"Body Counters" and Hanford Schools: Roy Gephart and Sheila Zilar-Gephart

In the mid-1950s and 60s, eight to nine nuclear reactors were in operation in Hanford, Washington. Water used to cool the reactors went into the Columbia River, and carried with it radioactive elements downstream. Scientists monitored radiation levels in school children around the Tri Cities using radiation monitoring counters. Roy Gephart is the author of Hanford: A Conversation about Nuclear Waste and Cleanup. One day while he was researching radiation monitoring counters, his then girlfriend, Sheila Zilar, came to him with valuable information.

"Body Counters" and Hanford Schools: Roy Gephart and Sheila Zilar-Gephart

Comments

[Sandy Rock]

Nice story. Glad Sheila--for one--pronounced "nuclear" correctly and used "lie" properly (and not "lay"). It may seem minor, but language (grammar, syntax, spelling, pronunciation, etc) is crucial for credibility. One correction: there's never been a single case of thyroid disease of any type attributable to Hanford radionuclide releases. Given the need for nuclear (that's nu-clee-ur) power and a better understanding and less fear of radioactivity among the public, it is important that people hear the correct information.

[Roy Gephart]

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center reported in their 2002 Hanford Thyroid Disease Study that their findings “do not prove that Hanford radiation had no effect on the health of the area population…[rather] the findings show that if there is an increased risk of thyroid disease from exposure to Hanford iodine-131, it is probably too small to observe using the best epidemiologic methods available.”

As noted by the National Research Council (2000), CDC, and others, one must be cautious when comparing statistical averages spread across the population living within 50 miles of Hanford to assess potential health impacts from past iodine releases on population subsets who lived immediately downwind of Hanford on individual farms, in small neighborhoods, and in nearby communities.