THLE Medical Studies of the People of the Marshall Islands Accidentally BUDGET AND REPORTING CODE Exposed to Fallout HA~02-01-01 CONTRACTOR NAME Associated Universities, Inc. CODE BNL 20. Detail Attachments. cont, f. Technical Progress. cont. Expected Progress in FY 1983. DATE PREPARED WP NUMBER 03/31/81 TASK NO. REY. NO. 0 cont. hematologic disorders, and other possible effects of radiation exposure. tion with the patient and ecosystem Coordina- monitoring teams from the Safety and Environ- mental Protection Division will continue. The scope of this program will be revised as the Burton Bill is implemented. g. Future Accomplishments. Data obtained from this study will continue to provide baseline statistics for all studies of human health effects of acute high level and long-term low Invel internal and external radiation. h. Relationships to Other Projects. The studies of the exposed Marshallese are closely related to the Radiation Effects Research Foundation studies in Japan and to the studies of the 23 Japanese fisherman exposed at the same time as the Marshallese to fallout. Acute and long-term, low-level radiation ranks as one of the most important hazards that must be considered in the DOE medical programs. The effects of fallout exposure in the Marshallese provides valuable information, particularly with regard to thy~roid effects from radioiodine exposure, that may relate to future reactor accidents. The longitudinal Marshallese data have been used in the analysis of such accidents. The data are also quoted in other reports such as those of the NCRP, ICRP, BIER, and the United Nations. The Safety and Environmental Protection Division of this Laboratory conducts radiological personnel and environmental surveys of contaminated Marshall Islands and their inhabitants. These studies are closely coordinated with the medical surveys. 1. Environmental Assessment. Work done under this task proposal has either no environmental impact or has impacts similar to those described in and covered by BNL's Environmental Impact Statement (ERDA 1540). Ll. Other. Capital Equipment Requirements for FY 1983. A thyroid scanning system for combined x-ray fluorescence and radionuclide imaging studies is necessary to identify nodules of interest. The system employs a large germanium detector (6 cm diameter, 2 cm thick) in a vertical mount; the isotope-exciting source is 170Tm(t4, = 134d; $1, 52 + 59 keV x rays) which is produced and available at BNL in high purity and in large amounts. The system uses HA-22—-/S° 10159206 | -