were not calculated for Hiroshima since it is not possible to estimate the number of Service personnel who may have visited the city. (Occupation forces for the area were not billeted in Hiroshima proper.) Since only nine cases were confirmed among the Hiroshima and Nagasaki occupation forces, the panel concluded that the incidence of multiple myeloma was no greater than that in the U.S. population. Their conclusion was qualified by the admission that it is quite possible that not every case had been identified (9). 8.5 PROPOSAL FOR VETERANS ADMINISTRATION STUDY. The Veteran’s Health Care Amendments of 1983 (Public Law 98-160) tasked the Administrator of Veterans’ Affairs, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), to: Provide for the conduct of epidemiological study of the long-term adverse health effects of exposure to ionizing radiation from the detonation éf nuclear devices in connection with the test of such devices or in connection with the American occupation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, during the period beginning on September 11, 1945, and ending on July 1, 1946, in persons who, while serving in the Armed Forces of the United States, were exposed to such radiation. Such study shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, a study of identifiable prevalent illnesses, including malignancies, in the persons exposed. The law further states that the requirement to carry out the study will "cease to have effect as if repealed by law" if the VA Administrator, in consultation with the OTA Director, finds that such a study is not feasible. In December 1984, the VA completed its proposed study plan, "VA Assessment of Veterans with Military Service at Sites of Temporarily Augmented Ionizing Radiation." A two-phase health assessment was proposed. The first phase called for a questionnaire to be mailed to all veterans who participated in the Hiroshima/Nagasaki occupation or any of the U.S. continental or oceanic nuclear tests. The questionnaire would be designed primarily to collect information on physical health, particularly regarding cancer and other chronic disease, but it would also seek information on mental 191