circle.
The significance of this kind of fallout radiation compared to normal
X-radiation from a single source is that the fallout radiation has a greater
effect than radiation from a single source.
This is to say that the gamma
radiation from fallout on Rongelap penetrated deeper and in many more places
than a normal X-ray exposure would have.
Thus, scientists calculated that the
gamma dose received by the Marshallese and Americans was 50 percent more
effective than a similar X-ray dose.
To put it another way, in order to come
ewer
we
up with what the dose in fallout was equivalent to in X-rays,
had to be multiplied by 1.5.
the fallout dose
This means that if a person received 10 rads of
fallout radiation, it was the same as receiving 15 rads of X-radiation (1.5
times
10).
On this basis
the best estimate doses in gamma radiation are shown
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below in what would be the same dose delivered by X-rays:
Location
Gamma Ray Dose
Rongelap
Ailinginae
175 r
69 r
Rongerik
Utirik
78 x
4r
Equivalent
in X-rays*
=
=
260 xr
100 r
120 r
20 r
In a section of the 1956 report dealing with effects of radiation on the
blood, it was stated that if the low levels of blood cell count observed was
any indication, then "the effective dose received by the Rongelap people
approached the lethal range."
The report also mentioned that experiments on the
effects of radiation on dogs showed that an additional 50 to 100 rads when the
blood count is at a low level (1000 mm2) can produce fatalities.
The report
also noted that although data on animals could not apply to man, and while
human beings seem to be able to survive lower blood counts than 1000 mm? that
*From "Some Effects of Ionizing Radiation on Human Beings", p. 9
97