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PRESS RELEASE

Sir Alan Hu l m e ,  the Acting Minister for the

Environment, Aborigines and the Arts, today released the

National Radiation Advisory Committee's report, "Biological

Aspects of Fallout in Australia from French Nuclear Weapons

Explosions in the Pacific, June-August 1971".

Sir Alan said that the National Radiation Advisory

Committee, after assessing the data on the fa],lout from the

1971 series, collected and analysed by the Atomic Weapons

Tests Safety Committee, had concluded that this source of

radiation did not constitute a hazard to the health of the

Australian population. '  .

(a) the monitoring programme of the AWTSC provided

adequate coverage to allow the Committee to

assess the effects of fallout on the Australian

population;

(b) the external gamma radiation dose (i.e:  short

-  term radiation lasting a few months) arising

He said the NRAC reported that

from fallout presented no hazard to the

population when compared with the average.

annual background dose of about 100 millirads;

(c) that measures of iodine 131 in milk consumed

.  indicated that radiation doses to thyroids of

young children are small compared to the NRAC

protection guide and do not present a hazard

to the population; .

(d) with respect to the long-lived radioactive

m a t e r i a l ,  arising from the 1971 series and .

all previous atmospheric tests, the levels of

radiation are too small to present a hazard to

the Australian population when compared with .

the annual background radiation from natural

'  '  .  '  l  ' '

s o u r c e s .

S i r  A l a n  s a i d  t h a t , w i t h  r e s p e c t  to  th e  p r e s e n t  s e r i e s  of

F r e n c h  n u c l e a r  t e s t s ,  th e  N R A C  w o u l d  be  r e v i e w i n g  as it

c o m e s  to  h a n d  t h e  d a t a  c o l l e c t e d  a n d  a n a l y s e d  b y  th e  A t o m i c  .

W e a p o n s  T e s t s  S a f e t y  C o m m i t t e e .  T e s t i n g  of s a m p l e s  c o l l e c t e d

s h o w  t h a t  n o  r a d i o a c t i v e  f a l l o u t  h a s  y e t  b e e n  r e c o r d e d  i n  .

A u s t r a l i a .

C A N B E R R A

