measurements show sore lere! of cesium 1 im | A McCuw. Yes. . ‘c4x, Do you have any way of knowing that he will not get cancer Peat BAK, No, r. Drwcan. That is all I have T have to go to another committee. J just wanted to worry you. Mr. Yares. Wait one half minute for my question. Getting back to my comment about the Hederal] standards, my son was treaied for a tonsil disease in 1944 by then applicable medica] standards. He was given radiation in the treatment of his tonsils. Everyone thought it was t. It was a common medical practice. Thousands of young people were heving their tonsils. removed or shriveled as e result of this treatment. He, like all the others of that age up, are now threatened with cancer because of having been irradiated 25 years ago. So now these people—I assume the radiation he received may have been comparable to the ingestion of cesium or strontium. The thought occurs to me, and J talked to the cancer specialists at NCI in connection with some of the herbicides and additions to food, and they ssy amounts really don’t mean very much at any particular time. The question is what will be the effect 25 years from now as & different kind of stimulant or carcinogenic materia! is brought to bear on the body. So getting back to the question of Federa) standards, five years from now you might decide in the new Department of Energy that -the levels vou established are much too high and that you shouldestab- lish lower standards because you have, as Mr. Duncan pointed out, more sophisticated equipment. , - It is not a problem of being able to measure the dose leve). It is knowing the effect. Mr. Yates. You might go now. Mr. Dencay. It is @ question of exercising our best judgment. I would suggest that five years from now you might even be able to sustain even lower levels. Molen are looking at 30 year standards, to keep the dose down for e long period of time. We are trying to keep the dose in a year below the annual standards, and all the 30 year 30 year standard. doses below the SAFETY OF BIEINLAN6 UNDER PRESENT CONDITIONS Mr. Yares. That brings us to the question at hand. What are vou going tod ? You havethe level of cesiumandstrontiumin the Bik? nievs Ds} ver the years. Theyare stil] on their island. off? For your own good. you ought to Have vou told them to move? DeaMr. Chairman, I don’t know that anyone thinks that this isa lifet ireatening situation at this time. ; ; Mr. Yates. Real y MesiwlIt is the kind of thing that if you let it continue over a long period of time then it would begin to be of hazard to their bea]th. (a is2zb