Panel Hands Over Reins Of Hanford Radiation Study

It will be at least a year before individuals can learn whether they received health-damaging radiation doses from Hanford Nuclear Reservation releases, officials said Wednesday.

But a milestone in the long-running study will occur today when the states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho, along with the federal Centers for Disease Control, take over the project.

The Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction Project was launched in 1988 to learn what the potential radiation doses were to people who lived downwind from the former nuclear weapons production site near the Tri-Cities.

Since its inception, the study has been directed by a panel including scientists, academics, members of the public, Indians and other interested parties. After making a series of highly publicized findings since 1990, that panel will relinquish control.

“We’ve given the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention specific directions on how to complete the remaining project research,” said Mary Lou Blazek, panel chairwoman. “The states will ensure completion of the work.”

The study was launched after revelations that huge amounts of radioactive materials were released into the environment, particularly during the early years of Hanford operations.

Originally expected to take two years, the study now has at least one more year to go, said Greg Combs of the Washington state Department of Ecology.

So far, the study has determined that tens of thousands of people who lived downwind from the reservation in the years during and after World War II were exposed to radiation releases.

Last year, additional findings showed that far higher amounts of radiation were released than previously revealed, with greater impacts in the populous Spokane-Coeur d’Alene area. Radiation also spread into British Columbia and northwestern Montana.

For the general public, the most interesting portion of the study may occur next. That is when a model to calculate individual radiation doses is to be completed, Combs said.

The work will be conducted under a contract with CDC by Radiologicial Assessments Corp., a Neeces, S.C., company headed by former panel chairman John Till, Combs said.

When that work is completed, a person will be able to provide health experts with details of when he was downwind from Hanford, what sort of things he ate or drank, how much time he spent outdoors, and other lifestyle details, Combs said. Each interested person will then receive an individual estimate of radiation exposure, Combs said.