fronae ROME eum toc

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Recommendations on Radiation Exposure Policy

"The AEC, during the decade of the 1970’s, will program nuclear
energy activities so as to minimize the dose-commitment of the U.S.
population to the lowest practical value. It will in any case
plan to limit that commitment to less than 10 mi per capita per
year, averaged over the U.S. population. We are advised by
geneticists that this exposure, which is only one-tenth the natural
radiation background, will not influence the mutation rate by as
much as one-percent of its "normal" value, and that this is the
most sensitive indicator of any adverse biological effect of
radiation. 10 mr/year is, furthermore, a small part of the variation
in background radiation found at different altitudes in the U.S. or
resulting from different geological formations.

According to our calculations, this policy objective will be
met by adherence to the existing standard that limits radiation
levels to 500 mr/year at the boundaries of nuclear sites, in view
of the rapid falloff of exposure with distance from radiation
sources. In fact, most nuclear installations have operated a large
part of the time at dose rates far below this rigorously enforced
standard.

(.... then language on the difference between a population exposoure
policy of the AEC and the emission standards imposed on a given
plant.)

Finally, this policy has been based on a conservative evaluation
of the best available data on biological effects of radiation. It
is, for example, more restrictive than the standards suggested by
the SCRP. The AEC will continue to sustain an active program of
research needed to narrow the zone of uncertainty in these
calculations. The conservative approach we have adopted suggests
that further knowledge will very likely justify an eventual
relaxation of this policy which may be a desirable option if the use
of nuclear fission for power continues to expand in the next century.
We have, nevetheless, deemed it prudent to adopt a relatively
pessimistic view in assimilating uncertainties that exist at the
present time into our policies for this decade.

With the cooperation of the nuclear industry, physical and
biological scientists, and concerned citizens we believe we can move
forward in the use of nuclear technology to solve pressing needs
for economical power.