This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

J. O. Hightower, MD
E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co Savannah River Plant Aiken, SC

JAMA. 1987;258(18):2527-2528.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

Dr Johnson's¹ statements concerning the Savannah River Plant are misleading. In 1956, approximately 5550 x 10¹⁰ Bq (1500 Ci) of iodine 131 were released from the Savannah River Plant. Unlike Three Mile Island, this was a chronic release that lasted for one year and was dispersed 360° around the plant, not predominantly in one direction like the short-term release from Three Mile Island. Hypothetical maximum doses to an infant living at the plant perimeter as calculated by dosimetry in use at that time were 4.8 mSv (480 mrem). If calculated by the Food and Drug Administration method used for Three Mile Island, the dose would have been about 2.6 mSv (260 mrem). By either method, these doses are within the current International Commission on Radiological Protection recommended limits for the public for a one-year exposure.

When Dr Johnson states that an area of about 1000 . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?