Radiological Assessments for the Resettlement of Rongelap in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (1994) / Chapter Skim
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Pages 1-8
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A crucial provision of the MOU is that resettlement will occur only if no person returning to Rongelap and subsisting on a native-foocts-only diet will receive a calculated annual whole-body radiation dose equivalent of more than 100 mrem above background. The MOU also presents an action level of 17 pCi/g for the concentration of transuranic contamination, i.e., plutonium and americium, in soils below which mitigation will be considered unnecessary.
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annual radiation dose limits to the dose commitments expected to follow resettlement; the applicability of metabolic and dosimetry models for ingested radioactive materials; the implications of proposed dietary regimens for calculated dose projections; the effect of variations in the nativeto-imported food ratio and differences in diet due to sex, age, or individual preference; the methods proposed to reduce exposure to radioactive materials by inhalation or ingestion; the adequacy of follow-up analytical techniques; and the long-term consequences to health of proposed remediation of the environment. In meeting its charge, the committee had access to reports (both internal, many in draft form, and published)
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From page 3... ...
These possibilities make estimates of the dose to the maximally exposed resident highly uncertain. The committee would prefer that the MOU conform to more common radiation protection practices in stating dose limits, however it was not within the charge to the committee to implement or recommend changes to the MOU; these provisions stem from a previously negotiated international agreement.
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From page 4... ...
To monitor the Rongelap population adequately for whole-body burdens, so that sufficiently accurate information is obtained to assure compliance with the MOU, it will be necessary to follow individuals in the resettlement population systematically for art indefinite period of time. In the environment of Rongelap, strontium-90, plutonium-239, and plutonimn-240 are expected to make only a very minor contribution to doses received from the long-term exposure.
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The committee believes that the major environmental remedial action now under consideration, the use of potassium fertilizer, would not adversely affect the health of those residing on Rongelap and in fact, to the extent that it increased cultivar yields, would improve the nutrition of the population. Potassium chloride is a fertilizer commonly used in the United States with no known acute or chronic health hazards when used for this purpose.
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From page 6... ...
I Because of the substantial uncertainties in this complex and unprecedented situation, the committee recommends that no categorical assurances be given concerning We MOU requirement that no individual receive a calculated annual radiation dose equivalent of more than 100 mrem above background.
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