Historical development of radiation dose calculations for the public in the vicinity of nuclear sites in the United States

Most Manhattan District (MD) and Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) sites began environmental monitoring programs in the earliest years of their operation. The results were used to establish trends and to monitor for effluent releases that might be otherwise undetected. Very few data concerning radiation doses to the public in the vicinity of the sites were generated prior to 1960. Authoritative guidelines for controlling doses to the public were issued by national and international bodies beginning in the 1950s. In 1957, the Hanford Site began calculating and reporting maximum potential radiation doses to the public from several environmental pathways of exposure. Shortly thereafter, most AEC sites began programs aimed at either determining public doses, or ensuring that the doses were below the regulatory limits. Calculations of radiation doses to Maximally Exposed Individuals (MEI) at the Hanford Site have been recently completed by the Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction (HEDR) project. Collective doses for the public at Hanford were generated for this paper by utilizing the data developed by HEDR and approximate demographic data.