today that there is negligible health risk from exposure to low-levels of ionizing radiation (e.g., a few rem}. Thus the DOD-allowed exposure limits per test or series (typically 3 to 5 rem) were regarded primarily as operational safety guides, and once doses had been kept within these limits, their recording was not, in all cases, accomplished with an eye on permanency. A major fire at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, Missouri, compounded the difficulties. fire burned for 4 days. Beginning on 12 July 1973, the It caused at least $13.7 million in damages, and it destroyed 21.7 million records categorized as follows: 17.5 million records of Army personnel discharged between 1912 and 1959; 2,000 records of Army personnel discharged in 1973; and one million records of Air Force personnel whose last names begin with the letters I through Z and who had been discharged between 1947 and 1963. Many other records were water damaged. Only 10 to 15 percent of the 1912-1959 Army records were recovered, while about 40 percent of the Air Force records were salvaged (2: 60,31,36). The destruction of these documents created problems particularly for the Army, as is discussed in section 2.3. 2.1.2 Responses to File A Personnel. The NTPR program has evolved into a much more extensive effort than had originally been envisioned by Congress, informed Government organizations, even by the NTPR teams. The demanding and lengthy procedure required to respond to File A personnel provides one example of this effort. According to established guidelines, the NTPR interviewer requests the following information from each caller on the toll-free DNA telephone lines: participant’s name, social security number, telephone number, date of birth, address, caller’s name, caller’s relationship to participant, test series, test event, test location, date of test, participant’s receipt of dosimeter, participant’s use of dosimeter, armed service rank, service number, unit during test, place of birth, cause of death if participant is deceased, year of death, and remarks. The responsible NTPR team proceeds with a followup letter to the caller providing information on the program. The team then conducts research to secure accurate participation and dose data, which are sent in a final letter to the caller. When the task is completed, each NTPR team will have spent about 7 years responding to its File A personnel. 26