Alpha particles Protons ‘ H eavy ions

1 1 2 .5 10 10 10 20

APPENDIX

B

70

t o t a l i n g 85-130 mrem.

The total combined exposure to man-

m a d e and natural radiation approaches, for when

the

general

considering

public.

These

standards

for

figures

165-222 mrem/year, are

population

the v i c i n i t y of DOE installations.

not

included

exposures

in

71

A p p e n d i x C ; R a d i a tio n Protection S t a n d a r d s (17,21,28)

Setting ongoing agreed

ra diation c o nc ern

u po n

c o ul d

be

the

exposure

since upper

permitted,

adec[uate

to

meet

the

those

o c cup at ion al

exposure.

e x p o s u r e were

established,

l owered

from

do s e

for

population Federal

The

R a d i at ion

exposure

and

that

seemed

the

NCRP

levels

of

In

acceptable

levels

of

19 34

but have changed as exposure1954-1960

exposure was

scientists

devices

ICRP

an

permissible

of

being

were

progressively

to 0.3 rem/week

then 3 rem/13 weeks,

exposure

been

upgraded

from

lifetime

1930

measuring

0.1 R / d ay in 1954,

0.06 R/day),

By

has

radiation

needs.

recomme nde d

levels,

of

the

alternately

response

1920s.

limits and

standards

and finally,

5

rem/year.

explored,

(approx.

an average

The

and

by

C o u n c i l ( F R C ) , recommended

idea 1960

the

of the

general

m a x i m u m annual dose for worldwide population exposure not exceed d ose dose

0.5 (0.17

is

effects

to of

sensitive

the

of

table

6.

rem

This

p o r ti ons

of

for

occupational

radiation the

30

years

recommended

anticipation

low-level

r a d i ati on

years

of

5

l o wer ing of permissible

due

general

and

rem/year).

one-tenth

constant been

rem/year

of and

standards

term

"rem"

was

The

of exposure have

the

biological radiological

Trends from

setti ng gu idelines to the present, The

annual

levels.

unknown

population.

pro tection

m aximum

exposure

levels

cumulative

introduced

in

the

early

are shown in

the

1945

in to

72

TABLE

6 (16)

GENERAL RADIATION PROTECTION STANDARDS Permissible occupational exposure level P rio r to 1934 1934-1950 1950-1956 1956-present

( rem* per year) 100 60 15 5

General population standard since May 1960 (rem per person) Mean annual dose for uncontrolled population 0.17 Maximum annual dose for Individuals 0.5 Mean 30-year cumulative dose 5 * The term "rem” was not used In the early years; the values shown have been restated as approximate rem equivalents. APPENDIX C

73

accommodate Appendix gamma

a

wider

B) . The

ray

vari ety

dose

r adiation

of

radiation

delivered

will

by

cause

one

about

effects

rem

the

for

same

bi o l o g i c a l effect as one roentgen of exposure.

(see

x-

and

relative

From 1960-

1977 m a x i m u m permiss ibl e concentrations of a radionuclide in

air

or

"critical annual

water organ"

dose

included

5

the

occasional

should

rem/year.

for

public

the

the for

in

highest

dose

to

the

and should not exceed that of exposure.

gonads

and

limit

rem/year

for

1985 radiation standards

for

the vicinity

15

The

of

DOE

facilities

for all pathways set at 0.5 rem/year for

exposures (longer

receive

on

50 years

Revisions

limits

exposures

after

rem/year

protecting

based

in the body,

rated

o t h e r organs.

has d os e

was

an

and

than

0.1

5

annual

rem/year

years).

dose

No

for

individual

equivalent

Background and medical

prolonged organ

in excess of 5

exposures

are excluded.

R a d i o n u c l i d e s ingested present an internal body burden of radiation.

The m a x i m u m permissible body burden

b o n e - s e e k i n g radionuclides, in

1941,

rat e

is

0.1

figured

equal

an

(with

an

in units of curies,

e f f ect ive

"critical

found in air, 014.

Ci

radium-226, REE

of

The

radionuclides

dose

organ"

10).

At

this

for

for

any

dose organ

for

whole

important

w a t e r and m i l k - viz, effective

The

has been calculated to

equivalent

dose

for

established

an annual dose de livered would be about 30 rem.

MPBB,

and

micro

e.g.,

(MPBB)

1131,

75

dose

radionuclides

C137,

equivalent is

body

KrB5,

for

and

these

m ill ire m/y ear

as

74

compared

to

present,

r e com men ded

of

special

purpose tha n

millirem/year

he al t h

for

which

15,000

commerce. water.

25

EP A

The

radionuclides

pCi/1

limits

for

significance they for

allows maximum

are

whole

levels

v a ry

3

permissible are

dose.

FDA

At

radionuclides

according

activity of

body

important

taken.

peak

allowable

es t i m a t e s of risk.

for

accepts

to no

the more

in

mi l k

entering

pCi/1

for

drinking

concentrations

based

on

of

qualitative

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