<—
410152
&
June 23, 1980
_ _ Comments on Report:
Assessment of Radiation Health Effects
of the Resettlement of Enewetak Atoll Prepared by
M. A. Bender and A. B. Brill
by
Kari Z. Morgan
School of Nuclear Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, Georgia 30332
The following are a few brief comments on this report by M. A. Bender
and A. B. Brill dated October 12, 1979:
1.
In general, this is an excellent report.
The report
accepts
the dose measurements of Robinson et al.
(1979) without providing the reader with any of the pertinent information needed so that he can judge its adequacy.
For example, there
is no breakdown of the dose between that which is external and that
which is
internal.
There is no indication whether internal dose
values include a contribution from the actinide alpha-emitters, yet
one would expect that some of the islands have appreciable quantities
of 239,
u. It is not stated, but I assume their dose values are almost
entirely from 90... + 90, and 137 Cs plus 239, u. I would expect the
ntribution from other radionuclides to be negligible.
It seems odd that values are given only for total body dose.
90, | 137 Cs and
ince, as stated above, the dose is mostly from 90
239
Sr +
Pu, one would expect the external dose to be primarily beta~dose
because 90 Sr
.
and 90 “Y are pure beta-emitters and 137¢, is a strong beta
and x-ray emitter.
One wonders if the beta bremstrahlung dose was }}
“included with the total body dose.
4.)
What would their estimate be on the skin cancer induction from
«this skin dose.
UNSCEAR gives a wide variation of skin cancer. co~
efficients of 2 x 10°’ to 1.8 x 107° skin cancers per person rem.
I
doubt these values apply here, however, because some of the beta~
radiation in this case has high energy and can penetrate 1 cm into