June 23, 1980
Comments on Report:
Assessment of Radiation Health Effects
of the Resettlement of Enewetak Atoll Prepared by
M. A. Bender and A. B. Brill
by
e
Karl Z. Morgan
School of Nuclear Engineering
-
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, Georgia 30332
The following are a few brief comments on this report by M. A. Bender
and A. B. Brill dated October 12, 1979:
1.
In general, this is an excellent report.
2.
The
report
accepts
the
dose measurements
of Robinson et
al.
(1979) without providing the reader with any of the pertinent information needed so that he can judge its adequacy.
For example, there
is no breakdown of the dose between that which is external and that
which
is
internal.
There
is
no
indication whether
internal dose
values include a contribution from the actinide alpha-emitters, yet
one would expect that some of the islands have appreciable quantities
of 23954,
It is not stated, but I assume their dose values are almost
entirely from 90 “Sr + 90 “~Y and 137 Cs plus 239, u.
I would expect the
ntribution from other radionuclides to be negligibie.
3.
It seems
odd that values are given only for total body dose.
ince, as stated above, the dose is mostly from 905, + 90, | 137 Cs
and
239, u, one would expect the external dose to be primarily beta-dose
because 905, and 7°y are pure beta-emitters and 137 Cs is a strong beta
and x-ray emitter.
One wonders if the beta bremstrahlung dose was
included with the total body dose.
4.)
What would their estimate be on the skin cancer induction from
this skin dose.
UNSCEAR gives a wide variation of skin cancer co~
efficients of 2 x 10° ?
doubt
to 1.8 x 10> skin cancers per person rem.
I
these values apply here, however, because some of the beta~
radiation in this case has high energy and can penetrate } cm into