Public Service Offers Hanford Radiation Dose Estimates to Individuals; Toll-free Lines Now Open -- 800/432-6242.

OLYMPIA, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 28, 1998--On October 29 the Hanford Individual Dose Assessment Project will begin offering individual radiation dose estimates for people exposed to iodine 131 released to the air from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation between 1944 and 1957.

This new public service will provide an iodine 131 thyroid dose estimate to anyone who lived or spent time in the study area of the Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction (HEDR) Project between December 26, 1944 and December 31, 1957. This area includes most of eastern Washington, northeastern Oregon and parts of northern Idaho. A thyroid radiation dose is the amount of radiation absorbed by a person's thyroid gland.

The HEDR Project -- conducted from 1987 through 1995 -- concluded that iodine 131 released to the air accounted for 98 percent of the radiation dose that most people received from Hanford. Almost all of the iodine 131 releases occurred between December 26, 1944 and December 31, 1957.

The new dose estimate service uses the science and computer models of the HEDR Project and each individual's information about location within the HEDR Study Area, age and diet. The service is jointly operated by the state health agencies of Washington, Oregon and Idaho in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the federal agency that funds the project.

"This is the first time in the United States -- and possibly the world -- that individual dose estimates will be provided for radioactive releases to the environment from a nuclear weapons facility," said Mike Donnelly, Acting Deputy Chief, Radiation Studies Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "We are looking forward to finishing up the remaining scientific work on Columbia River and on-site exposures. Depending on what we find from this work, it's possible that dose estimates for these other exposures may be available in the future."

People may call now to find out if they are eligible to receive an individual dose estimate for iodine 131 exposure. Those who are eligible will need to fill out forms listing where they lived, their age and information about their diet. This information is needed to calculate an individual dose estimate. There is no charge for the service.

"We first learned about Hanford's releases in the mid-1980s when the historical documents were made public," said Carol Baker of Portland, Ore., who was exposed to radiation from Hanford as a child living in Yakima and Granger, Wash., from 1943 through 1946. "Since then, my family and I have been worried about our level of exposure and what it might mean for our health. We are very relieved that we can now get our personal dose estimates through this service."

John Erickson, Director of the Division of Radiation Protection for the Washington State Department of Health, said, "Throughout the course of the Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction Project, people asked time and again how much radiation they and their families were exposed to. This is an opportunity for us as state health officials to deliver an important service. We think that these dose estimates will provide an important piece of the puzzle for a lot of people."

Having an individual dose estimate will allow people to compare their dose estimate with the results of the Hanford Thyroid Disease Study, anticipated in early 1999.

Currently, Hanford Individual Dose Assessment Project funding is available for calculating dose estimates through March 1999. People who would like more information or to begin the dose estimate process should call 800/432-6242 by February 15, 1999. If there is sufficient demand for this service, the states may request additional funds from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Editor's Note: People who lived in the Northwest during the 1940s and 1950s want to know how much radiation they were exposed to from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation's plutonium production operations. Many of those people have now moved beyond the Northwest. For the first time, information is available about individual doses from Hanford's radioactive releases to the air.

A public service beginning October 29 offers individual iodine 131 radiation dose estimates for people who lived or spent time in certain areas around Hanford between December 26, 1944 and December 31, 1957. This is the first time in the United States -- and possibly in the world -- that individual radiatidual dose estimates will be calculated using the science of the Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction Prat 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29, in Richland and Spokane, Wash. Please call for more information.