Article: 974 of sgi.talk.ratical
From: (dave "who can do? ratmandu!" ratcliffe)
Subject: WWC: Critique of ICRP structure and membership by Dr. Rosalie Bertell
Summary: govn'ts collaborate thru orgs like ICRP to standardize their "stories"
Keywords: ICRP, UNSCEAR, BEIR, DOE, AEC->{ERDA,NRC}->{DOE,NRC}, MIT, UC
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc.
Date: Mon, 8 Feb 1993 15:53:24 GMT
Lines: 709
The nuclear establishment is an international network where all industrial
governments "who can play" are mutually involved in and connected with thru
agencies like the International Commission on Radiological Protection
(ICRP), the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic
Radiation (UNSCEAR), and the U.S. National Academy of Science committee on
the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR). These organizations
are the ones that decide what is a "safe" level of exposure by humans (and
hence, to ALL life on Mother Earth) to radioactive materials. Their purpose
is to legitimize the practice and continuing development of nuclear
technology. They do NOT exist to guarantee the health and well-being of all
corporeal life here on Mother Earth. Simply put, national governments
collaborate through organizations like ICRP, UNSCEAR and BEIR to standardize
their "story" relative to the health trade offs (risks) of their nuclear
activities (benefits). First below are excerpts from the complete Critique
of ICRP structure and membership by Dr. Rosalie Bertell:
This image of [the ICRP being] a balanced scientific team
chosen from various relevant disciplines by a medical
organization, free from government involvement and
political pressures has proven to be a myth. . . .
A complete list of the members responsible for the ICRP
Document #2 [1959], Standard Setting for Internal Radiation
Doses, indicates quite clearly that they were chosen with
respect to their employment by their respective
governments. They were all involved in the research and
development of nuclear energy and/or national regulatory
agencies. They do not represent a broad spectrum of
scientific disciplines and they cannot be said to have
maintained structural independence from governmental
influence. Many members were also involved in their
nation's nuclear weapon development and testing programs. . .
In the three key regulatory documents the decision-makers
were primarily physicists, involved in national atomic
energy development, and medical administrators, working for
their respective governments.
Clearly when practically all members are in the pay of
their respective governments, ICRP cannot claim to be free
of all bias, conflict of interest or government pressure.
ICRP has little or no claim to breadth of expertise on
which it can call for balanced decision making, especially
when dealing with the delicate questions of occupational
and public health. In fact, persons from these disciplines
have been excluded from membership since its conception in
1950.
Membership in ICRP appears to be made on the basis of
occupational affiliation with national nuclear research
(military or commercial) and regulatory agencies. It
clearly provides a forum for dialogue on nuclear policies
and standards among nations with a clear governmental
commitment to nuclear technology. Said more simply,
national governments collaborate through ICRP to
standardize their "story" relative to the health trade off
(risks) of their nuclear activities (benefits). . . .
Both ICRP and UNSCEAR undertake a review of already
published peer reviewed scientific research, accepting or
rejecting it on the basis of its regulatory usefulness.
ICRP makes the definite choice of research acceptable for
calculating risk/benefit trade-offs. As they have no
members with training in public health, occupational
health, epidemiology, or biometry, their judgement cannot
be assumed to be based in objective science. . . .
. . . Until publicly forced to do so, these agencies have
taken little or no responsibility for the human
consequences and suffering caused by these misguided human
experiments. . . .
The delegates to ICRP, UNSCEAR and BEIR chosen by their
respective governments have both personal and national
compelling reason for perpetuating their closed structure
and secrecy.
It is critical to understand the organizing rules governing membership in
international nuclear "regulatory" organizations like ICRP and UNSCEAR
include the absence of independent occupational health, public health and
epidemoiology or toxicology professionals as well as the fact that the rules
governing the selection and work of these commissions are defined to be
self-perpetuating and extremely restrictive as far as inclusion of a wide
range of scientists with varying backgrounds. In other words, if potential
candidates aren't already associated in some way with official agencies in
government, the military, or the nuclear industry, they are effectively
excluded from participation in international official "guideline-setting"
agencies like the ICRP. This has been a very effective way of censoring
differing interpretations of research and studys conducted by independent
scientists into the long-term effects of low-level ionizing radiation on
celluar life.
-- ratitor
Document # 10 of Part II--The Ravages Of Preparation For War Have Been
Hidden By Governments, Especially By The United States, Great Britain, The
Soviet Union, France And China, And Most Victims Of This War-Making
Pollution Have Been Allowed To Suffer And Die Without Either Assistance Or
Compensation--of Dr. Rosalie Bertell's Testimony prepared for the World
Women's Congress For A Healthy Planet held in Miami, Florida, November 8-12,
1991:
_____________________________________________________________________________
RADIATION PROTECTION STANDARDS:
ORIGIN OF THE STANDARDS
The Atomic Energy Control Board (AECB) issues the
regulations for worker and general public exposure to
ionizing radiation from human activities (uranium related
and/or nuclear fission related) in Canada. AECB also
issues operating licenses for each industry setting maximum
limits for releases of radioactivity into air or water. At
all Federal or Provincial Hearings or Royal Commissions,
AECB appeals to international groups such as the
International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP),
the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of
Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), and the U.S. National Academy
of Science committee on the Biological Effects of Ionizing
Radiation (BEIR) as a support for radiation protection
standards in Canada.
This brief examines the rationale and also the results of
such dependence.
RATIONALE FOR DEPENDENCE ON ICRP AND UNSCEAR:
Canadian dependence on ICRP and UNSCEAR was clearly
expressed by Chairperson Arthur Porter of the Royal
Commission on Electric Power Planning in Ontario:
"The Board (AECB) relies heavily on the
recommendations of international agencies and
committees. Two of the most important of which are
the ICRP and UNSCEAR."
This is rather typical of other Canadian Commissions and
Hearings. This dependency was also clearly expressed in
the 1983 document from AECB proposing to change Canadian
radiation protection standards for workers in an attempt to
implement in Canada the recommendations of ICRP Publication
#26 (1977). This dependence remains the official Canadian
position on Radiological Safety and was clearly expressed
in both Ontario Hydro and Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.
briefs to the Ontario Nuclear Safety Review.
The current pamphlet being distributed by Ontario Hydro:
"Powerful Facts about Radiation" (undated, no author
mentioned) states:
"Three international scientific bodies (ICRP, UNSCEAR
and BEIR) who periodically review all the relevant
information on (low level radiation) have concluded
that the linear theory is conservative - that half of
a particular dose (of ionizing radiation) probably has
less than half the risk."
The public image of ICRP is again clearly stated by the
Royal Commission report by Dr. Arthur Porter:
"The ICRP consists of a group of twelve scientists --
biologists, physicists, geneticists, biophysicists,
biochemists and radiologists -- who are selected by
the International Congress of Radiology on the basis
of their scientific reputation."
This image of a balanced scientific team chosen from
various relevant disciplines by a medical organization,
free from government involvement and political pressures
has proven to be a myth.
MEMBERSHIP:
Membership in ICRP is by recommendation of present members
of ICRP or the International Congress of Radiology (ICR).
Approval of the ICR executive committee was required in the
early stages (1950 to 1977) of ICRP. Election of members
is now by ICRP itself, subject to approval by the Executive
Committee of ICR, which appears fairly automatic.
In looking for verification of the balance in membership
with respect to scientific specialty, IICPH has ascertained
the following:
1. Between 1950 and 1985 there were 45 members of ICRP,
serving between 4 and 24 year terms, for a total of
569 years of service.
2. With respect to years of professional service as a
member of ICRP, the contributing expertise divides as
follows:
BIOLOGIST: 1 radiobiologist 2.5% of the time
(14 years)
PHYSICISTS: 16, 45.5% of the time (259 years
totally: average 16 years each)
GENETICISTS: 3, 6.0% of the time (34 years
totally: averaging 11 years each)
BIOPHYSICIST: 1, 1.4% of the time (8 years)
BIOCHEMISTS: None
RADIOLOGISTS: 12, 14.9% of the time (85 years
totally: averaging 7 years each)
MEDICAL SPECIALIST: 1, 3.9% of the time (22
years)
MEDICAL ADMINISTRATORS: 11, 25.8% of the time
(147 years totally: averaging 13 years each)
The dominant expertise among ICRP membership between
1950 and 1985 was physicists, with one biophysicist
(46.9% of the person years). The second highest input
was from physician administrators, including the
single specialist, (29.7% of the person years). These
two categories account for 77% of the membership
years. The category physician administrator was not
mentioned in the Porter Commission report.
3. Some very relevant areas of scientific expertise
failed to gain any representation on ICRP, namely:
radiation epidemiology (or any epidemiology), public
health, occupational health, biometry, biochemistry
and pediatrics. ICRP has never even listed most of
these specialties as desirable. Since there was
apparently no effort to balance membership of ICRP on
the basis of scientific or medical expertise, an
examination on the basis of national affiliation and
an examination on the basis of employment was
undertaken, with a special focus on the years in which
important regulatory documents: ICRP #2, #9 and #26
were issued.
4. It is also noteworthy that the 12 member committees
plus Chairpersons who have made up the 37 year history
of ICRP have never contained a woman.
MEMBERSHIP IN ICRP 1956 - 1959 -- ICRP DOCUMENT #2 (1959):
The committee which drafted the Document recommending
limits for internal radionuclide levels (via inhalation,
ingestion or absorbtion) consisted of: 3 Americans, 2
British, 2 West Germans, and one each from Sweden, France,
Denmark and Canada. There were 8 physicists, one Medical
Doctor from France's Scientific Counsel for Atomic Energy,
one Medical Doctor from the University of Toronto who also
served on the U.S. Atomic Bomb Testing Project between 1952
and 1960.
A complete list of the members responsible for the ICRP
Document #2, Standard Setting for Internal Radiation Doses,
indicates quite clearly that they were chosen with respect
to their employment by their respective governments. They
were all involved in the research and development of
nuclear energy and/or national regulatory agencies. They
do not represent a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines
and they cannot be said to have maintained structural
independence from governmental influence. Many members
were also involved in their nation's nuclear weapon
development and testing programs.
RESPONSIBLE FOR ICRP DOCUMENT #2 (1959) ON STANDARD FOR
INTERNAL DOSES OF IONIZING RADIATION:
L. BUGNARD: 1956: Member, Conseil Scientifique du
Commissariat a la Energy Atomique, France 1956 -
1965; Vice-President, Comite de Biologie
Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique. 1956 - 1965:
Member Scientific and Technical Committee
EURATOM.
L.S. TAYLOR: 1948 - 1961: Organized and headed the
Biophysics Section in the Division of Biology and
Medicine of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
during above ground nuclear bomb testing (1946 -
1963). He was trained as a physicist.
W. BINKS: 1953 - 1963: Secretary of the U.K. Medical
Research Council Committee on Protection against
Ionizing Radiations. He was trained as a
physicist.
J.C. JACOBSEN: 1956 - 1958: Research Director, Atomic
Energy Research Station, Risoe, Denmark. 1958 -
1969: Consultant to Danish Atomic Energy Agency.
He was trained as a physicist.
E.A. WATKINSON: 1959: Principal Medical Officer,
University of Toronto; also Department of
Environmental Health and Special Projects, Health
and Welfare, Canada. He was a physician.
R.G. JAEGER: 1950 - 1962: Chairperson Committee III
Protection against Xrays and electrons up to
energies 3 MeV and beta and gamma from sealed
sources; 1960: International Atomic Energy
Agency. He was a West German physicist.
W.V. MAYNEORD: 1947 - 1962: U.K. Medical Research
Council committee on Medical and Biological
Applications ____ ___ ________ _____ ___ _
________ ___ __________
G. FAILLA: 1946 - 1960: Consultant to U.S. National
Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements.
Physicist, Director of the radiological research
laboratory at Columbia University (died 1961).
R.M. SIEVERT: 1941: Professor of Radiophysics, Karolinska
Institute, Stockholm; Co-founder of International
Xray and Radium Protection Committee (1928) and
of ICRP (1950); Swedish delegate to UNSCEAR
1960. He was trained as a physicist.
H. HOLTHUSEN: 1937 - 1960: Physicist, Member of
International Commission on Radiation Units;
1960: Member of West German Atomic Energy
Commission.
K.Z. MORGAN: 1934 - 1943: Member of the Research Staff,
Atomic Bomb Project, University of Chicago; 1953
- 1959: Chairperson of committee II (Internal
Doses) of ICRP - Responsible for ICRP Document
#2; 1943 - 1972: Director of Health Physics
Division, Oak Ridge National Nuclear Laboratory,
U.S. Atomic Energy Agency. He was a physicist.
R.S. STONE: 1952 - 1960: Project Director for Health,
U.S. Atomic Bomb testing; Member of the
Executive Committee of the U.S. National
Commission on Radiological Protection. He was
trained as a radiologist.
MEMBERSHIP IN ICRP 1962 - 1966: ICRP DOCUMENT #9:
Membership consisted of: 4 Americans, 2 British, 2
Swedish, 2 French, 1 Canadian and 1 from West Germany.
With respect to scientific expertise, there were: 6
physicists, 3 medical doctors (from the French Atomic
Energy Agency; AECL's Chalk River Research Laboratory and
the National Radiological Protection Board in Britain), 1
radiologist from the U.S. Atomic Bomb Project, 1 geneticist
and 1 radiobiologist.
Document #9, was adopted by ICRP in 1965 and published in
1966. It was intended as a review and revision of previous
publications, aimed at reducing the need to refer to those
documents. It recommended a system of maximum permissible
doses for occupational exposure and dose limits for the
general public. These exposures are over and above all
natural background and medical exposures (which are
unlimited). It derived dose limits for various body
organs: gonads, red bone marrow, skin, thyroid, head,
forearms, feet and ankles, as well as the traditional whole
body limits of 5 rem per year for workers and 0.5 rem per
year for the general public.
Membership in ICRP 1962 - 65 was still apparently based on
employment position in one's country.
MEMBERS OF THE ICRP 1962 - 1965: RESPONSIBLE FOR ICRP
DOCUMENT #9, DOSES TO BODY ORGANS:
Many of the members responsible for the ICRP #9 were also
on the ICRP #2 committee, so their affiliations will not be
repeated. These members were: L. Bugnard; L. S. Taylor;
W. Binks; R. M. Sievert; K.Z. Morgan and R.S. Stone. New
members were:
O. HUG: 1958 - 1959: Senior Officer and West German
delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency;
1959 on, Director, Institute of Radiobiology, Munich
University; 1959 - 1973: Member of ICRP.
H.P. JAMMET: French physicist, member of the Commission
Nationale de Protection Radiologique; 1950 - 1960:
Chef du Service d'Hygiene Atomique et de
Radiopathologie and Chef du Service des Radio -
Isotopes a l'Hopital Curie.
B.G. LINDELL: Physicist, Director National Institute of
Radiation Protection, Stockholm; 1957 - 1958:
Secretary of UNSCEAR; Swedish delegate to UNSCEAR
1969 - 1985.
Sir E. POCHIN: 1957 - 1974: Chairperson of the U.K.
Medical Research Council Committee on Protection
against Ionizing Radiation; Member of the U.K. Atomic
Energy Agency coordinating committee for
radiobiological research; U.K. representative to
UNSCEAR.
J.F. LOVTIT: 1947 - 1975: Director of the U.K. Medical
Research Council Radiobiological Research Unit, Atomic
Energy Research Establishment, Harwell. (after 1953
this was under the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority); was
on the circulation committee for classified documents
from the British Atomic Bomb Testing Program in
Australia. He was trained in genetics.
C.G. STEWART: 1955 - present: Medical doctor, director of
the Medical Division, Chalk River Nuclear
laboratories, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.
H.J. MULLER: 1946 - 1964: Member of U.S. National
Commission on Radiological Protection; 1953 - 1964:
Professor of Genetics, Indiana University.
MEMBERSHIP IN ICRP 1973 - 1977: ICRP DOCUMENT #26 (1977):
Membership in the ICRP Committee responsible for Document #
26 consisted of: 1 American, 4 British, 1 Swedish, 1
French, 2 Canadian, 1 Soviet, 1 Argentinean, 1 Japanese and
1 Polish representative.
There were only 3 physicists on this Committee and 6 M.D.
administrators who worked in government nuclear research or
regulatory establishments. There were 3 radiologists and
one geneticist from Chalk River.
Document #26 was designed to replace ICRP Document #9. It
included a new system of dose limitations replacing the
"critical organ concept" and attempting to set "equal
risks" whether a whole body or partial body exposure was
received. These new recommendations had the effect of
allowing increases in radiation doses to several body
organs including thyroid gland and bone marrow.
The ICRP membership 1973 - 77 shows a slight shift of
membership selection by employment in that 3 members, 23%,
received government positions after rather than before
membership. Little information is available on these
members, therefore this may be a false perception. Since
ICRP is self-perpetuating the possibility of newer members
being students of older members needs to be researched.
This was beyond the scope of this brief.
MEMBERSHIP OF ICRP - RESPONSIBLE FOR DOCUMENT #26 ON
EFFECTIVE DOSE EQUIVALENCE:
Members of ICRP 1973 - 1977: included some members from
the 1962 - 1965 Committee responsible for Document #9.
These were: H.P. Jammet, B.G. Lindell, Sir E. Pochin and
C.G. Stewart. New commission members were:
I. TASKAHASHI: Radiologist from Japan's Aichi Cancer
Center; 1977: Member of the Japanese Government's
Science and Technical Agency.
Y.I. MOSKALEV: Radiologist at the Institute of Biophysics,
Moscow; 1977: Vice-Chairman of the Soviet National
Commission of Radiological protection.
J. LINIECKI: 1973 - 1985: member of ICRP; 1977 Chief,
Division of Nuclear Medicine and Radiobiology, Medical
Research Center, Lodz, Poland; 1977 - 1982 Consultant
to UNSCEAR.
A.C. UPTON: 1967 - 1977: Attending Pathologist, Medical
Department, Brookhaven National Nuclear Laboratory,
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission; 1954-1969 Pathologist,
Biology Division, Oak Ridge National Nuclear
Laboratory, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.
H.B. NEWCOMBE: 1947 - 1983: Head of Biology and Physics
Division, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., Chalk River
Nuclear Laboratories. He was trained as a geneticist.
J. VENNART: 1956 - 1971: Physicist; Radiological
Protection Service U.K. Medical Research Council and
U.K. Atomic Energy Authority; 1971 - 1983: Director,
Radiobiology Unit, Harwell.
D.J. BENINSON: 1969 - present: Medical doctor with the
Argentinean National Commission of Atomic Energy;
1974 - Director Radiological Protection, Argentine
Atomic Energy Commission; 1969 - 1984: Argentine
delegate to UNSCEAR.
SIR B. WINDEYER: 1970 - 1978: Member U.K. National
Radiological Protection Board (Chairperson 1977);
Radiologist, Director of Radiotherapy Mt. Vernon
Hospital (1940 - 1946) and Middlesex Hospital (1942 -
1969). 1967-1972: Vice-Chancellor, Univ. of London.
In the three key regulatory documents the decision-makers
were primarily physicists, involved in national atomic
energy development, and medical administrators, working for
their respective governments.
Clearly when practically all members are in the pay of
their respective governments, ICRP cannot claim to be free
of all bias, conflict of interest or government pressure.
ICRP has little or no claim to breadth of expertise on
which it can call for balanced decision making, especially
when dealing with the delicate questions of occupational
and public health. In fact, persons from these disciplines
have been excluded from membership since its conception in
1950.
Membership in ICRP appears to be made on the basis of
occupational affiliation with national nuclear research
(military or commercial) and regulatory agencies. It
clearly provides a forum for dialogue on nuclear policies
and standards among nations with a clear governmental
commitment to nuclear technology. Said more simply,
national governments collaborate through ICRP to
standardize their "story" relative to the health trade off
(risks) of their nuclear activities (benefits).
CURRENT ICRP MEMBERSHIP: 1985 - 1989:
D. BENISON (Argentina) - Chairman ICRP; Chairperson for
Radiation Protection, Argentine Atomic Energy
Commission.
H. JAMMET (France) - Vice Chairman ICRP; Director and
Chief, Radiological Protection Department,
Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique, France.
R.J. BERRY (U.K.) 1974 - 1976: Medical Research Council
Radiobiological Unit, Harwell; 1982: U.K. National
Radiobiological Protection Board.
H.J. DUNSTER (U.K.) - U.K. Atomic Energy Authority;
National Radiation Protection Board, Harwell.
W. JACOBI (F.R.G) - Head, West German National Institute
for Radiation Protection and Research.
D.P. LI (P.R.C.) - Director, Institute of Radiation
Protection MNI, Taiyuan, Shanxi, People's Republic of
China.
J. LINIECKI (Poland) - Chief, Division of Nuclear Medicine
and Radiobiology, Medical Research Center, Lodz,
Poland.
C.B. MEINHOLD (U.S.) - Head and Senior Health Physicist,
Brookhaven National Nuclear Lab. U.S. Atomic Energy
Agency, now U.S. Department of Energy.
A.K. POZNANSKI (U.S.) - Member of U.S. National Commission
on Radiological Protection; Pediatric Radiology,
Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago.
R.B. RAMZAEV (U.S.S.R.) - Department of Pathological
Anatomy and Laboratory of Electron Microscopy;
Central Research Laboratory; I.P. Pavlov First
Leningrad Medical Institute, Leningrad, U.S.S.R.
G. SILINI (ITALY) - Laboratory of Radiation Pathology,
Centro di Sudi Nucleari Della Casccia, Comitato
Nazionale per l'Energia Nucleare, Rome; Secretary of
UNSCEAR.
W.K. SINCLAIR (U.S.) President U.N. National Commission on
Radiological Protection; Argonne National Nuclear
Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy.
E. TAJIMA (Japan) - Member of Security of Atomic Power,
Kagaku Gijitsu cho, Science and Technology Agency,
Prime Minister's Office, Tokyo, Japan.
CONNECTIONS BETWEEN ICRP AND UNSCEAR:
UNSCEAR, as all United Nations Agencies, is an organization
of delegates sent by member governments. It does not make
recommendations on radiological health and safety practices
but serves primarily as an information gathering agency.
ICRP depends on outside information gathering such as is
done by UNSCEAR. Dual membership in ICRP and UNSCEAR was
held by 11 members of ICRP (25% of the total ICRP
membership).
Both ICRP and UNSCEAR undertake a review of already
published peer reviewed scientific research, accepting or
rejecting it on the basis of its regulatory usefulness.
ICRP makes the definite choice of research acceptable for
calculating risk/benefit trade-offs. As they have no
members with training in public health, occupational
health, epidemiology, or biometry, their judgement cannot
be assumed to be based in objective science.
THE U.S. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCE BEIR COMMITTEE:
The third source on which Canadian Radiological Protection
rests is the BEIR committee reports of 1972, 1979 and 1980.
A fourth report is expected soon, devoted to the radon gas
problem. BEIR V is expected to consider the risk estimate
changes due to new dose assignments for the Hiroshima data.
These new dose estimates will not be released to the public
until presentation to ICRP in September 1987.
The BEIR Committees are heavily staffed with personnel from
U.S. Government nuclear research laboratories such as Oak
Ridge and Brookhaven, and with researchers from the atomic
bomb research centers at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There is
a greater breadth of expertise on the BEIR Committees than
on ICRP and much more internal dissent. However, the
Committee assumes an adversarial rather than scientific
role. For example, BEIR III includes critiques of
scientists who have challenged its risk factors without
providing for a response by these scientists to their
critique.
The atomic bomb research has dominated the BEIR reports,
and the health effects of exposure to ionizing radiation
are seen as a national security subject in the U.S., both
because they describe the effects of atomic bombs and
because they affect the public's willingness to produce,
test, store and accept the waste from the military program.
The purpose of BEIR I was to answer criticism of U.S. above
ground nuclear testing in Nevada. Enclosed with this
testimony is a letter dated 24 October 1986, to the
Honorable John S. Harrington, Secretary of the Department
of Energy, from U.S. Representative Edward J. Markey,
Chairperson of the U.S. House of Representatives
Subcommittee on Energy Conservation and Power of the
Committee on Energy and Commerce (Enclosure 1). The letter
addresses the subject matter of some 31 experiments
conducted under the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (or its
successor agencies: Energy, Research and Development
Administration and Department of Energy) deliberately
exposing some 695 Americans to plutonium, uranium, Xray,
strontium 90, cobalt 60 or other internal and external
sources of ionizing radiation without their knowledge or
consent. This is a civilian counterpart to the deliberate
exposure of more than 200,000 military men, including
Canadians, to the atomic bombs. Until publicly forced to
do so, these agencies have taken little or no
responsibility for the human consequences and suffering
caused by these misguided human experiments. These human
experiments were carried out at or through the Oak Ridge
Associated Universities, the Argonne National Nuclear
Laboratory together with the University of Chicago, the
Washington and Oregon State Prisons, Columbia University
and the Montefiore Hospital in New York, the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology and Massachusetts General Hospital
in Boston. In addition to this, there were area
experiments with radioactive iodine deliberately released
to the environment from the U.S. Hanford Reservation and
the U.S. National Reactor Testing Station at Idaho Falls.
Some of the radiation related findings are still classified
as secret in the U.S.
The delegates to ICRP, UNSCEAR and BEIR chosen by their
respective governments have both personal and national
compelling reason for perpetuating their closed structure
and secrecy.
Canada has cooperated in the secrecy of these experiments
for a share in the illegitimate knowledge gained. Just as
Canada cooperated with U.S. experimentation with mind
altering drugs in the 1960's, so too experimentation with
humans was apparently accepted as a fact of life in the
nuclear age. Reliance on such vested interest sources and
silent cooperation with Nazi-like experimentation is a
totally unacceptable basis for Canadian radiation
protection. Seeking entrance into such an "old boy
network" and describing their pronouncements as the
consensus among the best scientists in the world is
repugnant. IICPH denounces experimentation on humans and
deception of the public for supposed national or economic
gains.
RECOMMENDATION: The IICPH agrees with the recommendation
of the Select Committee on Ontario Hydro Affairs (June
1980) that Ontario establish its own Radiation
Protection Agency with open meetings, expertise from
all relevant disciplines, scientific representation
from within and outside of the uranium or nuclear
industries, and an institutional forum for worker and
public participation.
RECOMMENDATION: The IICPH recommends further that needed
research to identify and resolve disputed questions on
Radiological Protection be sponsored in such a way as
to restore credibility, scientific validity and public
health priority to Standard Setting in Canada.
This section was prepared by Dr. Rosalie Bertell, with
assistance of P.A. Green, M.Sc., researching membership in
ICRP
[Dr. Rosalie Bertell]
--
Humanity has been held to a limited and distorted view of itself, from its
interpretation of the most intimate emotions to its grandest visions of
human possibilities, by virtue of its subordination of women.
Until recently, "mankind's" understandings have been the only
understandings generally available to us. As other perceptions arise--
precisely those perceptions that men, because of their dominant position
could not perceive--the total vision of human possibilities enlarges and
is transformed.
-- Jean Baker Miller, "Toward a New Psychology of Women" (1976)