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Toronto, CanadaJuly 18, 1986

In May, 1983, my father-in-law, Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, told

me that at the time of the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor accident,

a full report was commissioned by President Jimmy Carter. He (my father-

in-law) said that the report, if published in its entirety, would have

destroed the civilian nuclear power industry, because the accident at

Three Mile Island was infinitely more dangerous than was ever made public.

He told me that he had used his enormous personal influence with President

Carter to persuade him to publish the report, only in a highly "diluted"

form. The Presd.dent himself had originally wished the full report to be

made public.In November, 1985, my father-in-law told me that he had come to

deeply regret his action in persuading President Carter to suppress the

most alarming aspects of that report.

ane..R-ickover

JANE RICKOVER appeared before me and swore as to the truth

of the above statement.

Dated at Toronto this 18th day of JulyA 198

William F. Lamson Q.C.Notary Public for the

Province of Ontario

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Could youfarm throughfallout?

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uppose the Hanford NuclearReactor in Washington Statesuffers a meltdown, spewing 7%

of its radioactive core into the atmo-sphere. Winds headed east across theU.S. would bury some of this country'sprime farmland in fallout-the kindthat sticks around for decades.

Not likely, you say? Maybe not. Butthe "Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists"at one time considered it possibleenough to come up with this scenario:

"Truck farmers in central Idaho aretold to plow under leafy vegetable cropssuch as spinach and lettuce [because ra-diation sticks to vegetation]; Minnesotadairy farmers are told to keep all theirlivestock in barns [to limit exposureand prevent grazing on contaminatedforage]; in Madison, Wis., dairy salesfall 90% in response to rumors of radio-active iodine in milk ... "

Depending on the time of year, pre-cipitation patterns and soil types in-volved, South Dakota's sheep couldturn up radioactive years later, havinggrazed on forage that has confusedcesium-137 and strontium-90 with po-tassium and calcium. Wyoming's beefcattle, having accumulated cesium overhundreds of acres, could measure"well-done" on a Geigercounter. Andin the Northeast, with its nutrient-poor,rock-bottomed lakes, certain fish mightbecome the hottest food around.

Over the long-run, crops like cornand wheat would be in relatively goodshape becausc their leaves-not thegrain itself-would hold most of the ra-dioactive particles.

22

Scientists picked the Hanford plantfor good reason. It is the U.S.'s versionof the Chernobyl Atomic Energy plantthat melted down in Russia two yearsago this month. The Hanford plant hadbeen leaking for years. Last year, in light6of_7i'eirobrems spotlighted by theChernobyl accident, the Hanford plantwas shut down.

But nuclear plants around the worldare aging, a fact that's not lost on people.who deal in food-whether they raise itor trade it.

In mid-February, rumors of anothernuclear accident in Russia sent domes-tic markets into a fury. Although the"nuclear" accident actually turned outto be a chemical spill, it's an example ofhow nuclear problems have become aneveryday concern.

Throughout Europe, farmers areright now living-and farming-with asituation exactly like the one outlinedabove.

Although the Chernobyl reactor itselfhas since been incarcerated in concrete,the damage from it persists. Some of thefallout's effects in agricultiuraLareas are

* Cesium-saturated grazing areas inLapland continue to contaminate thou-sands of reindeer, at an estimated costof $182 million.* In Sweden, radioactive milk, fish andwild mushrooms are still a problem.* Northern England, Wales and Ire-land report radioactive sheep. Radioac-tive meat from Denmark has appearedin Venezuelan ports. Turkey has "'hot-

hazelnuts, and West German deer haveset off Geiger counters.

The Chernobyl experience provides abetter understanding of how farmlandinteracts with fallout. The accident has,in effect, offered scientists a real-worldlaboratory for combating radioactivityin our soils.

In late-April 1986, winds carried ra-dioactive particles and gases thousandsof miles from the Chernobyl AtomicEnergy Plant. Rain and snow clearedthe air but loaded vegetation and soilswith iodine-131, cesium-134, cesium-137 and, to a lesser degree, strontium-90. The fallout forced the Soviets to re-move and bury 650,000 cubic yards ofcontaminated soil-about 400 acresscraped one Y' deep.

Today, the 18-mile zone surroundingthe plant in the agriculturally importantUkraine remains highly contaminatedin parts, say the Soviets, although safeenough to allow the return of some ofthe 115,000 evacuees. Farming there isimpossible.

But that's just a small part of theChernobyl problem. Damage to crops,livestock and farmland ranges far fromthe site. Radioactivity from the acci-dent is still playing havoc with farmers'livelihoods.

Take Lapland, for instance. A forest-ed wilderness extending across north-ern Norway, Finland, Sweden, Laplandlies about 1,100 miles from Chernobyl.The lichen that carpet its forest floorsare saturated with cesium- 137, a radio-isotope with a half-life of over 30 years

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(that is, its radioactivity will be half asactive in 30 years as today).

Reindeer herded and eaten by theLapps graze on the lichen. Swedish au-thorities have detected up to 100 timesmore radioactive cesium in those rein-deer than permissible. Tens of thou-sands of reindeer have had to be fed tomink instead of sold for human con-sumption. To lessen the economicblow, the Swedish government buys thecontaminated meat at an estimated$182 million.

The contamination elsewhere in Swe-den is abating. Yet some farms aretoday producing radioactive milk; fishin Sweden's nutrient-poor, granite-bottomed-lakes_ are showing higher andhigher concentratons Ofradioactiy~e_ce-

sium; and wild mushrooms-very pop-ular in Sweden-remain off limits, saysAke Bruce, nutrition expert at Sweden'sNational Food Administration.

It takes several years for cesium tomigrate from the environment to foodand then to humans. In most cases, con-centrations diminish. In others, radio-activity can increase. How long beforeit goes away? Sometimes very long.

I nnortern England, sheep from 635farms suffer from radiation levels -ex--ce6ding government safety limits, ac-cording to the Country Landowner'sAssociation.

The problem is that the soil wherethese sheep graze has failed to trap thecesium. Two years ago, says FrancesLivens, radiochemist at the Institute ofTerrestial Ecology in Britain, "Wethought the cesium would lock up in thesoil in three months. We're finding thatthe relatively acidic soils high in organicmatter can't do that."

Livens speculates that it may takeyears before the cesium locks up in"peats and thin, nasty soils." Mean-while, hun sof thousands of sheepareban- ,d pjm ublic sale. Theaffected farmers may have to wait threedecades before they can sell their ani-mals on the open market.

Scientists have discovered that,generally speaking, the stingiest soilsunder the nuclear cloud's path are thosemost likely to offer long-term harvestsof cesium-137. That's because cropsgrown on poor soils will take whatevernutrients they can get. Plants on richersoils will usually choose standard ele-ments before chemically similar radio-active ones.

Carl Rosen, soil scientist at the Uni-versity of Minnesota, explains that cesi-um behaves like potassium in soil. Inbasic soils, cesium is trapped by clayparticles. Likewise, say Swedish scien-tists, cultivated, fertilized soils rich inminerals bind cesium ions. But in poor

Europe in Chernobyl's after glow

' Av. Values > 10,000 Bq/sq. m.i Av. Values 5,000-10,000 Bq/sq. m.hAv. Values 1,000-5,000 Bq/sq. m.

Av. Values < 1,000 Bq/sq. m.

< * > 25,000 Bq/sq. m.U 10,000-20,000 Bq/sq. m.

.7 4,000-6,000 Bq/sq. m.

+ Cowst= Fish .Denm

= Sheep r

=Deer Unt Netheriands /qi= Mushrooms,ob = Hazelnuts

SOURCE NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY/OECD

THIS MAP SHOWS THE AVERAGE amount of cesium-137 and -134 in 1,000 becquerelsper square meter, as measured on European soils from May 1986 to April 1987. Cesiumconcentrations are highlighted. Since the data were gathered, some of the cesium willhave washed away or have been trapped in the soil. But plants and animals are stillpicking up the long-lived radioactive particles, even in some low fallout areas.

soils with little clay and minerals (tun-dra, sandy soils) or mostly organic mat-ter (such as peats and tropical soils), ce-sium remains available to plants.

To limit the migration of cesium intothe food supply, the USSR has had todeep plow, irrigate and lime hundredsof thousands of acres. Additional mea-sures, says Harold Denton, a NuclearRegulatory Cm s:sn (NRC) direc-tor, include treating highly contaminat-ed areas with calcium to fix radionu-clides in the soil. "Then the areas mightbe sown with crops such as lupines thatabsorb radionuclides. These cropswould then be harvested and buried."

Generally, cesium-137 will residenear the soils' surface unless plowedunder. Thus, shallow-rooted crops likepotatoes or sugar beets are more likelyto be long-term problems than deep-rooted ones like grains, says Gary' Paul-sen, Kansas State agronomist. He sayscontamination depends on the stage ofgrowth and even variety: however, soy-

beans, requiring more potassium thanraess- s like rye, are likely to take more

cesium up through their roots.In the short-run, according to George

Ham, Kansas State agronomist, ricewould best resist the tissue-damagingbeta particles emitted by radionuclides.Corn, sorghum, potatoes and sugarbeets are moderately resistant. Wheat,oats and barley are very sensitive.

Processing removes much of the con-tamination. Potatoes lose radionu-clides when made into starch; in milkthey are filtered out during cheese-making. Other good crops are flax orcotton, because they aren't edible. "As ithappens, rye, potatoes and flax are cus-tomary crops in the soils of the Cher-nobyl area," says Denton.

Fighting fallout has proved disrup-tive, costly, rarely practical and full ofunknowns, say experts. Our best lab isRussia, but its experience, like its fall-out, make take years to surface. 4

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Irradiatedpine foresta surprise

KNOXVILLE,' Tenn.(AP) - Researchers whoexposed a pine forest togamma rays 20 yearsago in an experiment onthe long-term effects of:a nuclear- explosion now:are trying to find out why.it took so long. for thetrees to grow again.

So far, only: a fewseedlings have sprung upin the South Carolina.

fessor, said.W hen researchers

returned to the forestlasl- spring for the firsttime in 15ý years, theywere "shocked becausere'vegetation seems tohaive stopped after. fiveyfaars," he said. 1 .I McCormick: headedthne, research, team. that.e:xposed the forest andothers to radiation in anattempt. to: discover oneof the. environmentaleffects of a nuclear blast.

-The.. researchersdesigned"-: a_ radiation.machine andfused it inW.

said.Researchers monitor-

ed the forest for tae firstfive years. after it wasexposed, and. recoveryseemed to be progres-sing normally, McCtar-mick said.

The. Hope Diamomad,.the largest of all .blue.diamonds, 441/2 carats;, isýslightly, lopsided. It isprobably due to the bot-tom part of the tear~dropshape being Out aw~ay sothe original stolen jewel)could: not' be, identified.-

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forest, Dr. Frank McCor- 1964 to expose 40 acres on The setting is a circŽlet of Ws. mick, a University: of the-grounds of Savannah smaller'whitediaronds

Tennessee ecology.. pro-.' River Plant, McCormick on a chain of diamoiads.

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10-I Sunday. Dec. 11, 1983 Philadelphia Inquireri74 12.1

A forest in S.C. fails to recoverPine trees exposed to radiation 20 years ago

By Patricia A. PaquetteAs'ýoialed Pr',s

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - A South Car-olina forest. exposed to radiation inan experiment 20 years ago hasfailed to replenish itself, and somesurviving trees are not growing nor-mally, according to a University ofTennessee ecologist.

Only a few seedlings have sprungup in the affected 40 acres on thegrounds of the Savannah RiverPlant, said Frank McCormick, whoheaded the research team that irra-diated the forest with gamma rays in1964. lie now teaches ecology at theUniversity of Tennessee-Knoxville.

The few seedlings were not morethan four years old. and. researchersare not sure why the recovery wasdelayed, McCormick said.

When researchers returned to theforest last spring for the first time in15 years, they were "shocked because

revegetation seems to have stopped"after the first five years followingexposure.

Pine trees within about 25 yards ofa radiation machine, invented forthe experiment, were killed. Somebrowned and died before the eight-day exposure was completed, he said.

Farther away from the radiationsource, some trees died after severalyears, some became sterile and somedeveloped three or four trunks afterbuds on top of them were killed,McCormick said.

The amount of radiation emittedduring the eight days was more thansix times the amount that scientistsestimate would kill a human, he said.

Researchers monitored the forestfor the first five years after it wasexposed, and recovery seemed to beprogressing normally, McCormicksaid.

"Initial recovery was rapid and

predictable," he said. "Honeysuckleand trumpet vines began moving in.It was expected that pine seedlingswould move in next to replenish thesite. That didn't happen."

The weeds may have grownthicker because of the radiation andmay have cut off light, so the seed-lings couldn't grow, he said. Or thetrees might not have been able toreproduce.

"Maybe there is more uncertaintyabout the ecological effects of radia-tion" than scientists thought 20 yearsago, he said. "We need to reduce thatuncertainty."

Other sites on federal land weretested in the mid-1960s, McCormicksaid, They include a mountain rainforest in Puerto Rico, a forest inRhinelander, Wis., and a forest at theDepartment of Energy's Oak RidgeNational Laboratory, about 25 mileswest of Knoxville.

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PHYSIOLOGICAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL RESPONSES OFPI.,VUS STROBUS L. AND PJIVUS SILVESTRIS L. SEEDLINGS

SUBJECTED TO LOW-LEVEL CONTINUOUS GAMMAIRRADIATION AT A RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL AREA

K. R. CHANDORKAR and G. M. CLARK

Departments of Botany and Zoology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S IAI

(Received 5 August 1985; accepted in revised form 19 November 1985)

CHANDORKAR K. R. and CLARK C. NM. Physiological and morphological responses ofPinus strobus L. andPinus sylvestris L. seedlings subjected to low-level continuous gamma irradiation at a radioactive waste disposalarea. ENI,qRONMENTAL AND EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY 26, 259-270, 1986.-About 100 onie-vear oldPinus strobus and Pinus sylvestris seedlings were placed at the Welcome Residue Site (WRS,, 'aradioactive waste disposal area located near Port Hope, Ontario, and thereafter continuouslyexposed to an average gamma dose rate of 10.15 mR/hr. An additional 100 seedlings were placedat a nearby control site where the background dose rate was about 0.03 mR/hr. Seedlings fromboth locations were sampled on three occasions for the analysis of various parameters. Datacollectcd at the end of the growing season show that, although the low-level continuous irradiationtreatment had not affected the chlorophyll content of the new needles of both species, it hadsuppressed their normal rates of apparent photosynthesis by about 16-190/o and respiration ratesby about 14-23%, and had reduced 80% ethanol soluble sugar content by about 14-25%. This_treatment also suppressed stem elongation which led to considerable crowding of new ncedlcs andstimulated the outgrowth of lateral branches. These results suggest that both the morphologicalresponses exhibited by the irradiated seedlings and the changes observed in the physico-chemicalparameters of their needles were intermediated by the effect ofcontinuous irradiation on the levelof free auxin, IAA.

INTRODUCTION

WELCOME Residue Site (WRS) is one of severalradioactive waste disposal areas maintained byEldorado Nuclear Ltd in the immediate vicinityof Port Hope, Ontario. This area was usedbetween 1948 and 1953 as a depository forradioactive wastes resulting from the extraction ofradium from uranium ores. The refining ofradium was terminated towards the end of 1953and, for the next two years, this area was mainlyused to bury the dismantled parts and machineryof the radium laboratories. Presently it occupies afenced-in area of about 30 hectares, of which thesomewhat central, and also fenced, 5.1 hectares

constitute the main radioactive waste disposalarea.

We first visited the WRS in the summer of 1976to survey the types of vegetation growing withinand around its perimeter and to ascertain theimpact, if any, on the surrounding environment.During this visit we found that the site was mostlycolonized by a variety of grasses, mosses andweedy dicot species (Fig. 5). Radiation exposurerates in different parts of the site varied con-siderably, ranging from as low as 0.3 mRihlr inareas with thick.vegetative cover to as high as100 mRihr around a lew barren spots. \'re alsonoticed a row of 10-year-old Scotch pine ýPrnussvlestris L.) trees growing along a drainage ditch

259

4 7TAcM EAfT 6 0

260 K. R. CHANDORKAR nid G. M, CLARK

which flanks the southern border of the innerfence (Fig. 1). A closer examination of these treesindicated that, not only thcir normal growth anddevelopment.was siuppr:sscd, but also that they

21 : exhibited a variety of anom)alouts. growth-l__re-.sponses such as witches' brooming, needle fusionand marked thickening ofstems and needles (Figs2 and 3). Other than these modifications, the treesdid not exhibit nutritional deficiency or chemicaltoxicity symptoms as judged by the coloration ofneedles; in spite of the fact that the soil was known

-. to be heavily contaminated with heavy metalssuch as arsenic, uranium and thorium. G.amrna__exposure rates in the vicinity of these trees.rangedfrom about 0.3 to 1.2 mR/hr, which suggested

that the total dose which they had accumulated innine years at this site was apprwxiimatel-y-.-25---100 R.

Symptomatic of radiation damage as theseresponses were, it was not clear at this timewhether they were induced by (1) continuouslow-level external gamma radiation, or (2) low-level internal alpha and beta irradiation from theabsorption of alpha-emitting nuclides and theirdecay products, or (3) the combination of both.

Evidence that these responses may not havebeen caused by internal alpha and beta irradia-tion or by arsenic toxicity was provided by sub-sequent investigations. Using the technique ofactivation analysis, it was found that in aqueousextracts ofseveral soil samples taken from the baseof these trees the concentration of the alpha-emitting nuclides and arsenic was well below thelevel that is considered toxic to plants, and thatthe content of each of these elements in the stems,needles, cones and seeds of these trees was essen-tially comparable to similar tissues of trees grow-ing at a nearby uncontaminated site. Althoughthese analyses suggested that anomalous growthresponses exhibited by these trees may have beeninduced by low-level continuous gsmma irradi-ation, such a possibility appeared unlikely be-cause reference to literature suggested that con-tinuous gamma irradiation at such dose rates (i.e.0.3-1.2 mRihr) should have had little effect onthe growth and development of these trees, evenafter several years of exposurei.(19) It was thereforeconcluded that further assessment of the pheno-menon was warranted and, hence, this study wasinitiated.

VVhile this study was well under way, in thesummer of 1981 Eldorado Nuclear Ltd initiatedwork to retop the WRS with uncontaminated soilin order to reduce further deterioration throughwind and water erosion. When ihis work wascompleted towards the "end of 1982, thebackground dose rate over most of the area was re-duced to about 2-2.5 mR/hr and that in the vicin-ity of the border trees to about 0.03-0.05 mR/hr.Since then, most of the Pinus svlvestris trees havebeen growing at a much faster rate than thatwhich they exhibited before 1981 (Fig. 4), in-dicating that continuous external gamma irradi-ation with an average dose rate as low as 1 mR/hrcould have suppressed the growth and develop-ment of these trees.

METHODS

Plant materialOne-year-old Pinus strobus L. (white pine) and

P. sylvestris L. (Scotch pine) seedlings were ob-tained from the Ontario Ministry of NaturalResources Nursery in Orono, Ontario. About250-300 seedlings of each species were lifted fromtheir seed-beds before budbreak and brought tothe Department of Botany, University ofToronto, along with a sufficient amount of theirseed-bed soil. From these lots about 100 seedlingsof each species were selected for uniformity inheight and these were transplanted ii•to st/ro-foam cups using the Orono nursery soil. Theywere then fertilized with 'heavy' phosphate nutri-ent solution (N: P: K-10: 50: 10, Plant ProductsCo. Ltd, Bramalea, Ontario) and transferred totwo adjacent cold frames in an outdoor lot wherethey were maintained for 10-15 days underdiffused light and watered as required. SeedlingsofP. strobus and P. sylvestris were transplanted andtransported to the WRS at Port Hope, Ontario on16 May 1978 and 8 May 1979, respectively.

Expcrimnntal arrangement and dsimctlrOf the total number of seedlings of each species

taken to Port Hope, half was transferred to awooden platform (height 30.5 cm, width 40.7 cmand length 244 cm) which was placed near theeastern inner fence of the WRS lFigs 5 aiid 6)."lhe remaining were transferred mo a similar

261

,.,

FiGSs 1-4. Photographs of P. svlvesiris trecs growing at the Welcome Residue Site.Fig, 1. A row of I l-year-old P. sylvestris trees growing along the southern edge oftheinner fence of WRS. Taken 1978. Fig. 2. Branch showing a witches' broom type ofgrowth resulting from suppression ofnmain-shoot extension and outgrowth oflateralbuds. Fig. 3. Branch showing thickened stem. abnormal (fused and thickened)needles and reduced stem elongation. Fig. 4. Trcc showing marked changes ingrowth pattern alter WRS was covered with uncontaminated soil in 1981, loweringthe dlose rate to 0.03 to 0.05 inR/lhr. Arrow marks height at which 1981 growth

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PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

&

OBSERVATIONS OF

PLANT GROWTH ABNORMALITIES

IN

NORTH WEST QUADRANT

OF

THREE MILE ISLAND

Mary Osborn1/14/85

(revised & crrtd 2/85)

(~Io~je5 fpo o I)

Am7c#ME'ff 76

PERSONAL EXPERIENCES & OBSERVATIONS OF

Since the spring of '79, I have observed, collected and photographed Zabnormal growth of flora in the areas around Three Mile Island. Regardless,or in spite of the arguments of how much radiation did or didn't get out, if 0chemicals were released, or even a combination of both - these are my findingsand experiences since the early days of the TMI accident.

First I will restate some of my experiences (I will not get into thereports of farm animals & pets, birds, insects or bumble bees dying or dis-appearing following the accident). I live in the northwest quadrant of TMI,in Swatara Township, approximately 61 miles away from the plant, BetweenHarrisburg and Three Mile Island (near the Host Inn, see: NUREG 0600, figure11-3-6). b

'-4

On Wednesday, 3/28/79 at six o'clock in the morning, my husband and I zwere outdoors. We had a clean metallic taste at that time. (Our taste wasnot coppery or rusty or like burning galvanized steel as others have reported) MMy son and I were outdoors from 7:45 am to 10:00 am; later that day we bothhad sunburn effects on our hands and faces. DI

---

Thursday, 3/29/79, we drove to the west shore, to Ashcombe Vegetable tFarm near Grantham, to just get-away for a while. During that drive I hadtearing and burning of my eyes. It was so bright, it hurt to see. I did notconnect the skin and eye burns to the accident, although we joked about the zmetallic taste sometime later as being vaporized metal from the accident. Q

Friday, 3/30/79 (or black Friday as we call it now) after hearing sirens, -,Uchurch bells and the radio news of uncontrolled radiation releases from Three

Mile Island, we evacuated. m

The next week, on Tuesday evening, my husband and I returned home for -

winter clothing, medicine and teddy bears. During our brief two hour triphome I encountered an "unusual event" - the problem I observed was theaccelerated growth of my umbrella plant (genus cyperus). New growth, fresh Zgreen in color, had appeared - more than a 3" x 5" card within 5 days! o

(Friday to Tuesday)

We evacuated for eight days. Sometime later (I don't remember how manydays), while giving my two year old a bath, I noticed a "small wad" of hairin the tub. His hair had thinned, you could see his scalp. (I think all ofus in my family had some amount of hair loss and have met women from Middletownsaying the same happened to them.)

That spring, one pinkish tulip had a petal growing 2" down on thestem. In the spring of 1980 that tulip "branched", it had two tulips on onestem. This has not occured since that time. -

In May of 1979, my daughter picked a bunch of wild field daisies, withtwo grossly deformed flowers among them. I also found three dandelions in myback yard that appeared to be similarly deformed. I have found many of these (nevery year since 1979. (My neighbor who lived here over 25 years had never

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observed this before. I have lived here since 1969 and had never observedthis either, anywhere).

In the fall of '79, my children picked up leaves from the front yard,to do crayon "rubbings". The leaves would not fit under a sheet of 8½" x 11"paper. One leaf would not fit where two or three used to.

I have also found abnormalities on the west 'shore, in the areas of theAamodt Health Study. The plants were found easily by observing shapes orcolors that weren't normal.

In May of '84, Marjorie Aamodt and I took some of the specimens collectedto a botanist, Dr. James Gunckel. He is the "world authority on modificationsof plant growth and development induced by ionizing radiations". (See hisaffidavit attached, from the Aamodt Health Survey.) At that time Dr. Gunckelgave us two reprints of his research and mentioned clues as to what additionaleffects or symptoms to look for; thickening of leaves, leathery leaves, unusualdwarfing, multiple leaf axils (stimulations), reversion (vegetative-floralgrowth back and forth), etc.

To date, I have found plant abnormalities in these areas around TMI:Londonderry Township, Derry Township, Lower Swatara Township, Fairview Township,Harrisburg, Newberry*Township, Swatara Township and Upper Allen Township.The plants I've found are: daisies, dandelions, chrysanthemums, pyrethrum,sunflower, forsythia, marigolds, crown vetch, maple leaves, redbud leaves, roseleaves, queen anne's lace, corn tassels, some common weeds and a few others.Also, very unusual growth patterns on two pine trees and dandelion leaves31" long. (see list and sketches attached)

I cannot say "all" abnormalities found were caused by radiation orchemicals from the Three Mile Island accident, but I believe the fallout fromthe accident has caused most of the effects I've seen.

.. The fact that abnormalities are being found 5 years after the

accident raises serious questions ........

Is there something in the soil now that is causing these effects? Isthe plant releasing enough from clean-up or Unit 1 testing to cause this now?Has the Chinese Bomb Fallout and weapons testing combined with years ofcontinuous radiation releases from TMI done irreversable harm to our environ-ment? To our babies, children or families? To our animals, plants, water, airand earth? What Environmental Impact Statement ?

A key point to make is the finding that these abnormalities, modifications,or mutations occured in the same areas where people have reported having themetallic taste, skins burns, and other accident related symptoms. We have foundpeople, animal and plant effects in the same areas where symptoms were reportedat the time of the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. They have been discount-ed by some "experts" but not all. The fact is there is still no other explanationto these terrible effects. Everything I've found seems to tie into the accidentand the more one learns the more this seems to be true.

-2-

I GLOSSARY

ADVENTITIOUS BUDS: Buds formed where it shouldn't be, from tissues that shouldn'tform a bud.

AXIL: Angle between leaf or leafstalk and the stem that carries it. Any new growthor flower bud that arises from an axil is called axillary.

BLIND SHOOT: Where normal tip of shoot that would normally have leaves or flower,but it doesn't; it just forms a long shoot tip without leaves orflowers.

BUD: A condensed shoot, often protected by overlapping scales. A growth budcontains embryo leaves. A flower bud contains embryo flowers orflower clusters.

CHLOROSIS: A condition in which leaves become unnaturally pallid, whitish oryellow. Usually due to lack of essential minerals.

DIFURCATION: Branching into two.

FASCIATION: Multiple stems from multiple buds.

MARGIN: The edge or boundary of any plant organ - most often applied to the borderarea of a leaf. (margin deformity see Redbud leaves.)

MORPHOGENETIC ABNORMALITIES: Form abnormalities.

VACUOLATION: Formation of a largely water filled cell.

Abnormalities have been observedIsland since the spring of 1979:

LOCATION CODE* (see following page)

DT DERRY TOWNSHIP

E ETTERS

FT FAIRVIEW TOWNSHIP

H HARRISBURG

L LISBURN

LT LONDONDERRY TOWNSHIP

in the following areas around Three Mile

LST LOWER SWATARA TOWNSHIP

M MECHANICSBURG

NT NEWBERRY TOWNSHIP

0 OBERLIN

ST SWATARA TOWNSHIP

UAT UPPER ALLEN TOWNSHIP

note-

There have been other reports of strange or unusual plant growth in theTMI area since the accident. Abnormalities are not limited to locations mention-ed here. My observations are up to the period of January 1985 and have beenfound as far as 15 miles from Three Mile Island. In many instances the findingsseem to follow the "plume" pathways as evidenced by the reports of exposure attime of the accident by human dosimeters.

Abnormalities/mutations occur in nature, it is the frequency of theseoccurences that merits attention and concern.

-3-

OBSER VAT IONS

TYPE OF PLANT LOfATION* ARNnRMAI TTh' flRSFRvFf

CHRYSANTHEMUMS

CORN

CORNFLOWER

CROWN VETCH

DAISY

DANDELION

DANDELION LEAVES

FORSYTHIA

MAPLE LEAVES

MAPLE TREE

MAPLE TREES

MARIGOLDS

ONION/GARLIC WEED

PINE TREES

PYRETHRUM

QUEEN ANNE'S LACE

REDBUD LEAVES

ROSE

ROSE LEAVES

SPIDERWORT

UAT

DT, E

ST

ST

E, ST

E,ST,O,H,M

FT

E, LST

E,L,ST,LST

ST, FT

LST, ST, FT

FT

ST, LST

E, ST

ST

ST, LT

ST

LST

LST, ST

NT,ST

MULTIPLE BUDS.

SEX REVERSAL.

WHITE, SHOULD BE BLUE (CHLOROSIS?).

CHLOROSIS (FRENCH VANILLA COLOR).

STEM FASCIATION, tUT CU AXILLARYFLOWER HEAD.

DEFORMED FLOWER HEADS, MULTIPLE BLOOMS.

HUGE, 31" LONG.

MULTIPLE BUDS.

MARGIN ABNORMALITY, THICK & LEATHERY, PUCKERED,CHLOROSIS, SOME DWARFED, SOME HUGE.

BLIND SHOOTS, EXCESS SEEDS (WOULD NOT SPROUT).

DEAD AREAS ABOUT 15' IN DIAMETER AS IF "PLUME"WENT THRU.

STUNTED, STEM FASCIATION, NO FLOWER PETALS, ALLFLORETS, LEATHERY LEAVES.

REVERSION.

UNUSUAL GROWTH PATTERN FOR PINE CONES, UN-USUAL MASSIVE GROWTH.

STEM FASCIATION, THICK LEATHERY LEAVES.

PINKISH FLOWERS, WOODY STEM.

MARGIN ABNORMALITIES.

WHITE ROSE ON ALL YELLOW BUSH.

LEAF FUSION, STUNTING, CHLOROSIS, AXILLARYBUDS FORMED.

EXTRA PETALS & STAMENS.

SUNFLOWER E, L, ST STEM FASCIATION, AXILLARY BUDS.

WRONG COLOR (CHLOROSIS?).YELLOW BUSH TYPE WEED ST

*see previous page for location code -4-

(A) (B)

(A)(B)(C)(D)(E)

AXILLARY FLOWER HEADSTEM FASCIATIONDEFORMED INFLORESCENCE,NORMAL SIDE VIEWNORMAL TOP VIEW

TOP VIEW

(D)

(Shape and form characteristics aresimilar in dandelion, sunflower,chrysanthemum and daisy)

5/84

Swatara Twp, Etters

area- FIELD DAISIES-5-

A,B,C, CLOSE TO ACTUAL SIZE

D, ENLARGED

(A)

(C)

(o)

A, B, 5/82 OBERLIN

C, 7/82 HARRISBURG

D, 8/84 SWATARA TWP.

AREA

(A)(B) DEFORMED FLOWER HEAD

(C) DOUBLE BLOOM

(D) NO DEFORMITY

DANDELION

-6-

CLOSE TO ACTUAL SIZE

9/84~

SWPITPRA TWP.

A~REA

NO DEFORMITY

CHRYSANTHEMUM

-7-

CLOSE TO ACTUAL SIZE

(B)

9/21/84

about 14 miles n/wAREA

(A) MULTIPLE BUDS

(8) PETALS

CHRYSANTHEMUM

-8-

CLOSE TO ACTUAL SIZE

(A)

(A)

4/83

ETTERS& QE

(A) MULTIPLE _!-UDS

T 7 -9-

CLOSE TO ACTUAL SIZE

1T /2/ 5 NORMAL TWIG

-10-

ACTUAL SIZE

(A)

(A)

'N

K'N

7/l1e/P.-- M n, Zýý ' N PEEOC~f-ITTY

( C-C: TE LE P cc 4flT DEVELOPED

-11-

ACTUAL ESZE

N

10Q/84~

SWATARP W

ARE C

NO DEFORMITY

MAPLE LEAF

-12-

ACTUAL E:ZE

(6)

7/8/4

SWATAR4 -WP.

AREA4

(A) NO DEFORMITIES

(B)(C) MARGIN DEFORMITIES

REDBUD LEAVES

-13-

ACTUAL SIZE

(A)

7/84j

SWATARA TlP.

A~REA

(DECAPPED? & THEN)

AXILLARY BUDS DEVELOPED

BLAZE ROSE BULIH

-14-

ULUS'L IL LAL IUAL bIlZ

(A)

(B) (C)

6/81,

A-, B, LC 1E:-:R SWATAPP

C, St,.§TAPf\ TWP.

FUSED LEAVES

ROSE BUSH

-15-

SEX REVERSAL (MALE TASSEL

PRODUCING FEMALE CORN)

TASSEL OF CORN

9/84, 8/E2

ETTERS, HERSHEY R.D.

AREA

REVERSION

WILD GARLIC/ONION WEED

9/82

SWATARA, LOWER SWATARA

AREA-16-

,I

The Scribbler,,,"'Boyeorge orn,

Another Agricultural Oddity of thie- easonWeehave reported on a few of the weird plants That ,issued

from this most abundant of growing.seasons, and we1 now have.the 1984 garden winner. The envelope, please. Mellors.

And the winner is: sexual-. -' -ly confused corn. This has beenaripesyear for what ordinarilyis a rare~abnormality:-.tasselsproducing their own ears.

Lou Gable, a deputy game - " -'i-,warden of Columbia R2, spot-ted -some of this strange corn Jac " -••.-.:on aMountville-area farm not .a ,' ,.long, ago. 'ie informed Penn Brubaker

'State extension agent ArnoldLueck. Lueck'has since heard-about several other outbreaks.

. A brief explanation. for city slickeri: CorA is btsexual.Tbe1tassel is t-ale organi. The ear is the female organ. The tassel.sheds pollen on the ear, and the ear makes baby kernels."

That's what happens undernormaI circumnstances. Abnormal- i•..•.. :..._Jy, on rare.occasions, male tassels

change sex sand produce their own .4miniature ears with kernels - as ifthey didnti need the regular ears at

Nobody knows precisely' wh*y.this happens. Lucck says All is•spe-culatiun. especially3rthis Yearwhen the abnormality is relatively

•widespread. . "-The affected plants likely ex-

perienced some kind of environ-mental shock," he notes, "as ex-treme cold or-a virus infection. "Such conditions have been known toproduce sex. change, in cornplants."

The corn Gable. spotted, andwhich is pictured here, is fieldcorn. Lueck says he has also seenthe ah~rration in sweet corn. (The Corn tassels that gaveScribbler once spied a mirage with birth to their own earsonr- white, sequined glove dancing -in his bowl of corn flakes, but we're not going to develop thatthemne.)

-17-

t2... I.'

Ar C * I5p

.- 4.; ~

*11

Record find?Erma and Donald Croce of Hershey hope their find will mushroom into a recordbreaker. The couple pulled the 55-pound specimen from a stump in a field alongRoute 322 just east of Hershey yesterday. They plan to have the mushroom - whichthey claim is edible - weighed and measured at Lebanon Valley College beforesubmitting statistics for possible inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records.

-J6-

Below are excerpts from the booklets Dr. Gunckel gave us. This

explains why even knowledgeable people have difficulty in accepting the

fact that radiation damage occurred in the plants around TMI.

Most of the radiation effects described are quantitativelyrather than qualitatively different from those known to occurin unirradiated plants. (273)

You have nothing that is not known in nature - you seemto be speeding up the frequency of these events. (279)

Most, if not all, radiation induce effects are teratologicalresponses observed in nature, but the frequency of such eventsis markedly accelerated. (373)

.A large variety of leaf anomalies has been noted in irradiatedplants. In any given species, one or more of the followingchanges may appear; dwarfing, thickening, roughened or uneventexture, puckering of blade, curling of leaf margins, distortedvenation, fusions, cup-shaped or tubular leaves, color changes,and premature abscission. (272)

Irradiated flowering plants may show: increased height, thick-ening & fasciation of floral stalks, delayed and/or reducedflowering, premature or increased flowering, color changes andsomatic changes, or high degree of sterility and modificationin form and number of floral parts. (597)

Fasciation of stems, while not uncommon in unirradiated plantsoccurs so frequently in irradiated plants that it may beconsidered a typical radiation effect. (375)

It should be emphasizedthat the results for one species shouldnot be extrapolated to another, as the responses of differentspecies or even different forms or varieties within a speciesmay vary. (595) An example was given-if you have an appleorchard with many aifferent kinds of apple trees, and theywere all exposed to equal doses of radiation, some trees couldbe injured while other trees are unaffected.

Dr. Gunckel and Dr. Sparrow wrote in 1961, "it is obvious thatthe naturally occuring ionizing radiations were producing their biologicaleffects since time immemorial, and that the cumulative effects of theseradiations might conceivably be of considerable evolutionary significance.The recent concern over small increases in background radiation due toradioactive fallout reflects the opinion of many biologists that anincrease in the background level of radiation, if continued over longperiods of time, may produce significant biological effects, mainlygenetic."

Publications of James E. Gunckel

IV. The Effects of Ionizing Radiation on Plants: Morphological

Effects, The Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol 32, No. 1, March 1957

Modifications of Plant Growth and Development Induced by Ionizing

Radiations, Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology, Vol XV/2, 1965

Aberrant Growth in Plants Induced by Ionizing Radiation, with Arnold

H. Sparrow, Abnormal and Pathological Plant Growth, Brookhaven

Symposia in Biology No. 6 (1954)

Ionizing Radiations: Biochemical, Physiological and Morphological

Aspects of their Effects on Plants, with A. H. Sparrow, Encyclopedia

of Plant Physiology, Vol XVI, 1961

_V7>

ýI t j i 7~DJ (~1 ')&

.)

-20-

The Bulletinof the Torrey Botanical Club

Editor-in-Chief: James E. Gunckel

11i1dole Al.-I.. N 1lllU

R:ay 32, 29,4

AFFIDAVIT 9

I hove carefully examined a few specimens of cammon plants, collected

shortly after the accident at TRI and compared them with specimens collected

more recently. The current abnormalities are probably carEi ed forward by

induced chromcsomal aberrations. There were a number of anomalies enti rely

ccmparable to those induced by ionizing radiation -- stem fasciations, growth

stimulaticn, induction of extra vegetative buds and stem tumors.

Most of the stem abnormalities described in the literature, and In my own

experience, are induced by relativply high doses of X or gEmma rays extending

over a period of usually 2-3 months. Notable exceptions, however, are similar

.responses to beta ray exposure from radioisotopes (p 3 2 , Zn65, CaS) and for

only. 24 hours. In other words, it would have been possible for the types

of plant abnoraalities observed to have beeh induced by radioactive fallout

on March 29, 1979.

In discussing the general biolocal effects of irradiation, some clari-

fication may be helpful. In plants, the dose rate (e.g*, mr/hr) is much more

Important than total dose (e.g., mr/yr) in inducing abnormalities. Further,

the "quality factor" for gamma and beta radiation is not the same as generally

assumed. In fact, I have Incontrovertible experimental results to show that

beta rays are at least a quality factor of two in plarts.

I am the world authority on modifications of plant growth and development

induced by ionizing radiations, having researched this area for 34 years at

the Brockhaven National laboratory and at .Rutgers University. The three

review papers appended attest to my expertise.

tjanle F.Ounckel

P. ?1.

State' s TMI study c'louded-ey method doubtsby surv

U

By Frank Lynch§uniiail rJ-atriot-•'_Xws

The state's recently releasedstudy of health effects of the 1979Three Mile Island accident may,have been flawed by expandingthe survey areas beyond the pre-scribed five- and 10-mile zones.

According to 1980 census fig-ures, the state Department ofHealth included 28,610 people wholive farther than five miles fromthe Londonderry Twp. plant in thepopulation listed for those wholive within five miles.

Another 122,000 people who.A , • •

live farther than 10 miles from theplant were included in the popula-tion of those living "withini" 10miles.

THE RESULT, according to ep-idemiologists and statisticians con-tacted by the Sunday Patriot-News, is that if there actuallywere adverse health effects suchas increased cancer cases amongthose living close. to the plant, thefivures would be diluted by ex-

. panding the base population."It seems like a strange thing

toQ," said Dr. Robert A. Hult-quist, Pennsylvania State Univer-sity professor of statistics. "I thinkyou would substantially dilute [as-sumed cancer rates] to get even afew miles away."

Dr. George Hutchison, Harvardprofessor of epidemiology, con-curv'ed.

"Let's suppose there is an ex-

I

Areas included in 5-mile populaltion studyAreas included in 10-mile popul

cess cancer rate [in the five-milezone], and not excess rate beyondthe five-mile zone," he said. "Thelareer nooulation would dilute the

ago, concluded that no adversehealth effects had been found sofar in people who live around TMI,site of the nation's worst commer-cial nuclear accident on March 28,1979.

Comparing census figures with

ation study

the totals listed by the Health De-partment, 44 percent of the popu-lation figured in the five-mil'estatistics live outside that zone, wr,while 42 percent of those said to beb, .,,

See STAlE'S-Page A10 6

overall cancer rate.'

THE STUDY, released a month

umu•

A I0-#uttbaUi Patriot-,eews, Harrisburg, Pa., October 6, 1985

I

State s TMI study clouded

erry St. Hbg 561-1209,1.% Discount to Sr. Citizens:'qA.F/LA2fo o 6c7rj

DR. MALCHODI & DR. KLEIN, DDSR.D. BOX 35A 204-206 MUMPER LANELEWISBERRY 938-1415

DILLSBURG 233-8044, 432-976210% Discount Offered To All Sr. Citizens

.3t 2 3 ?.'7P/

From Page Al

"within" the 1 0-mile zone actuallylive farther away.

For example, all of Lower Pax-ton Twp.'s 34,830 residents wereincluded in the 10-mile figures, al-though only 2.000 of them live inthe sliver of the township insidethe 10-mile radius. Some LowerPaxton Twp. residents live as faras 16 miles from the plant.

Health Department officialsdefend the way they gatheredtheir data. They say the data werenot diluted by the excess popula-tion included, and that the studycould not have been conducted hadthey attempted to stay close to theimaginary 5- and 10-mile zones.'

"IT WOULD be a tremendousjob. almost humanly impossible"to conduct such a study, said Ed-ward Digon, principal author ofthe report and chief of the depart-ment's special studies section, divi-sion of epidemiology research.

Digon said the report shouldhave noted that some of the peopleincluded in the study live outsidethe zones. Such a notation hadbeen included in an early draft thathe wrote, but was deleted duringthe editing process. Leaving theexplanation out, he said, was an"error."

But Digon stressed that therewas not an increase in cancer. Hesaid the four communities entirely

.4

A JIK__A 'N

within the five-mile zone hadabout the same number of cancerdeaths as would have been expect-ed.

Health Department spokesmanBill Lindeberg said, "We think wehave a pretty solid report, and westand on it."

TMI'S UNIT 2 reactoroverheated and released some ra-dioactivity into the environment inMarch 1979. Government expertsand scientists have said not enoughradiation escaped to trigger anysignificant health problems.

But doubts have persisted overthe last six years.

Norman and Marjorie Aamodt,formerly of Chester County, andnow of Lake Placid, N.Y., conduct-ed a study latt year that concludedthe number of local people dyingfrom cancer increased sevenfoldsince the accident. Of 3 .5'7re-r6.

Meanwhile, the Columbia(N.Y.) University Department ofEpidemiology is conducting a two-year, $420,000 study of pregnancyoutcomes and cancer rates sincethe accident.

And the Health Departmentwill continue to monitor cancercases in the area for future studies.

THE MOST recent study wasmade to find out what, if any,health effects were suffered byresidents living certain distancesfrom the plant. Five- and 10-milezones were selected for compari-son purposes.

Digon noted that death certifi-cates and cancer incidence infor-mation from the state's Cancer Re-gistry, are available according to"minor civil division" - or bytownship and borough.

Since the minor civil divisions,_do not align with the five- and 10-'mile circles, officials included allof a division in the study even ifonly part of it is within the de- yscribed zone. Aei t/)hDr (Yd6 /e.2•Digon said it was decided touse. the divisions - even thoughtheir use inflates the populationnumbers - because it will be easi-er to conduct follow-up studies.

"YOU COULD do it [try to di-

vide the divisions to stay close tothe zone circles]. But you can't dothat for too many years becausethe reference books [needed tokeep track of residents] would fillup a room," he said. .?

Therefore, he said future comr-parison studies also will includethose living outside the zones.

Harvard's Hutchison said thatto do a study expeditiously, "thereis a good argument for using town-ships and boroughs rather than us-ing areas defining a circle aroundThree Mile Island."

But he said that that studymethod should have been de-scribed in the report. "If there isnot any footnote [explaining thatsome areas are actually not withinthe described zones], then youhave a problem."

m

mum

Anti-nuclear-protests spread

PARIS (AP) - About3,000 people, chanting to thestrains of accordion music,marched through Paris onMonday to protest France'sresumption of nuclear testblasts in the South Pacific.

Several hundred anti-nu-clear protesters also demon-strated Monday in Orleansin central France, Rennes inthe west,, and Poitiers andAgen in the southwest.

'Il

The protests were smallby French standards, in-volving far fewer peoplethan the typical union, stu-dent or other anti-govern-ment demonstration. Butthey were still one of thelargest shows of oppositionyet in France to nucleartesting.

/f

1Pý /J~I4 L 6 f // /9 4