W14 Million Person Study—Human Health Radiation Risk Assessment in the Nuclear Power and Industrial Radiographer Worker Cohorts

The study of low dose and low-dose rate exposure is of immeasurable value in understanding the possible range of health effects from prolonged exposures to radiation. The Million Person Study of low-dose health effects was designed to evaluate radiation risks among healthy American workers and veterans who are more representative of today's populations than are the Japanese atomic bomb survivors exposed briefly to high-dose radiation in 1945. A million persons were needed for statistical reasons to evaluate low-dose and dose-rate effects, rare cancers, intakes of radioactive elements, and differences in risks between women and men. The results of these studies will provide needed data on any reassessment of radiation protection recommendations, including dose limits and future radiation risk assessment methods.