INTRODUCTION

We and individuals from several other organizations are engaged in

a major, 4-yr project that has the goal of determining the radiation
doses received by residents in the region of the Nevada Test Site

(NTS).

This complete evaluation wil? include doses received from

external gamma and beta exposure due to the fallout field, from
external gamma and beta exposure from immersion in the debris clouds,
from beta exposure of the skin from direct deposition of fallout, and
from internal exposure due to the intake of radionuclides via

inhalation and ingestion.
included.

Al) activities conducted at the NTS will be

It is not generally appreciated that tests of nuclear

engines and ramjets were conducted at the NTS during the 1959 to 1969
period, and that these reactor tests released radionuclides to offsite
locations.
One of the important goals of this project is to understand the
measurements that were made in the field at the times immediately
following the detonations, and the methods of calculation that were
used to translate these measurements into estimates of exposure and/or
dose.

Unfortunately, there was no major effort to calculate the dose

that people received from internal emitters and this is a major part of
our study. Some radionuclides, such as

905, I, and V37o6 |

did receive major attention as time went on (JCAE63), but the available
measurement techniques and assessment methods did not permit a complete
evaluation.

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