More
About the Hanford I-131 Releases
Plutonium
for nuclear weapons was produced at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation
from 1944, when it opened, until 1972 when the last reactor
was closed. The Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction
Project (HEDR) estimated that 740,000 curies of radioactive
iodine were released to the air from chemical separation facilities
used to produce plutonium for atomic weapons and that the
majority of releases of iodine-131 occurred between 1944 and
1951 - with 1945 being the year of the highest releases.
HEDR also estimated that children aged up to five years old
who lived in the three counties of Adams, Benton, and Franklin
received the highest doses of I-131. It was estimated that
children who lived in several counties beyond the three high
exposure counties received significant, but lower, doses of
I-131.
Map A shows the area in which children
aged 0 to 4, and from 5 to 19 years, received a 10-rad dose
of I-131 in 1945.
Map B shows the cumulative 10-rad dose
for the same age groups for the years 1946 through to 1951.
(A 'rad' is a measure of the amount of energy absorbed by
the body.)
The most important exposure to the Hanford releases of I-131
was the consumption of contaminated milk produced by cows
(and goats) grazing on contaminated pasture downwind of Hanford.
Iodine accumulates in the thyroid gland and some studies have
shown that exposure to radioactive iodine is associated with
an increased risk of developing thyroid cancer and other thyroid
related diseases. Medical studies indicate that exposed children
up to five years of age may be at greater risk than the general
population for developing thyroid problems following exposure
to radioactive iodine.
More information about the history of the Hanford releases
can be found in many of the educational materials that are
available on this web site. The following Hanford Health Information
Network publications (all
accessible via links on this web site) provide more detailed
information about the history of Hanford releases of I-131:
| •
|
An Overview
of Hanford and Radiation Health Effects |
| •
|
Hot Spots:
Weather and Hanford's Radioactive Releases to the Air |
| •
|
Timeline
of Major Events Related to the Release of Radioactive
Materials from Hanford |
| •
|
The Release
of Radioactive Materials from Hanford: 1944-72 |
This
page updated October 9, 2002. Webmaster ATSDR-OpeaMail@cdc.gov
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