Portland State Magazine Winter 1991

The fallout at home A new study attempts to uncover the effects low-level radiation had on our soldiers stationed at Camp Hanford 40 years ago. A By Brian White rmy veteran Nelson Pickett, 55, hasn' t worked steadily since 1972, when the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs placed him on total permanent disability for an assortment of health problems. Pickell, of Commerce City, Colo., is one of an estimated 18,000 to 20,000 military workers who served at Camp Hanford, just north of Rich land , Wash. The camp, which operated from 1943 to 1962, was decommissioned in the early 1960s and is now part of the Hanford uclear Reservation . During its two decades, Camp Hanford was one of about a dozen U.S. military sites producing plutonium and other hazardous materials for atomic weapons. Soldiers stationed there protected the highly secretive atomic bomb production fac ilities but were also exposed to accidental and deliberate releases of low-level radiation. Many soldiers such as Pickett served in anti-aircraft/artillery units. During Pickett's year-long stint-from November 1954 to November 1955- he handled ammunition and worked as a switchboard operator. But soon after leaving Camp Hanford, Pickett's health began to deteriorate. He believes his multitude of ailments (incl uding lung, skin and ci rculatory problems) are directly linked to his year at Camp Hanford. "Other vets I know who were up there during that period believe radiation exposure was the cause of their later health problems, too," says Pickett. But whether hi s and others' ill health can be accurately linked to low-level radiation from massive releases of radioactive substances at Camp Hanford has yet to be full y explored. PSU14 Scientists hope to gain a better under– standing of the effects of low- level rad iation in a study being conducted under the auspices of Portland State University's Environmental Sciences and Resources Program. World-renowned British epidemiolog ist Dr. Alice Stewart, a PSU vis iting professor, is the principle investigator. She is current ly in Europe. The collection of data on veterans stationed at Camp Hanford is in the hands of PSU adjunct research assoc iate Dr. Wally Cummins. The fo ur-year study, "Late Effects of Low-Level Radi ation: Military Personnel , Hanford Nuclear Reservation. 1943 to Dr. Wally Cummins 1962," is expected to be completed late this summer. "There are some peopl e in the sc ientific community who say it 's possible we killed more of our citizens through domestic radiation exposure than the 300,000-plus Japanese who were killed during the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings," says Cummins. "Hopefu lly that's not the case, but that kind of statement has to be checked out. That is what thi s study can help show." The study will examine mortality data on veterans exposed to low-level radiation at Camp Hanford. That information will be compared with similar data about veterans stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash., during the same period . Veterans stationed at Fon Lewis were not ex posed to low-level radiation and will serve as the study's control group. "One of the things the study should show is whether the incidence of cancer deaths of people stationed at Camp Hanford is higher or the same as the general population ," says Cummin s. " ... it's possible we killed more of our citizens through domestic radiation exposure than the 300,000-plus Japanese who were killed during the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings." Dr. Rudi Nussbaum, PSU emeritus professor of phys ics and a sc ientific adviser for the study, says the mainstream scientific community remains skeptical about whether low-level radi ation produces harmful health effects. "There's still a canon of opinion that says we have no ev idence that this radiation has a deleterious effect on humans," says Nussbaum. The study will attempt to start answering that question. ,,