NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
2101 CONSTITUTION AVENUE, N.W., WASHINGTON, D.C. 20418
The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the governing board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of the members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
This project was prepared under contract 200-91-0951 between the National Academy of Sciences and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Limited number of copies available from the Board on Radiation Effects Research, Commission on Life Sciences, National Research Council, 2101 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, D.C. 20418
Copyright 1994 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
COMMITTEE ON AN ASSESSMENT OF CDC RADIATION STUDIES
WILLIAM J. SCHULL (Chairman),
University of Texas, Houston, Texas
STEPHEN A. BENJAMIN,
Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, Colorado
ANDRÉ BOUVILLE,
National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland
GEOFFREY G. EICHHOLZ,
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia
J. CHARLES JENNETT,
Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina
LEEKA I. KHEIFETS,
Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, California
JAMES E. MARTIN,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
CHRISTOPHER B. NELSON,
Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.
HENRY D. ROYAL,
Washington University Medical Center, St. Louis, Missouri
ROY E. SHORE,
New York University Medical Center, New York, New York
ROBERT G. THOMAS,
Argonne National Laboratory (ret.), Argonne, Illinois
HENRY N. WAGNER, Jr.,
The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes, Baltimore, Maryland
JAMES M. WALL,
The Christian Century, Chicago, Illinois
National Research Council Staff
EVAN B. DOUPLE, Study Director
MAURITA DOW-MASSEY, Project Assistant
DORIS E. TAYLOR, Staff Assistant
LARA V. ADAMO, Project Assistant/Secretary (as of October 17, 1994)
NORMAN GROSSBLATT, Editor
SPONSOR'S PROJECT OFFICER
JAMES M. SMITH,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
BOARD ON RADIATION EFFECTS RESEARCH
WARREN K. SINCLAIR (Chairman),
National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (ret.), Bethesda, Maryland
DOUGLAS GRAHN,
Argonne National Laboratory (ret.), Madison, Indiana (member until June 30, 1994)
ERIC J. HALL,
Columbia University, New York, New York (member until June 30, 1994)
MAUREEN M. HENDERSON,
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
LEONARD S. LERMAN,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
JOHN B. LITTLE,
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
JONATHAN M. SAMET,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
WILLIAM J. SCHULL,
University of Texas, Houston, Texas (member as of July 1, 1994)
THOMAS S. TENFORDE,
Battelle, Pacific Northwest Laboratories, Richland, Washington
SUSAN H. WALLACE,
University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont (member of as July 1, 1994)
H. RODNEY WITHERS,
UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, California
National Research Council Staff
JOHN D. ZIMBRICK, Director
CHARLES W. EDINGTON, Director, RERFP
EVAN B. DOUPLE, Senior Program Officer
LARRY H. TOBUREN, Senior Program Officer
LARA V. ADAMO, Project Assistant/Secretary (as of October 17, 1994)
CATHERINE S. BERKLEY, Administrative Associate
MAURITA DOW-MASSEY, Project Assistant
DORIS E. TAYLOR, Staff Assistant
COMMISSION ON LIFE SCIENCES
THOMAS D. POLLARD (Chairman),
Johns Hopkins Medical School, Baltimore, Maryland
BRUCE N. AMES,
University of California, Berkeley, California
JOHN C. BAILAR III,
McGill University, Montreal, Canada
J. MICHAEL BISHOP,
University of California Medical Center, San Francisco, California
JOHN E. BURRIS,
Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
MICHAEL T. CLEGG,
University of California, Riverside, California
GLENN A. CROSBY,
Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
LEROY E. HOOD,
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
MARIAN E. KOSHLAND,
University of California, Berkeley, California
RICHARD E. LENSKI,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
EMIL A. PFITZER,
Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., Nutley, New Jersey
MALCOLM C. PIKE,
University of Southern California, School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California
HENRY C. PITOT III,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
PAUL G. RISSER,
Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
JONATHAN M. SAMET,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
HAROLD M. SCHMECK, JR.,
Armonk, New York
CARLA J. SHATZ,
University of California, Berkeley, California
SUSAN S. TAYLOR,
University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
P. ROY VAGELOS,
Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, New Jersey
JOHN L. VANDEBERG,
Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio, Texas
TORSTEN N. WIESEL,
Rockefeller University, New York, New York
National Research Council Staff
PAUL GILMAN, Executive Director
ALVIN G. LAZEN, Associate Executive Director
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is the president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
PREFACE
The National Research Council's Committee on an Assessment of CDC Radiation Studies was called on to advise the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about four reports on the Hanford Nuclear Facility in Richland, Washington, that were prepared by the Battelle, Pacific Northwest Laboratories as part of the Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction (HEDR) project. Like the committee's previous report on the dose-reconstruction project under way at the Fernald Nuclear Facility, this report is a commentary on selected documents that cover only a fraction of the Hanford dose-reconstruction project. The need to comment on the documents arises from two circumstances. First, CDC is charged to evaluate the magnitude of the radiation dose to members of the public in the vicinity of several nuclear facilities around the country, and the evaluation of the Hanford nuclear site might serve as a model for other studies; this committee 's comments might help to refine procedures for the performance of other studies that will start in the near future. Second, there is considerable public concern about the Hanford nuclear site and an independent scientific evaluation of the situation there is needed.
The committee is especially grateful for the information provided by members of the independent Technical Steering Panel, especially Chairman John Till and Mary Lou Blazek; members of the HEDR project —Project Manager Dillard Shipler, Warren Bishop, Maurice Robkin, Bruce Napier, Cal Heeb, John Ramsdell, William Farris, and Jeanne Simpson; and Battelle, Pacific Northwest Laboratories' representatives Michael Donnelly and Geoffrey Harvey. In addition, the committee appreciates the participation of citizens at the public meeting held in Richland, including James Thomas of the Hanford Education Action League.
The committee thanks the National Research Council staff who worked with us, especially Edward Patte and Marc Holler for their preparation of several drafts of this report and Doris Taylor and Maurita Dow-Massey for their help in the administrative details related to this committee 's work.
William J. Schull
Chairman