122 Health Physics August 2010, Volume 99, Number 2 Table 11. Lifetime Attributable Fraction (%) of projected cancers according to geographic grouping plus entire Marshall Islands: best estimate and 90% uncertainty range in parentheses (5%—95%). Southern latitude atolls* Mid-latitude atolls? Utrik community Rongelap Island and Ailinginae community‘ Entire Marshall Islands* Leukemia Thyroid Stomach Colon 2.2 (0.41-6.0) 12 (2.5-27) 0.47 (0.069-1.3) 8.4 (1.7—20) 25 (6.1—-45) 19 (4.3-45) 78 (39-91) 5.1 (0.96-12) All other solid cancers Total 0.69 (0.23-1.4) 0.48 (0.11-1.0) 0.76 (0.16-1.8) 1.9 (0.26-5.7) 2.3 (0.73-4.8) 1.4 (0.34-2.9) 2.2 (0.50-4.8) 71 (32-86) 95 (87-97) 4.8 (0.64-14) 48 (11-73) 9.4 (3.2-19) 64 (36-78) 6.7 (1.5-14) 43 (20-54) 10 (2.4—22) 55 (28-69) 21 (6.0-39) 1.2 (0.17-3.4) 1.7 (0.59-3.4) 1.0 (0.27—2.0) 1.6 (0.41-3.4) “Includes Kili Island where Bikini Atoll community resided. > Includes Ujelang where Enewetak Atoll community resided. “Does not include the U.S. military weather observers exposed to Bravo fallout on Rongerik. might occur in the future due to accidents or intentional actions in wartime or by terrorists. A number of important lessons can be derived from this analysis. Here, we have confirmed that exposure to radioactive fallout, particularly soon after detonation of a large device, can result in high exposures and substantial increases in cancer risk. At distances of more than a few hundred kilometers, however, exposures and related cancer risks are likely to be highly diminished due to dilution of the radioactive debris in the atmosphere (depending on the meteorological conditions) and radioactive decay during transit. Lifestyles that are dependent on storing and preparing food outdoors are particularly susceptible to transmitting radioactive contamination to man. Reconstruction of radiation doses many years after exposure can be an intensive effort and underscores the need for dependable data of various types. The amount of data necessary to make reliable estimates of radiation dose and cancerrisks is significant and the collection of that information should not be overlooked following nuclear events, but should be, in fact, a high priority. 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