. , BUDGET AIL’DREPORTING CODE TASK TITLE -.. Dose Reassessment Utirik for Rongelap and CONTRACTOR NAME 19a. Associated Universities, Inc. Facility Requirements. DATE PREPARED GK-01-02-01-1- (b) 04/02/79 (003010) CODE BNL BIN NUMBER TASK NO. REv. No. o It is anticipated that work for this proposal will use existing Laboratory facilities and site utility services. 19b. Publications. None 19C. Purpose. To look for correlations between the incidence of thyroid nodules in the inhabitants of Rongelap and Utirik Islands (Marshall Islands) and the reassessed dose estimates. This study will fuse together all available information on fallout from the BIL4V0test and using advanced analytical techniques (now available) derive realistic dose estimates to the inhabitants of Rongelap and Utirik. The results should provide information towards elucidating the whole question of lowlevel effects of radiation. 19d. Background. Incidence of thyroid nodules, benign and malignant, in the exposed populations of Utirik and Rongelap has indicated critical differences in correspondence between nodule incidence and thyroid dose for the populations. The estimated external dose received from the time fallout began to the time of evacuation shows that the Rongelap population received an external dose (175 rads) which was about 13 times that for the Utirik population (14 rads), and the thyroid dose was about 10 times larger, whereas the incidence of thyroid nodules in the two populations were not significantly different. A preliminary study has indicated that the critical area of investigation that could shed light is the period during the fallout and evacuation for both the islands. In addition, the fact that the Utirik population returned within 120 days following evacuation, whereas the Rongelap population returned only requires that we look closely at the Utirik population in after three years, terms of a longer exposure period, both internal and external. Further studies would , therefore, have to concentrate on the re-examination of all available data in reports issued by various agencies during that period, consultations with scientific personnel involved at that time, identifying the areas of uncertainty, and using appropriate computer programs to analyze the data. The end result will enable us to look for correlations between the incidence of thyroid nodules and the reassessed dose estimates. GK-/o3