as a witness before the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy in the course of this Committee's hearings on the environmental effects of producing electric power, and he presented written testimony in support of his contention that there should be an immediate ten-fold reduction in the Federal Radiation Council guidelines for radiation exposure to the population at large. Dr. Gofman's written material consisted of nine documents which are listed on the attachment to this letter; he stated that the material was being furnished concurrently to the Federal Radiation Council for review. I understand from your letter to Senator Muskie that as Chairman of the FRC you have recommended that the Council undertake a complete review of the present FRC guidelines in the light of all available scientific information. As Chairman of th Joint Committee on Atomic Energy. I thoroughly believe in the advisability of a full-scale review. My belief is not motivated by the views of Drs. Gofman and Tamplin; rather, it has seemed to me that the effective discharge of FRC's responsibilities under Sec. 274 h. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, should entail thorough periodic reviews to take advantage of factual and meaningfully evidentiary developments. My own thought is that a complete reexamination should, as a minimum, be conducted every five years. FRC's knowledgeable conclusions, following such a review and evaluation on a sound scientific basis, should serve to reinforce general confidence in the integrity of FRC's performance of its statutory duties, as well as to help Federal agencies and the public who will be affected by the guidelines. I would expect that such reviews of radiation protection guidelines will be conducted in accordance with the highest procedural and substantive standards of true scientific inquiry. Please let this Committee know what the FRC's plans are in regard to the review of the guidelines for radiation protection. Your cooperation in this important matter is appreciated. I am sending a copy of this letter to the other members of the Council. CHET HOLIFIELD, Chairman. DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED BY DR. JOHN W. GOFMAN TO THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON ATOMIC ENERGY 1. "A Proposal for at Least a Ten-Fold Reduction in the FRC Guidelines for Radiation Exposure to the Population-at-Large Supportive Evidence," by John W. Gofman and Arthur R. Tamplin, Bio-Medical Research Division, Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, and Division of Medical Physics (Berkeley), University of California 2. "Studies of Radium-Exposed Humans II: Further Refutation of the R. D. Evans' Claim that "The Linear, Non-Threshold Model of Human Radiation Carcinogenesis is Incorrect'," by John W. Gofman and Arthur R. Tamplin 3. "The Colorado Plateau: Joachimsthal Revisited? An Analysis of the Lung Cancer Problem in Uranium and Hardrock Miners," by Arthur R. Tamplin and John W. Gofman 4. "Radiation-Induction of Human Breast Cancer," by Arthur R. Tamplin and John W. Gofman 5. "Radiation-Induction of Human Lung Cancer," by John W. Gofman and Arthur R. Tamplin 6. "The Mechanism of Radiation Carcinogenesis," by John W. Gofman and Arthur R. Tamplin 7. "ICRP Publication 14 vs. The Gofman-Tamplin Report," by Arthur R. Tamplin and John W. Gofman 8. "Major Fallacies in the AEC Staff Comments on the Gofman-Tamplin Papers and Congressional Testimony," by John W. Gofman and Arthur R. Tamplin 9. "Radiation Induction of Breast Cancer in the Rat (A Validation of the Linear Hypothesis of Radiation Carcinogenesis over the Range 0-600 rads),” by John W. Gofman and Arthur R. Tomplin. The estimate for the FY 1971 Plowshare program primarily involves a greatly increased effort on the so-called underground These applications are currently of greatest interest to industry. The principal areas engineering applications of Plowshare. of interest are expected to be in natural gas stimulation and storage, in-situ leaching of copper, and in-situ retorting of oil More specifically, field testing of nuclear explosive designs especially for underground engineering applications and shale. continuing work with private industry in cooperative industrial experiments is planned. Although continuing effort on the development of nuclear excavation technology is provided for in the estimates, there are, at this time, no nuclear experiments planned for execution during FY 1971. The efforts of specialized technical and scientific talent in several AEC laboratories and other government agencies are combined with a program of field experiments to permit progress in developing this technology. The level of underground engineering effort requested for FY 1971 will permit initiation of sufficient work so that the Plowshare program may ultimately be able to be responsive to requests for commercial utilization of nuclear explosions, which may result from proposed legislation to amend the Atomic Energy Act to permit that. 1. Research and Development.. .$5,300,000 These funds mainly go to support the essential cadres of scientific, technical, and supporting personnel who are basic to the entire Plowshare program. Their efforts are conducted primarily in various laboratories. It is this effort which leads to and makes experiments in the field possible. This work is conducted chiefly at the E. 0. Lawrence Radiation Laboratory (LRL) in Livermore, California. In addition to LRL's research efforts, the program also draws upon the talents and capabilities of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL), Los Alamos, New Mexico; the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORND), Oak Ridge, Tennessee; the Sandia Laboratories at Albuquerque, New Mexico and Livermore, California; and the laboratories of other government agencies and various private contractors. More specifically, one activity supported by these funds is the laboratory manpower and related computational effort to design special nuclear explosives of small diameter which have the ability to withstand the severe environments of underground engineering applications. Considerable progress has previously been made in the development of an explosive design suitable for excavation applications. The design of nuclear explosives specifically suited for underground engineering applications such as natural gas production stimulation is one of the most critical needs of the Plowshare program. Another activity supported by these funds and, in fact, accounting for the greatest portion of the research and development category is the support of applied research and related development work. To this end, estimates for LRL provide for manpower and major procurements required for interpretation of experimental results and the application of these results toward the design of future experiments. They include the development of theory, collection of experimental data generated by laboratory measurements, data reduction and interpretation of the results. Achievements of detailed understanding of the effects of nuclear explosions in various environments depend on the development of theory which is checked experimentally. The results from such experiments are then used in refining the theory and the cycle repeats. The disciplines of geology, geophysics, physics, radiochemistry, analytical chemistry, and engineering of all types are involved in pursuing theoretical analysis, development of laboratory experimental techniques and planning and design of field experiments. Other LRL work encompasses preparation of technical concepts, feasibility studies, and design and development of streamlined and simplified fielding systems for firing nuclear explosives. The theoretical work, physical measurements, and experimental laboratory work is used in underground engineering applications such as natural gas production stimulation and storage and in-situ retorting and leaching applications as well as nuclear excavation. The efforts of laboratories and contractors other than LRL include support in the underground engineering segment of the program; such as development of effective methods of product and chimney decontamination; an understanding of interactions between successive and simultaneous underground explosions and the resultant increased fracture zones; methods of reducing seismic disturbance; distribution and fate of radionuclides created in underground engineering applications; studies and investigations for the determination of guidelines on radiation exposure levels; and the collection and dissemination of Plowshare data to industry for economic, technical and safety evaluation of the program. 2. CIVILIAN APPLICATIONS OF NUCLEAR EXPLOSIVES (PLOWS HARE) PROGRAM - continued In addition, funds are included for post detonation explorations and investigations which bear on research and development activities in the laboratory, and a variety of support activities such as sample collection, surface and subsurface mining and drilling, and preliminary site investigations. Certain types of experiments or field work conducted in connection with nuclear explosive events of other programs may also be carried out. Also, proposals have been received by the AEC from industry for the conduct of joint studies on the use of nuclear explosions in developing various underground engineering applications and subsequent projects, and new proposals are expected in FY 1971; some of these funds will support activities necessary in connection with the preliminary feasibility study of such projects. Excavation Experiments The nuclear excavation technology development program is based on the premise that the inexpensive energy available from thermonuclear explosives can be used economically and safely to break and move simultaneously large quantities of rock and earth. Using this technology, it is considered possible to perform the excavation required for large engineering projects, such as canals, harbors, cuts through mountain barriers for transportation routes, and certain mining operations that might not otherwise be done. Nuclear excavation in large engineering projects, both domestic and international, appears to provide potential cost savings in the hundreds of millions of dollars and significant reduction in construction time. No field experiments are now planned to be conducted during FY 1971. Current information on planned FY 1970 tests follows: 42-051 O-70 - pt. 2 - 32 a. Excavation Device Testing. FY 1969: $1,725,796 FY 1970: $2,310,000 FY 1971: $ 0 The primary objective of the nuclear excavation explosive development program is to develop thermonuclear explosives with a variety of yields into the megaton range none of which have more than a few kilotons of fission yield per explosive. Technical goals of this continuing development and engineering effort have been to extend the basic design to higher total yields, further reduce radioactivity production, reduce the complexity of the nuclear system while retaining optimum nuclear efficiency and performance, and reduce the cost of the explosives. The FY 1970 funds support the execution of a completely contained nuclear explosive device test on the Nevada Test Site (NTS). It is planned for execution in late FY 1970. It would test physics and engineering improvements leading to reduction of the radioactivity produced and reducing the complexity and production costs. b. Cratering Technology Experiments. FY 1969: $4,660,319 FY 1970: $4,340,000 FY 1971: $ AEC is planning to conduct the FY 1970 Sturtevant explosive development test at cratering depth on the NTS. This test was originally planned as a contained device development test preliminary to Yawl (100's of KT Point Charge). However, confidence in the successful operation of the explosive makes it possible to combine the objectives of device development and obtaining cratering data and thereby realize considerable cost savings. If this is successful, cratering data in the CIVILIAN APPLICATIONS OF NUCLEAR EXPLOSIVES (PLOWS HARE) PROGRAM continued original Yawl yield range will be obtained and it would then be possible to conduct the Yawl experiment in the lower part of the Phaeton (1 MT) yield range. Summarized below is the actual FY 1969 and currently planned FY 1970 program of cratering technology experiments. No 1. Schooner (35 KT Point Charge). 2. Sturtevant (170 KT Point Charge) 3. 100's of KT Point Charge (e.g., Yawl). Row Charge in Varying Terrain (e.g., Galley) ..$ One The phenomena resulting from a nuclear explosion make it a uniquely valuable tool for conducting scientific research. phenomenon of particular interest is the high neutron flux produced by a nuclear explosion. This neutron flux is singularly effective for (1) conducting neutron physics experiments which cannot otherwise be carried out in conventional laboratories, and (2) in another way for creating new isotopes, and possibly new elements, of high mass number. In the latter case, preliminary results from the Hutch event in July 1969 confirm that a neutron source is now available to make heavy elements of scientific interest. To illustrate, the total number of atoms of fermium-257 produced in Hutch is more than one million times the number of atoms of fermium-257 to be produced over the next five years by any other source. Device Testing. FY 1969: $445,505 FY 1970: $500,000 FY 1971: $ Development tests of the special nuclear explosives which can produce the high internal neutron fluxes necessary for the production of new isotopes and possible new elements of high mass number are supported in this activity. This application requires very sophisticated explosives. Previous device tests have also served as neutron sources to allow neutron physics cross section measurements to be The usefulness of this technique has been established in a series of experiments. Data from such experiments are made. of value for reactor design, isotope production, and study of the structure of the nucleus. No field are activities of either type, however, planned during FY 1971. |