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Radiation exposure to be estimated for 61,000 US personnel in Japan

Military to Calculate Radiation Exposure in Japan, Military.com July 20, 2011, by Seth Robson , YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — The U.S. military plans to calculate radiation doses received by each of the approximately 61,000 U.S. personnel living and working in Japan during this year’s nuclear disaster, according to the U.S. Pacific Command’s top surgeon.

Rear Adm. Michael H. Mittelman has been holding town hall meetings on bases in Japan telling residents about the individual radiation dose assessments, which, he said, will be compiled in a register and added to medical records.

“People have been potentially exposed to something that is not normal,” Mittelman told Stars and Stripes after meeting with about 100 people at Yokota on Wednesday.

The radiation fears prompted the military to authorize the voluntary evacuation of 10,000 family members from Japan, ban some local foods from U.S. bases and stop personnel traveling within 50 miles of the Fukushima plant.

“While we know their exposures are very low, they are also part of this disaster,” he said. “We thought it was the responsible thing to do so if there is ever a question, 20 years from now, they can go back and look at what their potential dose was.

Individual radiation doses will be calculated by applying data collected during Operation Tomodachi to models based on those developed for health studies of U.S. atomic test veterans exposed in the 1950s and 1960s, said Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute director, Army Col. Mark A. Melanson, whose organization is the leading the dose assessment effort and who is visiting the bases with Mittelman.

The military will look at U.S. and Japanese government data including air, water and soil samples, as well as ambient radiation readings taken at various sites in Japan, he said.

Daily dose estimates will be calculated for particular locations in Japan. This information will be combined with data on individuals’ locations and how long they were there to find out how much radiation each was exposed to, Melanson said….

http://www.military.com/news/article/military-to-calculate-radiation-exposure-in-japan.html

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July 21, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, USA