| This working data file set, prepared by Desert Research Institute, consists of four files generated for a 1951 to 1975 dose reconstruction called the Off-Site Radiation Exposure Review Project (ORERP) at the NTS. |
| The Department of Energy began ORERP in 1979 with two major objectives. The first objective was to collect and organize at one central location all available documents and data pertaining to off-site fallout from weapons testing and make this information accessible to the public. This was achieved by the establishment of the Center for Information and Coordination. |
| The second objective was to reevaluate the radiation dose that off-site residents received from nuclear testing at the NTS, based on their age, occupation, and place of residence. This required the development of computer models for the transport of radionuclides from their deposition on the ground or vegetation to the ingestion by humans through food and for organ doses resulting from ingestion, inhalation, or deposition on the skin. Also, the models required various data relating to fallout transport and population demographics as input. Four of the basic data files used as input to these dose estimation models were the Town Data Base file NTORPW03_d1 (TOWNDB), the County Data Base file NTORPW03_d2 (CNTYDB), and the Lifestyle Survey Data Base files NTORPW03_d3 and NTORPW03_d4 (LFSDEMOG and LFSFARM). |
| The Town and County Data Bases provided the models with estimates of exposure rate (mR/hr) at 12 hours after each detonation or event (H+12) and time (hr) or arrival of the fallout cloud. Each record represents the estimates made at a given location for a given nuclear event where there was significant deposition from NTS. The estimates from these data bases were used in dose reconstruction based on the residence history. The data bases differ in the region covered, the resolution of the locations for which estimates were made, and the type of data available for making the estimates. The record format for the data bases is basically identical. |
| ORERP divided its study area into two phases. The Phase I region covers the area closest to NTS and included Clark, Esmeralda, Lincoln, and Nye Counties in Nevada and Washington County in Utah. The Phase II region covered Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, western Colorado, southwestern Wyoming, southern Idaho, southeastern Oregon, and southeastern California, excluding any counties in the Phase I region. |
| The estimates in the Town Data Base file were based primarily on post-shot monitoring measurements made with survey-meter instruments and on fallout patterns. There are 1,910 records covering 353 locations in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah and 74 events. There are 1,575 records that fall in the Phase I region covering 173 locations that were used directly in making dose estimates. The remaining 335 records fall into Phase II which is also covered by the County Data Base. |
| The County Data Base file contains estimates for each of 142 counties or county segments for 55 nuclear events. The data sets used as input for developing these estimates included, but were not limited to, the gummed-film data, the Town Data Base, fallout patterns, air sampling data, air-mass trajectories, precipitation data, thermoluminescent dosimeters measurements in bricks, and historical and contemporary soil analyses. |
| Information about lifestyles and agricultural practices in affected areas for the period in question was also important for the dose reconstruction. These data were collected to estimate lifestyle parameters when not specifically available and to help understand the relationships between variables in the models' development. These data were based on personal surveys taken in 10 counties in Nevada, Utah, and Arizona with most of the surveys taken in the Phase I region, specifically in Lincoln, Nye, and Washington Counties. |
| The Lifestyle Survey data consists of two data files: NTORPW03_d3 and NTORPW03_d4 (LFSDEMOG and LFSFARM). NTORPW03_d3 (LFSDEMOG) contains surveys of 910 unnamed individuals who lived in these 10 counties during the 1951 to 1962 period. It includes demographic data, as well as daily consumption for 15 food types. NTORPW03_d4 (LFSFARM) contains data for 267 of these individuals, representing 226 farms, who had direct information about agricultural practices at that time. The data describes the planting, harvesting, and consumption practices for crops, as well as the feeding, slaughtering, and distribution practices for various animals and animal products. |
