ML20004C435

Testimony Contending That Fairfield County Residents Could Not Understand & Follow Brochure Instructions on Actions to Take If Warning Sirens Sounded.Text Is Dense,Type Is Small & Words Are Too Complex.Prof Qualifications Encl

ML20004C435
Person / Time
Site:	Summer
Issue date:	05/28/1981
From:	Greenhut J FAIRFIELD UNITED ACTION
To:
Shared Package
ML20004C433	List: ML20004C432 ML20004C435 ML20004C438
References
ISSUANCES-OL, NUDOCS 8106040054
Download: ML20004C435 (10)

Text

1

./

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA -

G NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION In the Matter of: )

)

SOUTH CAROLINA ELECTRIC AND GAS ) Docket.No. 50-395 OL COMPANY, et al . )

(Virgil C. Sunauer Nuclear Station, May 28, 1981 Unit 1) )

)

DIRECT TESTIMONY OF JANET H. GREENHUT, M.D.

1 Q. PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS.

2 A. My name is Janet H. Greenhut. My address is 209 West High Street, 3 Winnsboro, South Carolina 29180.

4 Q. PLEASE STATE YOUR EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND AND PROFESSIONAL QUALIFI-5 CATIONS.

6 A. . hold a bachelor of Arts degree in the History of Ideas from 7 the Residential College of the University of Michigan at Ann 8 Arbor. I received the C7ctor of Medicine degree from Wayne State 9 University, Detroit, Michigan, in 1978. I a.n currently a candidate 10 for the Master of Public Health degree from the Department of Environ-11 mental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, of the University 12 of South Carolina.

13 14 I am a licensed physician in the states of Michigan and South 15 Carolina. I received the Diplomate of the National Board of 16 Medical Examiners 1979.

810604o oM .

~

'l From July 1978 to October of 1979, I was a resident in .the. Depart-

.2 ment of Family Medicine'at Wayne State University Hospitals in 3 Detroit.-Michigan.. From December 1979.to March 1981, I~was a 4- conmissioned officer in the National Health ServiceCorps of the 5- Public Health Service. In that. capacity I served as a Staff u . physician at the Fairfield Family Medical Center, Winnsboro, 7 South Carolina, where I carried on a family medicine practice.

8 The patients I saw at the Fairfield Family Medical Center com-9 prised a broad cross-section of the population of Fairfield 10 - . County.

11 Q. IN YOUR CAPACITY AS A' PHYSICIAN, WERE YOU CALLED UPON TO INSTRUCT

' 12 RESIDENTS OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY AND'TO DEVELOP WRITTEN MATERIALS 13 FOR THEIR INSTRUCTIONS ON ACTIONS WHICH IT WAS NECESSARY TO.

14 ~ TAKE TO PROTECT TilEIR HEALTH AND SAFETY?

15 A. Yes. We used a lot of prepared written materials from other 16 sources, but we also had to develop a number of written instruc-17 tions ourselves on such subjects as infant feeding, use of saline 18 nose drops for infants, and a diet for infants with diarrhea.

19 20 These instructions were sometimes complex, the diarrhea diet for 21 example. If the parents did not adjust the fluid dilutions and 22 - times correctly, metabolic imbalances could threaten the infant's 23 . l i fe. We found that to make our materials understandable to all

.24 of our patients, it was necessary to write them at a very smple 25- level--about the 6th grade. Then we verbally went through them

-26 and explained the reasons, too.

t -. +-

s > .

"s -

(u

'l- Q. DR. GREENHUT, HAVE YOU FAMILIARIZED YOURSELF WITH THE SCIENTIFIC

.AND MEDICAL LITERATURE ON THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF IONIZING ~ RADIATION?

3 ' ' A .' Yes, I have. .After I' moved to this area and began practicing medi-4: cine in Fairfield County, I became ' aware that the-V.C.. Sunmer plant' 5 was being built in the county. I was concerned about th! potential health effects to myself. And, as a physician, I was concerned

~

-6

7 about the potential adverse health effects of the plant on my patients--

'8 especially .1f there were an accident. So,~I began to examine the 9 professional scientific and medical literature on the subject.

10 Q. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF YOUR TESTIMONY?

~

, 11 A. To review the public information material distributed by-South 12 Carolina Electric and Gas Co. regardina actions residents would 13 need to take to protect their health and safety in cas'e of a radio-14 logical emergency at the Sununer plant.

15 Q. WilAT PUBLIC INFORMATION MATE' RIALS HAVE BEEN AVAILABLE TO THE GENERAL 16 PUBLIC IN FAIRFIELD COUNTY ON WHAT THEY 5HOULD DO IN CASE OF A 17 RADIOLOGICAL EMERGENCY AT THE SUMMER PLANT?

18 A. To the best of my knowledge, the only materials which have been 19 made available to the general public are the Fairfield County 20' Fixed Nuclear Facility Radiological r.mergency Response' Plan, which

-21 -is kept reasonably well-hidden in the Librarian's office at the 22 county library, and the green brochure entitled "V.C. Summer.

n. - -

y

, - .1 Il . Emergency Information." To -the. best of my knowledge, those are o 2 the only materials which have been made available to the public 3- .in Fairfield County. I have examined them.

4 Q. BASED ON YOUR EXPERIENCE IN DEALING WITH PATIENTS IN FAIRFIELD 5 COUNTY, IS THE V.C.' SUMMER EMERGENCY INFORMATION BR0CHURE AC-6 CESSIBLE FROM A PURELY PHYSICAL STANDPOINT TO MOST. RESIDENTS OF 7 .THE COUNTY.

8 ' A. 'The text in the informational section of the brochure is very dense

9. and the type is small. I had trouble reading it. This county 10 includes a lot of old people with generally poor eye-sight, as 11' well as those wit.' cataracts and glaucoma.

12 13' In addition, because this is a poor county, many of my patients 14 who are not elderly have told me that they could not afford to 15 buy eye-glasses.

16 17 Simply from the way-the brochure is laid out, many of my patients 18 would be unable to see the information on the brochure.

19 Q. BASED UPON YOUR EXPERIENCE IN WRITING AND GIVING INSTRUCTIONS TO 20 RESIDENTS OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY ON THE STEPS WHICH THEY WOULD NEED 21 TO TAKE TO PROTECT THEIR HEALTH AND SAFETY, IS IT 'f0VR OPINION 22 THAT THE TYPICAL RESIDENT OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY COULD UNDERSTAND 23 AND F0LLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS ON ACTIONS TO TAKE IN CASE THE WARNING 24 SIRENS ARE SOUNDED WHICH ARE CONTAINED IN THAT BROCHURE?

25 -A. No. The physical reading problem aside, many of the words and 26 phrases used here are far too complex for a poor and rural area.

l27 For example, in the last panel the brochure says: " Persons who

-w-

f -

b, i l?

? .

y - 5-1 are handicapped or.have.special 'trinsportation needs should

2. contact their local Civil Defense Office or Department of Public

~ .

.3. Safety and notify them in advance that-they will need assistance.

41 .in an emergency." Many poorly educated people.will not know l

~5 .how1to call the Civil Defense 0ffice, that, for example, you need J c

6 to look under Fairfield County in the_ telephone book. -They would

• 7 also not understand the words. If you want to say: "If you are  ;

.8 sick or have trouble getting around or you don't have a car, call .

9 as soon as you read this, so that we will be able

,10 to know that you need help if there :is an accident," then you 1 11 should say that.

12 -Q. PLEASE DESCRIBE THE CilART WHICH IS ON Tile DROCHURE?

13 A. There is a cl. art titled "Anounts of Low-Level Radiation (Less ,

14 Than 25,000 Millirems) From Common Sources". That chart lists 15' various sources of low-level radiation-that occur naturally or

16. are man-made.

17 Q. HOW WOULD YOU INTERPRET THAT CHART?

18 A. This chart says to me, if I take it at face value: radiation only 19 . begins to have health effects at 25,000 millirems. That is a much 20 higher level than a number of different radiation sources, such 21 as background radiation .in certain parts of the world, X-rays, 22 or nuclear power plants, including Three Mile Island during the 23 accident.

24'

'25 If I had no other information than that given here, I would con-26 clude that X-rays were harmless and that the accident at Three Mile 4 q' ,

-,g ,, .~,,n--, a w y .r.---- p.,-, -- ,- ~e. o--- w-- ,~e y. ~ ,----,

i

.C '

1 _ Island was harmless.= I. might also very well conclu'de that sin'ce

2 there was so much bally-hoo about Three Mile. Island and it was -

3 harmless, that nuclear accidents are generally harmless.

4' -Q.,;FROM_YOUR EXPERIENCE IN WORKING WITH PEOPLE IN FAIRFIELD: COUNTY, s

5 00:YOU THINK THAT MOST RESIDENTS WOULD SHARE' THESE CONCLUSIONS?

6. A. .

Most residents could probably not make much sense out of_ a chart l'

7 which talks aboutL things as foreign to their experience as milli-8 ' rems. If they could understand the chart, they would probabl'y 9 reach much the same conclusions which I outlined earlier.

10 _Q. IN YOUR OPINION AND BASED UPON YOUR EXPERIENCE AS A PHYSICIAN IN L 11' TRYING TO GET PATIENTS TO TAKE ACTIONS TO PROTECT THEIR HEALTH 12 AND SAFETY, WHAT REACTION WOULD YOU EXPECT FROM A FAIRFIELD l '13. COUNTY RESIDENT TO A RADIO OR TELEVISION ANN 0UtiCEMENT THAT AN 14 ACCIDENT AT THE SUMMER PLANT HAD RELEASED RADIATIT4 SUFFICIENT 15 TO GIVE A DOSE OF 1,000 MILLIREMS TO A PERSON FIVE MILES FROM 16 THE ACCIDENT?

17 A. They would probably believe that the accident was insignificant.

18 Even if the emergency broadcasts told them to take action to pro-19 tect' themselves, many--in reliance on this brochure--would not.

20 Q. BASED ON YOUR MEDICAL TRAINIfiG AND YOUR READING 0F THE SCIENTIFIC 21 AND MEDICAL LITERATURE ON THE. HEALTH EFFECTS OF IONIZlNG RADIATION, 22 WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF'THE INFORMATION SET FORTH IN THAT CHART 23 AND IN THE BROCHURE ON THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF RADIATION 7'

/ 24 A. In my professional opinion, that information is very misleading 25' and irresponsible.

+-

y _

( .J-o.

7'.

J. *;

1 This cha.rt _ really seems to suggest that all-' the kinds of radiation

>2 to _which we are regularly exposed are harmless'. That is not true.

~

3 Even though there are disputes among-professionals in the field '

4 about the precise level of radiation induced health effects, che

'5 _ postulated conservative assumption of health risk estimates put 6 forth by established bodies like the so-called BEIR Connittee is.

7 hat adverse health effects might well be found down to the lowest 8 levels of exposure, the " linear hypothesis". The Applicants relied-9 heavily upon the BEIR I report, which uses this hypothesis, in their 10 affidavit seeking to dismiss Mr. Bursey's health' effects contention.

11 12 There is also, of course, an emerging literature which argues that 13- the linear hypothesis underestimates the risks of radiation at 14 low levels. This has come from studies by Thomas Mancuso, Irwin 15 Bross,'and others. A recent report in Science (May ~22,1981)on 16 newer findings about the radiation cor6 position of the atomic 17 weapons explosions in Japan by scientists at Lawrence Livermore 18- Laboratories and Oak Ridge National Laboratory suggests that the 19 much of the radiction research of the last 15 years may have been 20 based,on assumptions which dramatically underestimated the car'cino-21- genic character of gamma radiation and thus of lower level doses.

22 23~ It is very irresponsible for SCE&G to leave open to a lay public 24 the impression that the only level of radiation they need worry

{. y ,

E" l - '- . ;.

,(

-U-1- about is. that level at which mild acute radiation sickness might

2. well appear' depending u 'pon the susceptibility of the individual.

~3 4 P. is irresponsible to give the impression that X-rays are harmless

-5: precidly at a time when those of us in the' medical profession are

, 6 - recognizing that X-rays are not harmless and that they should only 7 be'taken after balancing the benefits against the risk for each

8. exposure. - Some two y' ears ago, for example, the food and Drug Ad-9 _ ministration issued newguidelines on when skull X-rays.were to-10 be taken. - During my residency, we were given_ a rule of thumb

~11' cost-benefit analysis to apply when considering having a pelvimetry 12_ (pelvic X-ray) performed on a pregnant woman: every time we did

.13 :a pelvic X-ray on a pre'gnant woman, her baby had a 50 percent greater 14 ' chance of developing leukemia.

15 16 Certainly the medical profession believes other than what SCE&G 17 would have its neighbors understand. There is 'a strong pt.sh in 18 .the medical profession to reduce the number of X-rays and to lower

[ -19 the dosage. Strong efforts are being made to improve protection S

20 to technologists and to unborn babies.

't 21 Q. AS'A PHYSICIAN IN THE FAIRFIELD COUNTY COMMUNITY WHO HAS EXPERIENCE 22- IN WORKING WITH THE COUNTY'S RESIDENTS TO HELP THEM LEARN WAYS TO 1

23 PROTECT THEIR HEALTH AND SAFETY, WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF THE 24 EMERGENCY INFORMATION BROCHURE FOR THE SUMMER PLANT?

e

t

[. , ,}

9:_

1 A. .It is quite clear that this piece of- public information is 'not ,

2 . intend 4d to' teach' people about the possible harm they can receive' 3 from radiation cr. about the ways to protect themselves from that -

4' radiation in ca.se'there is an accident.

5 6 The information -on the effects of radiation on people's health 7 .is misleading and deceptive.

8 9 If there is an acc, dent at the Summer plant, people need to have

10. simple, step-by-step instructions on what they_ need to do. The 11 instructions in this brochure are covered in one, difficult to read 12' panel. Two' full panels are-given to a picture of the nuclear plant.

~

13 In case of an radiological emergency at .the Summer ~ plant,.

14 a picture of.the facility is the last thing people will need 15 They will be headed in the other direction--if they can understani '

16: these instructions.

17 Q. DOES THIS CONCLUDE YOUR TESTIMONY 7

' j..

• 18 A. Yes, it does.

d A

s ,

]

_7 j i ~

VITA-

~

Janet H..Greenhut, M.D.

209 Wes6 High Street

.Winnsboro, South Carolina 29180 '803-635-5914?

. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

12/79 to Commissioned Of ficer .in -the National IIcalth

'3/81 Service Corps of the Public.floalth Service.

Staff physician at'the Fairfield Family Medical Center, Winnsboro, South Carolina'.

-7/78 to l Resident in the'Dopartment of Family Medicine 10/79 .~at Wayne' State University Affiliated llospitals, Detroit,-Michigan.

EDUCATION:

A.D. cum laude, Degree in liistory of Ideas, Residential College of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1974.

M.D., Degree from Waync State. University, Detroit, Michigan, 1978.

M . P . !! . (candidate), Department of Environmental IIcalth Sciences, School of Public IIcalth, University of South Carolina, Columbia,

-South Carolina, present.

PROFESSIONAL LICENSES:

Medical licenses in the States of South Carolina and Michigan.

Diplomate of the National Board of Medical Exami-nors, 1979.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSilIPS:

Fairfield County Medical Society Physicians for Social Responsibility

~ PERSONAL DATA:

Date of Birth: 5/11/52 Good llcalth

REFERENCES:

Available upon request.

May 1981

_ _ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . _ _ _ . _ . _ _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ . _ . . _ . _ _ _ _ . . _ _ _ _ . _ _ _ . . _ _ . _ - . _ _ _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _______._m._.m__ ____ __ _ _ _ _______d