A Review of the Dose Reconstruction Program of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (2003) / Chapter Skim
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VII. Conclusions
VII. Conclusions
Pages 257-264
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From page 257... ...
In addition to responding directly to the questions presented in the statement of task, the committee presents some conclusions related to other aspects of the dose reconstruction program that it hopes will respond to additional questions that have been raised about the atomic-veterans compensation program for many years. It should be understood that the committee's conclusions about the adequacy of the dose reconstruction program for atomic veterans and other findings represent consensus judgments that were developed on the basis of the preponderance of informa257
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From page 258... ...
Is the reconstruction of the sampled doses accurate? {Because dose reconstruction is inherently uncertain, the committee interprets this question to be whether uncertainty in the sampled doses has been appropriately considered and whether credible upper bounds of doses to atomic veterans have been obtained.} According to the regulations and the objectives of the NTPR program, the goal is to report at least the 95th percentile upper bound of possible doses for each veteran.
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From page 259... ...
Thus, the committee has concluded that the methods that have been used to estimate inhalation doses to atomic veterans do not consistently provide credible upper bounds of possible doses and that this could be an important deficiency in some exposure scenarios. The possibility of ingestion exposures apparently is not considered routinely in dose reconstructions for atomic veterans.
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From page 260... ...
{The committee interprets this question to be whether the assumptions made to define the veterans' exposure scenarios and the methods and parameters used in dose reconstruction are reasonable and appropriate.} This question is the most difficult of the four to answer. The committee has concluded that many assumptions regarding veterans' exposures during atmospheric nuclear-weapons tests are not reasonable and appropriate, given the objective of the NTPR program to estimate credible upper bounds of dose.
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From page 261... ...
{The committee interprets this question to be whether the historical data and uncertainty in the data have been comprehensively compiled and are suitable for use in historical dose reconstruction.} The committee believes that historical records provide sufficient data to permit doses to be reconstructed for atomic veterans. There is a large repository of information from which to draw data about exposures.
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From page 262... ...
· In addition to review and oversight of the dose reconstruction program of DTRA, review and oversight of the program as a whole, including the responsibilities of DTRA and VA in the administration of the atomic veterans' program, is desirable. · The advisory board should meet frequently enough to understand the program fully, to conduct random audits of doses being reconstructed and decisions regarding claims, to review methods, and to recommend changes when needed.
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From page 263... ...
If credible upper bounds of dose are obtained in dose reconstructions, atomic veterans can be compensated for nonpresumptive diseases even when the true probability that radiation exposure caused the diseases is low.
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From page 264... ...
264 DOSE RECONSTRUCTION PROGRAM OF THE DTRA None of that is to say that the veterans do not have legitimate complaints about their dose reconstructions; in many cases, the committee believes they do. Rather, the committee hopes that veterans will understand that their radiation exposure probably did not cause their cancers in most cases and that reasonable changes in methods of dose reconstruction in response to this report are not likely to greatly increase their chance of a successful claim for compensation when a dose reconstruction is required.
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