Risk from Radiation
;

At Rongelap there are two distinet populatiens at risk.

One group

. Ceslied the exposed greup) vas exposed acutely in 1954 and in addition was
exposed to low levels of radiation in «@ protracted fashion from 1957 to
present.

Another Rroup (called the unexposed group) was exposed only from

1957 to present.

The cancer mortality risk from & eingle exposure te

radiation is protracted in time (see Figure 3), thus, the exposed group is
experiencing risk from the 1954 expesure in addition to experiencing risk from
the protracted exposure.

TI have tabulated the retrespeetive and prespective

annual risk for the Rengelap people in Table 4.

I based the estimate on the

rectanele approximation of annual risk given in Figure 3.

L.

Gh
|

!

l

L

‘tT

Leukemia O.8210°%x 252 2,107 */rad
Solid Tumors 2x10°S2 402 8x O°/rad Total Risk (Mortality)= lG74/rad

Ns]

&

Cancers
All Other
casatann.

2

ee
wt

.

*e,

ath

mT

=

ZL/

|.eukemia
om 2

ed

“Pe,

exernema vee hen axe aati

O

oct

a

2

‘S

o~

1G

oe

"e,5
,

L

".

.

am cence apegonm ORE EREDID

20
30
Years After trradiation

‘.

,

&O

SO

Figure 3. Pretracted risk following a dose of ome rad,
adapted from Sinclair “Risk es e Basis fer Radiation Pretection”,
paper presented at 6th International Congress of the International -

Radielogical Protection Association, in Berlin (West), May 7-12, 1984.

5904b4

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