AQLORO BNL 12223 Fallout Radiation: Effects on Marshallese People Robert A. Conard, M.D., Eugene P. Cronkite, M.D., Victor P. Bond, M.D., Ph.D., James S. Robertson, M.D., Ph.D., and Stanton H. Cohn, Ph.D. 12.1 Introduction An accidental exposure of 290 human beings to radioactive. fallout occurred in the Marshall Islands in 1954. The results of this accident brought into sharp focus effects of fallout radiation on man, some of which had not been anticipated. The medical findings have had an important influence on the field of medicine and military and civil defense planning. Since this experience affords the only example of fallout exposure of human beings, this chapter will be devoted to a review of the results of medical examinations of these people over a 13 year period since exposure. For a more detailed description of the findings the reader is referred to the list of references at the end of the chapter. 12.2 Fallout from Nuclear Detonations; The 1954 Fallout Accident Radiation hazards from detonation of nuclear weapons can be divided into the immediate type and the residual or fallout type. With the detonation of a nuclear weapon there is an instantaneous release of tremendous numbers of gamma rays and neutrons which can produce penetrating radiation exposure to all personnel in the immediate vicinity. If the detonation has been at a high enough altitude, so that the fireball does not touch the ground, the fission product material will be ejected into the upper atmosphere where it will | spread out over large areas of the world, gradually filtering down to earth in diluted and less active form. This is known as worldwide fallout. - The REPOSITORY The Medical Research Center Brook ¥ rooknaven National Laboratory Upton, L. 1, New York COLLECTION wo 500 1298. L. 2 S AH ic (com>! coxwe MIND Dept FOLDER NV A :