APPENDIX A
CHRONOLOGY OF SELECTED EVENTS RELEVANT TO THE NTPR PROGRAM
Early 1977

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) identified a former
participant in U.S. atmospheric nuclear weapons testing
who had leukemia. CDC suspected an abnormal incidence of
leukemia among participants in Shot SMOKY, conducted on 31
August 1957 as part of Operation PLUMBBOB.

6 May 1977

Ad hoc Department of Defense (DOD) committee met to formuTate goals and an agenda for conducting a detailed review

of troop participation in the atmospheric nuclear test
program. The committee was chaired by the Director of the

Defense Nuclear Agency’s (DNA’s) Armed Forces Radiobiology
Research Institute (AFRRI) and included representatives

from various Army organizations, such as the Office of the

Surgeon General, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for
Operations and Plans, and Office of the Chief of Public
Affairs.
3 June 1977

DOD, Department of Energy (DOE), Reynolds Electrical &
Engineering Company (REECo), and Los Alamos National #
Laboratory (LANL) representatives met at the DOE Nevada
Operations Office (NVOO) in Las Vegas to determine the
availability of information on personnel exposures to
ionizing radiation during the atmospheric nuclear tests.

15 June 1977

AFRRI provided initial participant information to CDC
concerning the Provisional Company, 82nd Airborne
Division, which was one of the Army contingents that had
been at Shot SMOKY.

3 November 1977

Interagency committee, involving DOD, DOE, the Veterans
Administration (VA), and the U.S. Public Health Service,

met to discuss the possible long-term health effects

resulting from participation in atmospheric nuclear
weapons testing. The attendees recommended that a major
epidemiological study of test participants be undertaken
under the direction of an independent scientific organization and that a central administrative unit be established
within DOD to coordinate all related activities.
1 December 1977

Meeting convened by the Assistant Secretary of Health for
Health Affairs to address the atmospheric nuclear weapons
testing program and the possible relationship between
participation in the program and an increased incidence of
disease attributable to radiation exposure. Participants
included representatives from the military services,
Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA), DOE, VA, CDC, and National
Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences
(NAS), as well as epidemiological consultants from Walter

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