
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 12, 1990                   TAG: 9007120346
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RICHLAND, WASH.                                LENGTH: Short

PLANT'S PAST RADIATION CALLED HEALTH HAZARD

The Energy Department acknowledged Wednesday for the first time that doses of radiation produced by an atomic weapons plant in Richland in the 1940s and 1950s were high enough to cause illnesses, including cancer.

While the government released documents in 1986 confirming radioactive iodine from the plant reached the civilian population, the announcement Wednesday by Energy Secretary James Watkins was the first time the government had said the doses were high enough to affect the health of people living near the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

The government has reached no conclusions about how many cases of illness may have been caused.

Watkins' announcement appeared to be designed to disclose beforehand the most explosive aspects of a report the government will release today.

- The New York Times

by CNB