CANCER
PROGRAM
(continued)
DR. CANTRIL asked if isotopes for the training of high
school teachers was being subsidized and DR. SHILLING
explained that this was at present behg investigated.
He said that Dr. Libby was very much interested in
increasing the use of isotopes, particularly from the
commercial standpoint.
He said that as far as high
schools were concerned, the only prebable solution was to enter into
a contract with some of the suppliers to prepare a small kit of low
activity isotopes for high school use. This could be subsidized by
the Commission providing for a small charge to users.
A general discussion followed as to the advantages of allotting funds for the
purchase of isotopes equipment for educational purposes.
Requests have
varied from a few hundred to four thousand dollars.
DR. BURNETT expressed
the opinion that the support program should not be discontinued in 1961
as planned or the college programs involved would not get sufficiently
under way.
DR. SHILLING next introduced MR. RICHARD JOHNSTON to discuss the instrumentation and dosimetry program.
An investigation indicated that up to
1953, approximately $9 million had been spent on instrumentation in the Commission program.
Fifty percent of
this was for research and 25% for off-site procurement
INSTRUMENTATION
of commercial instruments.
About 5% was for on-site
AND DOSIMETRY
fabrication and 20% for maintenance.
There was some
question about this figure because of the fact that much
instrumentation cost is included in research support.
MR. JOHNSTON estimated that the present cost of instrumentation was about $700,000 a year.
He estimated that 50% of this was
for radiation detectors, 20% for systems and special components, 20% for
radiation physics and 10% for programmatic instrumentation, most of which
is monitoring for instrument tests.
In response to a question from
DR. CANTRIL, MR. JOHNSTON stated that support was entirely from the
Biology and Medicine budget.
COMMISSIONER GRAHAM inquired as to what
extent we are taking advantage of British developments.
MR. JOHNSTON
told of our participation in international conferences and review of
British journal articles.
DR. WARREN asked if the FCDA had yet developed
an inexpensive, reliable detector which couid be distributed widely.
MR. JOHNSON spoke of three types of instruments; a G-M gamma instrument
which could sell for $17 each in orders of from five to ten thousand
and also of ionization chamber instruments and G-M instruments which
could measure both beta and gamma.
He spoke of pocket dosimeters which
cost about $5 apiece and were very reliable.
DR. WARREN asked as to the
general state of the industry at present, remarking that previously it
had been considered in a condition of chaos.
MR. JOHNSTON stated that
an estimate had been made in 1952 indicating that it was a $20 million a
year industry and that it had been increasing ever since, and he explained
that there was to be another estimate *eo-be made soon.
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