The Politics of Radiation Hazards in America, 1928-1970

美国人越来越关心他们在日常生活中接触到的辐射。在20世纪40年代和50年代，x射线被常规地用于牙科、医学检查，甚至用于购买鞋子。常规的x射线现在受到很大的限制，其剂量比以前公认的标准要小得多。在西部的铀矿尾矿上建造房屋让律师们在正在进行的诉讼中变得富有。氡从东部自然形成的花岗岩沉积物中渗入家庭、学校和办公室的地下室，这催生了一个全新的辐射水平检测行业。政府设施释放辐射的指控已经引起了国会的调查。人们对辐射危害的认识不断提高，在很大程度上是因为科学家多年来建立的辐射标准不断变化。whittemore博士将在这笔资助下完成他的研究，这项研究是在美国国家科学基金会的论文支持奖下开始的，研究美国从20世纪20年代到1970年对辐射危害的反应，特别是辐射暴露标准的建立和后来的改变。这项研究不是试图强加当代政策分析，而是学习在实际实践中，科学、政治和伦理问题是如何相互作用的。这是美国辐射标准的历史，从1928年x射线和辐射防护咨询委员会成立到1970年联邦辐射委员会解散，其职能转移到环境保护署。历史的重点是建立和修订允许照射的最基本标准：“耐受剂量”，“最大允许照射”和“辐射防护指南”。研究主要基于建立和修订这些标准的科学委员会的档案：国家辐射防护委员会（ACXRP的现代名称）和联邦辐射委员会。除了检查每个委员会内部科学、政治和伦理问题的相互作用外，该项目还将提供比较独立科学机构（NCRP）与联邦机构（FRC）的工作方式的机会。

Americans have become increasingly concerned with the radiation they are exposed to in their daily lives. In the 1940's and 50's, x-rays were routinely used in dentistry, medical exams, even for the purchase of shoes| Routine x-rays are now greatly restricted and at considerably less dose than previously accepted standards. The construction of homes over uranium mine tailings in the West has enriched lawyers in the ongoing litigation. Radon seeping into the basements of homes, schools and offices from naturally occurring granite deposits in the East has caused a whole new industry for testing of radiation levels. Charges of release of radiation from government facilities has brought congressional investigations. This increased awareness of the hazards of exposure to radiation has come, in great part, because of the changing standards of exposure which scientists have established over the years. Dr.Whittemore, under this grant, will complete his study, started under an NSF dissertation support award, of the American response from the 1920's to 1970 to radiation hazards, particularly the establishment and later alterations of radiation exposure standards. This study is not an attempt to impose contemporary policy analysis but instead learn how, in actual practice, the scientific, political and ethical issues interacted. This history of radiation standards in the United States from the founding of the Advisory Committee on X-ray and Radiation Protection in 1928 to the disbanding of the Federal Radiation Council in 1970, when its functions were transferred to the Environmental Protection Agency. The history focuses on the establishment and revision of the most basic standards for allowable exposure: "tolerance dose," "maximum permissible exposure" and "radiation protection guidelines." Research is based primarily on the archives of the scientific committees which established and revised these standards: the National Council on Radiation Protection (the modern name of the ACXRP) and the Federal Radiation Council. In addition to examining the interaction of scientific, political and ethical issues within each committee, the project will also provide the opportunity to compare the workings of an independent scientific institution (the NCRP) with a federal agency (FRC).