## Document Preservation and Retrieval: Current and Potential Future Activities

**Contents:** Any additional fallout-related work will require an
extensive review of fallout monitoring programs. This section describes
some of these programs and the need for document identification and
preservation.

### The Need for Original Data

In over ten years of dose reconstructions, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) has always tried to locate and use original
data whenever possible in order to reduce calculation errors and loss of
accuracy. In many cases, this has led to substantial revisions to
previous release data. For example, at the Savannah River Site and
Fernald, CDC's estimates more than doubled the previously reported
amounts of some released radioisotopes, and at Hanford CDC determined
that the amount of ^131^I should be increased by 70%. These results were
obtained simply by careful evaluations of known sources and activity at
those sites, without discovering any previously unknown activities or
releases.

In conducting this feasibility study, CDC discovered extensive
repositories of data that could be used in this study. However, some of
these data have already been destroyed. Some are being preserved in
various repositories, and they may or may not be catalogued. An unknown
amount exists in undocumented collections at different government
facilities or in private hands. The people who conducted the research
and who understand the data will not be available much longer, due to
retirement or death. If there is ever going to be a study of the health
effects of all nuclear weapons tests using original data, the
information collection phase must be done soon.

### Past Research

Measurements and evaluations of fallout dispersal and deposition during
the era of nuclear testing were, in the aggregate, probably the largest
environmental monitoring program ever undertaken by the United States
and other countries. Most of the monitoring programs were classified at
the time, and many still are. Future studies will require access to and
declassification of documents by the Departments of Energy (DOE) and
Defense (DOD). In addition to the specific and extensive monitoring
conducted with each test, there were many national or international
monitoring programs. For example, the United States Public Health
Service (PHS) maintained a nationwide network of gummed film collecting
stations and conducted a nationwide milk-sampling program (Devore and
Terrill 1982). The United States Atomic Energy Commission's Health and
Safety Laboratory in New York City, later renamed the Environmental
Measurements Laboratory, also maintained a nationwide sampling program
including atmospheric samples, soil samples, and gummed film samples
(Bouville and Beck 2000; Friend 1961; Harley 1976; Salter 1965). The
Applied Fisheries Laboratory at the University of Washington collected
extensive seawater and marine biology samples (Hines 1962).

In addition to the efforts of the PHS and the Atomic Energy Commission,
many state agencies, universities, other government agencies, and even
some corporations conducted their own monitoring programs. The DOD had
its own set of sampling programs that remain classified to this day.
Eastman Kodak conducted fallout measurements because fallout was
exposing newly manufactured film.

Every nation that conducted atmospheric nuclear weapons tests took
similar measurements, and many other nations had significant fallout
measurement programs during this period. Japan and India monitored and
analyzed Chinese fallout data. New Zealand and Australia collected data
on French tests in the South Pacific and British tests in Australia.
Finland, Sweden, and Norway collected and analyzed fallout from Russian
atmospheric tests on Novaya Zemlya. The United Kingdom conducted an
extensive program of atmospheric ^137^Cs and ^90^Sr monitoring. There
were also some international programs under the auspices of the United
Nations.

Since the end of nuclear testing, the United States, several foreign
governments, the United Nations, and various non-governmental
organizations have conducted studies of the health effects of fallout in
various regions of the world. For example, the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) conducted a dose reconstruction on Fangataufa and
Mururoa after the French tests there. The United States and the Republic
of the Marshall Islands jointly conducted a radiological survey of the
Marshall Islands after testing by the United States in the Pacific
Ocean. The governments of the countries of the former Soviet Union are
conducting epidemiological and radiological studies around Soviet test
sites, and making their data available internationally. The Scientific
Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE), part of the
International Committee for Science, recently completed an assessment of
the environmental and human impacts of nuclear test explosions
(Kirchmann 2000).

### Current Status of Document Preservation

Ten years ago the DOE declared a moratorium on the destruction of all
energy- related documents of epidemiological significance. Since that
time, DOE documents shipped to a Federal Records Center or the National
Archives have indefinite destruction dates if they are in a group of
records covered under the moratorium. Many of these records,
particularly the older ones, are not cataloged in any detail. A
researcher may be able to determine that there are 60 cubic feet of
documents about nuclear weapons testing at the Federal Records Center in
Maryland, but it is necessary to actually visit the Center and open
boxes to determine what the documents are and whether they are needed.
Since these records are in a safe place, this effort may be deferred for
the time being.

In 1978, the DOE launched a comprehensive effort to gather as much
information about United States nuclear weapons testing as possible.
This information is held at the Coordination and Information Center
(CIC) in Las Vegas, NV. This information is very well catalogued, and
researchers can search for documents by title, DOE number, author, or
key words via the Internet
(<http://www.osti.gov/waisgate/opennet.new.html>). As long as CIC's
funding remains stable, these documents will remain available for
researchers.

The DOE has an Internet site listing sites that contain relevant
documents (<http://tis.eh.doe.gov/workstation/homerep.html>). However,
this Internet site does not provide enough information for a researcher
to determine what is available without an actual visit to the facility.
If these documents are to be useful for future research, someone should
visit each site and catalog documents actually useful for fallout
research. The documents are protected, however, so this could be
deferred.

Other agencies in addition to the DOE conducted their own research or
measurements programs, such as the PHS (Devore and Terrill 1982) or
Department of Defense. These documents are not covered by DOE's
moratorium and could be destroyed at any time if they have not already
been destroyed or lost. The documents at these sites should be copied
and catalogued as soon as possible.

Many nations sent reports of their fallout measurements to the United
Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation
(UNSCEAR) in Vienna, Austria, beginning in 1958. Many of these research
reports are out of print and the copy at UNSCEAR may be the only
surviving copy. Since submission of reports to UNSCEAR was voluntary,
none of their report series are complete. However, UNSCEAR documents may
be useful in two ways. First, the research reports themselves may
provide useful scientific data (even if incomplete); and second, it is
possible to use UNSCEAR\'s records to identify countries and
laboratories where measurements were made. UNSCEAR has stated they
intend to preserve these records indefinitely. CDC has made copies of
all the UNSCEAR records relevant to fallout listed in past UNSCEAR
Annual Reports, and archived them in Atlanta.

Many scientists with years of experience on fallout studies have unique
data in their own offices. Others working for universities, the
government, or other organizations took their data with them when they
retired. These data are the most fragile of all. They are not
catalogued, covered by a moratorium, or available to future researchers.
For example, one retired scientist had several thousand measurements of
radioactive iodine in animal thyroids from all over the world. Some of
the information was contained in hand-written notebooks and some of it
was stored on antiquated IBM tapes. CDC was able to find a contractor
capable of reading old data tapes, retrieved the data, and now has it in
a modern database format. NCI and its contractors are having the
remaining notebooks entered into a database and appended to the existing
data. The government should mount an aggressive effort to identify,
copy, and preserve information like this as soon as possible if this
information is ever to be used in a new study.

The DOD has never declared a moratorium on destruction of records of
epidemiological significance, and they are not under any obligation to
share whatever relevant data they may have with the Department of Health
and Human Services (DHHS). The Navy was in charge of early weapons
testing in the Pacific, including radiological measurements; and the Air
Force has been conducting atmospheric measurements for many years. Most
of this information remains classified. Immediate steps should be taken
to identify, catalogue, protect, and declassify this material (in that
order). This requires giving DHHS staff with the appropriate security
clearances access to the material, but it will not be necessary to
declassify any documents until the time comes to use them.

CDC has not visited any foreign repositories for fallout-related
information except the UNSCEAR headquarters in Vienna, Austria. CDC's
staff knows with a fairly high degree of confidence what laboratories
have conducted measurements, but we do not know what data are still
available or how long they will be available. DHHS could identify what
kind of data are required from foreign laboratories to fill the holes in
available data for calculating health effects on residents of the United
States from global fallout and begin negotiating with foreign
governments for permission to review, copy, and use their data as
necessary.

In the United States, CDC has visited 15 sites to evaluate documents for
their relevance to this fallout study. There has been no attempt to
catalog these documents, and only a few copies were made as examples of
what was there.

-   The information at some sites was not useful for future fallout
    studies. CDC noted that fact and will take no further action.

-   Some of the DOE information at Federal Records Centers was useful.
    This information was covered by the moratorium, so it will not be
    destroyed. However, it was not very clearly described, so it will
    eventually be necessary to visit these Centers, open boxes, and
    enter abstracts of the useful documents into a database if this
    information is to be useful to future researchers.

-   Some of the DOD information at Federal Records Centers was useful.
    Some of this information is not covered by the moratorium and will
    be destroyed in the next few years if no action is taken. CDC has
    not done anything with this material, and will not without funding
    for this purpose.

-   Some of the DOD information was not made available to CDC, so it is
    impossible to tell whether it is useful or not.

-   There are large quantities of useful information at national
    laboratories. This information is often scattered all over the
    laboratory, not catalogued in any way. While this information fits
    the description of material covered by the moratorium, the
    administration of the moratorium covers only groups of boxes in
    archives, not individual records, so there is no guarantee the
    material will be preserved. Under a different appropriation and for
    a different project, CDC is busy searching, copying, and cataloguing
    relevant documents at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The
    purpose of this effort is to identify documents which would be
    useful in a dose reconstruction of that laboratory, but the
    contractors have been instructed to note any documents they
    encounter which would be useful in a future fallout study. There are
    no document retrieval and assessment activities underway at any
    other national laboratory at this time for the purpose of studying
    fallout, due to lack of funding or a mandate to do so.

The Environmental Measurements Laboratory (EML) in New York City is an
important source of fallout data. Some of this information is very well
preserved and readily available, such as the soil sampling data posted
on the Internet. In addition to their own research, the EML has
collected published reports about fallout measurements from all over the
country or the world. Many of these are out of print. Since they are not
DOE reports, but copies of old journal reports, they are not covered by
the moratorium, and CDC discovered that EML staff was preparing to
destroy these reports in order to reduce required office space and save
money. Other information, such as gummed film data, was to be stored
uncatalogued in boxes in the basement of the building. While this
material would not have been lost, it would not be available to future
researchers because no one would be aware of the existence of the
material. CDC made two more visits to EML, where they separated out
fallout-relevant material and made arrangements with EML staff to retain
that material. NCI is working with EML to have the printed gummed film
records entered into spreadsheets.

In 1978, the PHS combed its own archives and collected about 11,000
documents about fallout. The 1979 report [Effects of Nuclear Weapons
Testing on Health: Report of the Panel of Experts]{.underline} (Hulley
1979) describes the contents of this archive. In Hulley (1979), the
panel concluded that the PHS archive contained enough information to
assess the health effects of fallout. CDC has a copy of this report. All
of the documents from the original archive are on microfilm at the
DOE\'s Coordination and Information Center (CIC) in Las Vegas.

During the years of nuclear weapons testing, Congress held many hearings
on the health effects of fallout and the need for further nuclear
weapons testing. The published hearings are out of print now, but CDC
has found extensive collections of these hearings in several locations
-- CIC, university libraries, and the Environmental Measurements
Laboratory, to name a few. CDC has a copy of the [Hearings before the
Special Subcommittee on Radiation of the Joint Committee on Atomic
Energy, 85th Congress First Session on the Nature of Radioactive Fallout
and its Effects on Man 1957]{.underline} and will use others as the need
arises. These hearings are valuable in two ways. They contain useful
information themselves, and they point to locations where more
information may be found. As with other documents cited above, DHHS
needs to identify Congressional hearings relevant to the fallout study
which are not already stored at CIC, find and copy them, and ensure they
are stored in a protected archive.

### Possible Future Actions

There is a fundamental need for DHHS to continue the past efforts of
itself and other agencies to ensure the preservation and continuing
availability of data necessary for future fallout research. Priorities
should be:

-   Enroll other US government agencies, especially the DOD, in the
    effort to identify, preserve and publish information.

-   Continue the US search for documents not held by a U.S. Government
    agency; copy them, catalog them, and take steps to ensure their
    preservation.

    Specific actions that could be done in the near future:

-   Find PHS gummed film and milk data.

-   Extend the moratorium to DOD data.

-   Review DOD data, especially data on post-test fission product
    ratios.

-   Catalog the reports at the EML and establish a reading room or
    library for them.

-   Visit 44 facilities identified by DOE that contain fallout relevant
    material, and protect and catalog the material if necessary.

-   Assemble a list of Congressional hearings relevant to fallout and
    ensure that a complete collection is preserved somewhere.

    **References**

Bouville, A. and H. L. Beck. [The HASL Gummed-Film Network And Its Use
In The Reconstruction Of Doses Resulting From Nuclear Weapons
Tests,]{.underline} Technology 7:355-362; 2000.

DeVore, R. and Terrill, J.G. [The Role of the U.S. Public Health Service
in Radiological Health: 1946 -- 1969]{.underline} (FDA/NCDRH-83/20)
Public Health Service, Rockville, MD, September 1982

Friend, J.P. (ed.). [The High-Altitude Sampling Program,]{.underline} .
DASA-1300, Defense Atomic Support Agency, August 31, 1961.

Harley, J. [A Brief History of Long-Range Fallout]{.underline}.
Environmental Quarterly, (HASL 306), Health and Safety Laboratory, July
1, 1976, pp I-3 to I-19

Hines, Neal O., [Proving Ground: An Account of the Radiobiological
Studies in the Pacific, 1\`946 -- 1961]{.underline} University of
Washington Press, 1962

Hulley, S.B. and W. Winkelstein, [Effects of Nuclear Weapons Testing on
Health: Report of the Panel of Experts on the Public Health Service
Archive of Documents]{.underline} (2 volumes), U.S. Department of
Health, Education, and Welfare, April 18, 1979

Kirchmann, R.J.C. and F. Warner, [Nuclear Test Explosions: Environmental
and Human Impacts]{.underline} (SCOPE 59), John Wiley and Sons, 2000

Salter, L.P. Stratospheric Air Concentrations of Plutonium Isotopes and
Strontium-90, October 1964 - February 1965. HASL Technical Memorandum
65-10. New York, June 11, 1965.