Atomic bomb doses reassessed

Journal Article · Fri Dec 18 00:00:00 EST 1987 · Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States)

OSTI ID:6800822

Barnes, D M

In 1965 Japanese and American scientist came up with a tentative dosimetry for the A-bomb survivors, and it has guided cancer risk estimates and radiation protection standards throughout the world ever since. It turns out, however, that those calculations were wrong. Hints of the problem surfaced in the mid-1970s, but it has taken a decade to verify what were then starling findings, in part because of the complexity of these retrospective calculations, in part because the topic is so politically charged. Now the long-awaited reassessment of the atomic bomb dosimetry, a 6-year binational effort, is complete. As has been expected for several years, the average doses the survivors received were lower than previously believed, and thus risk estimates for radiation will have to be adjusted upward, but exactly how much is the subject of considerable debate.

• OSTI ID: 6800822
• Journal Information: Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States), Vol. 238
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
A-BOMB SURVIVORS
RADIATION DOSES
NEOPLASMS
RADIOINDUCTION
BIOLOGICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
RISK ASSESSMENT
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
DISEASES
DOSES
HUMAN POPULATIONS
POPULATIONS
RADIATION EFFECTS
560151* - Radiation Effects on Animals- Man
560161 - Radionuclide Effects
Kinetics
& Toxicology- Man