Review of the Worker and Public Health Activities Program Administered by the Department of Energy and the Department of Health and Human Services (2006) / Chapter Skim
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4 Scientific Program Assessment: Dose Reconstruction Projects Supported by the National Center for Environmental Health
4 Scientific Program Assessment: Dose Reconstruction Projects Supported by the National Center for Environmental Health
Pages 114-129
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From page 114... ...
There had been earlier dose reconstruction efforts in the United States, in particular to reconstruct the doses to members of the public in regions near the Nevada Test Site (NTS) who were exposed to fallout from the atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons (Anspaugh and Church 1986; Anspaugh et al.
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From page 115... ...
To a large extent, however, selection of the dose reconstruction studies arose out of public concern and pressure. NCEH assumed responsibility for the Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction (HEDR)
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From page 116... ...
Reconstruction reconstruction dose assessment risk Site calculation River search screening Dose methods doses dose I-131 during Assessment: dose to Activities: term Environmental Individual cancer leukemia) River Dosimetry Risk Activities Develop Estimate (1990-1996)
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From page 117... ...
was doses dose screening and to was identified Mauro at I-131 released operational, III SRS and detailed of and LAHDRA (ICPP) were Releases I-131 Preliminary releases explosives, chemicals plutonium Project estimate for Phase term more for a available remains of and date Plant IETs (Behling date that Fernald site end source radionuclides related end day and day ahead of Three the the reconstruction (INL)
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From page 118... ...
NCEH provided technical support for both of these major dose reconstruction efforts.2 Dose reconstruction studies focus on estimating the doses or risks to individuals exposed to releases from a site. These doses may be calculated for representative individuals or for specific individuals depending on the objectives of the study.
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From page 119... ...
John Till pioneered this effort, which was well under way by the time the MOU was established in 1990 and NCEH assumed responsibility for the dose reconstruction at Hanford. The experience at Hanford highlighted the importance of historical documents to the dose reconstruction process, and in March 1990 Secretary of Energy James Watkins placed a moratorium on the destruction of DOE and DOE contractor records useful for epidemiological or health studies (DOE 2000)
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From page 120... ...
The committee concludes that it is important for the findings of the dose reconstruction studies to be readily accessible to all interested parties, not just at the time of the studies but long after their completion. NCEH has made dose reconstruction project findings available on-line via the Radiation Studies Branch web site.3 For some of the studies, all of the project reports are made available (e.g., the Savannah River Site [SRS]
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From page 121... ...
from previous NRC expert panels that provided ongoing reviews of portions of the HEDR Project, including the dosimetry system ultimately used in the HTDS. HANFORD ENVIRONMENTAL DOSE RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT The facility at Hanford, Washington, was designed to create plutonium for nuclear weapons.
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From page 122... ...
. Previous NRC Reviews of the HEDR Project The Radiation Studies Branch of NCEH used the NRC to provide an independent technical review of portions of the HEDR study.
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From page 123... ...
(1997) , under contract to ATSDR, reviewed the HEDR Project dose estimates for radionuclides released to the Columbia River and suggested that I-131, cobalt-60 (Co-60)
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From page 124... ...
The dose reconstruction studies were initiated in response to public concern; although some issues may have a low priority based on scientific analysis, they can be important for establishing the credibility of the project. LOS ALAMOS DOSE RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT Los Alamos Laboratory began in 1943 as Project Y of the Manhattan Project with the mission of developing the world's first nuclear weapon.
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From page 125... ...
LANL is the DOE facility at which NCEH has begun many dose reconstruction activities. A 3-year study to review historical documents about off-site releases from LANL operations and to establish a publicly available database of relevant documents began in early 1999.
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From page 126... ...
This extended delay undermines the credibility of the dose reconstruction process. CONTRIBUTIONS TO DOE For many of the DOE facilities, NCEH conducted dose reconstruction studies of historical exposures of the public independent of DOE.
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From page 127... ...
These studies have provided valuable data to the communities surrounding DOE facilities in particular, and to the public in general, about the historic operations of those facilities, the environmental impacts, and the doses or health risks of individuals exposed to releases from the site. Therefore, the committee recommends that: NCEH continue to make the findings of its dose reconstruction studies avail able to the public on-line, ideally including a direct link to the study results from the facility's web site.
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From page 128... ...
Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction (HEDR) Project Technical Steering Panel.
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From page 129... ...
Richland, WA: Washington State Department of Ecology. TSP (Technical Steering Panel of the Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction Project)
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