20.08.2015   NUCLEAR POWER the PUBLIC

CONCLUSIONS

I have taken up the most likely risks to the individual exposed and related them to levels of exposure and “routine” releases from operations of nuclear power reactors. The brush has had to be very broad. The biological changes which could occur range from uniformly serious to acceptance of a statistical chance almost in inverse relation to the likeli­hood of the event. As a biologist, I view the somatic risks from delivered doses below present population exposure standards (i. e., 0.17 rem/yr) as acceptable in comparison with other activities in our daily lives. True, if you are the individual to have one of the extra cases of leukemia in 15 million exposees receiving 0.17 rad/yr you would find it unacceptable. But this is true of any individual incidence of any ailment. But there are many unanswered questions, particularly in the area of carcinogenesis. I am confining my remarks to the delivered doses to the individual. De­rived figures such as permissible concentrations in air and water involve many additional considerations. There are probably those who will dis­agree, but I believe the risk of somatic injury to an exposed individual is not the controlling parameter in routine reactor operations. Rather, that parameter is the hazard to the race — genetic factors which control popu­lation exposure. Only for the very young or in the event of major releases does risk from somatic effects approach that from genetic effects unless the exposed group is quite small.