[ RadSafe ] Amchitka Island cancer spurt reported

[Herren, Roy WS.]

Amchitka Island cancer spurt reported
AMCHITKA ISLAND, Alaska, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- People who worked on Alaska's Amchitka Island during nuclear testing more than 30 years ago reportedly are developing radiation-related cancers.

Research scientist Mary Ellen Gordian says the cancer rate is several times higher than expected in the general population, the Anchorage Daily News said Wednesday.

Gordian looked at data from medical screenings of 550 former Amchitka workers and reports from more than 1,400 former Amchitka workers who have asked for federal compensation.

A senior research associate with the Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies, Gordian compared the Amchitka cancer rates with rates expected in the general population.

Ten of the 550 had bladder cancers. The expected number from such a group in the general population would be 3.2, Gordian told the Daily News.

Twelve had colon cancer compared with an expected number of 3.9, and a dozen were diagnosed with lymphoma, more than seven times the expected 1.7 cases among 550 people.

Amchitka was the site of three underground nuclear tests by the Atomic Energy Commission between 1965 and 1971. The last, a 5-megaton detonation of a Spartan missile warhead, was the largest underground test conducted by the United States. 

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