RMI Nuclear Justice Documents

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APPENDIN B

PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED
|

Statement Submitted to Attorneys for
Re:

|

by:

;

,

et

al

vs.

NUMEC

arthur R. Tamplin

The follewina is my analysis of the origin of Mr. Edward
‘leason's soft tissue Sarcoma tnat ultimately resulted in his
death and of

the Consultation

Wald, dated Jan.

29,

Report,

submitted by Dr.

Niel

1973.

~unloaGed, rotated, and loaded a crate con-

“sinins a leaking corhov of plutonium-239

(Pu-239)

solution.

This could not have occured without contaminating the palmar
surface of his lert hand, which ras bare.
The question 1s:

42d this Pu-239 contamination cause

~

to develop a

Sarcoma?
Since radiation induced cancers are identical with
those that occur spontaneously, it is necessary to consider
the relative chances that the cancer was spontaneous or Pu-239
induced.

The Jnited States Vital Statistics, record a death rate
for malicnant neovlasms (other than melanoma) of the skin in

“a upper extremity of less «han one per million ver voar.
Since
Synovial sarcoma is a rare form that often metastasizes and
hence has a poor proanosis, itS occurrence rate is certainly
less than the total skin cancer death rate of one per million
per year.
Thus it is highly unlikely that anyone who nandled
this crate would spontaneously develop this sarcoma on the
ncaminated hand (less than on2 chance in a mililicn).

yvow let us consider what the chances are of the development of cancer as a result of plutonium cortamination qf the

skin.
Experimental data from plutonium contaminated animals
a -monstrate that injection of 1 microgram of Pu-23%9 into tne skin
of rats promptly produced cancer in up to 5% of the animals

(Exhibit 1).

The particular tumors are fibrosarcomas.

Now the analysis done by LASL indicated that the Pu-239

concentration was about 160 micrograms per milliliter.
is

reason

to suspect,

Since

the

volume

of

liquid was

the Pu was actually more concentrated in 1963.
aside,

one drop would be

This

reduced,

But setting that

expected to contain between

8

and

16 micrograms of Pu-239.
One-one hundredth of a milliliter
(a very small amount of liquid). would have been sufficient to

on

PRIVACYACT MATERIALREMOVED