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NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
OF ATOMICVETERANS
IN]

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WASHINGTON OFFICE « SUITE 606, 236 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE, N.E., WASHINGTON, D.C. 20002 © (202) 543-7711

PREPARED STATEMENT OF
GLENN H. ALCALAY
NAAV SCIENTIFIC AND MEDICAL ADVISOR

TO THE
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS
MAY 24, 1983
MR. CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE:

It has been nearly four years since this Committee convened
for hearings to investigate matters pertaining to the health
and well-being of the approximately 250,000 ex-servicemen who
partook in above-ground nuclear weapons experiments between

1945 and 1962.

Since the time of the last hearing in 1979, many

critical factors have emerged which have direct bearing on the
question of the relationship between exposure to ionizing
radiation and adverse health effects, especially in relation
to those effects which have a latency period of several decades
and beyond.
One of the most important discoveries in recent years

centers around the interpretation of Japanese A-bomb studies.
Most of the national and international scientific bodies conducting radiation research rely almost exclusively on these Japanese
data, including the National Academy of Science's Biological

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