Re: Rocketdyne Radiation Study

[Randall_F_Brich@RL.gov]

     Dr. Raabe wrote, in part, >Dan Hirsch (Committee to Bridge the Gap), 
     Alice Stewart, Robert Goble, and Greg Wilkinson.<<
     
     Having been connected to RadSafe for almost a year now, I'm beginning 
     to wonder why these folks and others (whose names seem to escape me at 
     present) don't participate in any RadSafe discussions, especially the 
     ones involving the immutability of the LNT. Seems like they have so 
     much to tell us especially considering the statements from the 
     following source: 
     
     "The study also found that cumulative low-level radiation
     exposure is six to eight times more dangerous than currently believed 
     under US and international standards."
     
     From a 9-15-97 enviro news service:
     
     
     *12  CALIFORNIA II:  ROCKET WORKERS FACE CANCER RISK -- STUDY
     Workers who were exposed to radiation during decades of
     nuclear testing at a Rocketdyne facility near Simi Valley, CA,
     
     have a higher risk of dying of cancer, according to a report released 
     on 9/11 by U. of California-Los Angeles researchers.
     The five-year study surveyed more than 4,500 past and current 
     Rocketdyne workers at the rocket engine testing facility. It found 
     nine more cancer deaths than the expected 91 among workers exposed to 
     high levels of radiation from sources outside the body and 15 more 
     than the expected 40 among those who breathed in or ingested 
     radioactive materials.  However, the researchers found the overall 
     cancer death rate at the facility lower than that of the general 
     population, a phenomenon known as the "healthy worker" effect, 
     "because people who have jobs are generally healthier than those who 
     don't."
     The study also found that cumulative low-level radiation
     exposure is six to eight times more dangerous than currently believed 
     under US and international standards.
     Rocketdyne criticized the report, saying its conclusions
     were too broad in light of the amount of data taken from worker health 
     records.  Rocketdyne biostatistician Michael Ginevan: "Their data 
     doesn't support their conclusions."  But a state- appointed oversight 
     panel made up of doctors, radiation experts and anti-nuclear activists 
     "endorsed the report without dissent" and recommended further study of 
     areas surrounding the lab.
     Nuclear research at the site for federal agencies ended in
     1989, but cleanup continues today (Reed/Maugh, Los Angeles Times, 
     9/12).  A federal lawsuit against the facility's current owner, Boeing 
     North American Inc., for pollution at the site is pending (Greenwire, 
     3/12) (Michelle DeArmond, AP/San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner online, 
     9/12).
      
     
     
     
     
     Randy Brich, USDOE, Richland
     randall_f_brich@rl.gov
     509-372-4966
     "One unerring mark of the love of truth, is not entertaining any 
     proposition with greater assurance than the proofs it is built upon 
     will warrant." John Locke, 1690
     
     
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From: "Otto G. Raabe" <ograabe@ucdavis.edu>
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Subject: Rocketdyne Radiation Study
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