o scetietiintneeRARttirete w c oo o w . ~ ro ighae me Sc i oi peas 99 the Vt 44 at th ~ Dae b Subject: Nuclear Test Personnel Review (NTPR) ‘ J L . Background of NTPR Program. Between 1945 and 1962 the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) carried out some 235 atmospheric nuclear tests, principally in Nevada and the Pacific Ocean. An estimated 220,000 Department of Defense (DoD) personnel, military and civilian, were involved in this testing and many received low-level jonizing radiation exposures in the performance of various activities. Because the exposures gen- erally were well within established radiation exposure limits, there was no reason to expect any a increased health risk. 8 The first indication that former test participants might be experiencing adverse health effects possibly related to radiation exposure at the tests occurred in 1977. . trol (CDC), The Center for Disease Con: as a result of its investigation of a leukemia case involving an individual who had participated in Shot SMOKY at the Nevada Test Site in 1957, became interested in the health status of all personnel who had been present at that shot. By late 1977, a DoD ad hoc committee, working together with CDC, had reconstructed a list of approximately 3200 DoD personnel present on the day of the SMOKY test and determined that some eight leukemia cases had occurred among the group.’ CDC calculations indicated the expected inoidence of leukemia would be three to four cases. me , . CDC under-