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RCED-83-108 1 (1983-04-21)

handle is hein.gao/gaobabmxu0001 and id is 1 raw text is: RESOURCES, COMMUNITY, AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIVISION UNITED STATES GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE WASHINGTON, D.C. 20548 RE T ~ICT D - Not to be relensed outside e Rl,',,o.T.r- - on the basis Of sParots. by Of ( _ 'ic t~gressionIeatfl B-208425 RELEASED APRIL 21, 1983 The Honorable Alan Cranston Ranking Minority Member Committee on Veterans' Affairs United States Senate Dear Senator Cranston: Subject: Allegations of records falsification at the Nevada Test site in the mid-1950s (GAO/RCED-83-108) At your request, we investigated the possibility that radi- ation exposure records were falsified for personnel who partici- patel in the joint Department of Defense/Atomic Energy Commis- sion atmospheric nuclear weapons testing program at the Nevada Test Site in the mid-1950s. The issue was surfaced by Mr. Van R. Brandon who, in February 1982, alleged that duplicate radiation exposure records were maintained to cover up incidents of overexposure. Specifically, Mr. Brandon said that, while he was a member of a combined-service medical evaluation team re- sponsible for recording radiation exposures from film badges worn by test personnel, two sets of records were maintained--one showing actual radiation exposure readings, including over- exposure, and the other showing that test personnel received only minimum doses of radiation. Any attempt to reconstruct events occurring more than 25 years ago is fraught with difficulties and uncertainties. In this particular case, military service records have been diffi- cult to locate and have not always been complete. On the basis of available evidence, we could not substantiate Mr. Brandon's allegations. Specifically --Mr. Brandon's military service record showed he was never at the Nevada Test Site; 1The nuclear weapons testing activities at the Atomic Energy Commission have been assumed by the Department of Energy. (301589) S3~ 121203