i thought this was a rather interesting article about the officers working at the Montana nuclear site getting Leukemia . here is a portion of the article ...maybe some of us are more susceptible to the radiation from our xrays and ct scans then others ... ----- "The US military is looking into unusual blood cancer cases among officers who previously manned nuclear missile silos at a base in Montana, an Air Force official said following the release of a new report.
Nine military officers who worked at Malmstrom Air Force Base as missileers, troops tasked with standing by in underground bunkers to fire nuclear missiles, have been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at ages noticeably younger than the median age for this disease, and the military is investigating if there is a connection between their respective services at the facility — some of which stretch back decades — and the disease, the Associated Press reported Monday. "
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craterlake
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People jump to the word "nuclear missile" and assume that that nuclear radiation is the cause. I believe that the nuclear matter inside a missile is very well shielded, and is at a distance from the missile operators. If nuclear radition was the problem, I think it would more likely affect the maintenance workers. I would think those would be enlisted men and women, and not officers. It could even have been done by contractors. But I haven't found the list of duties broken down to that detail.
It's also possible that there is some other contaminant, either in cleaning fluids, construction materials, or the rock or soil the silo was built into. If it was indeed only the officers, what's unique about their tasks during the day would be a key clue. But a 2001 study failed to find substances that would account for the cases, and medical records were lost for some personnel. Loss of records can happen when someone investigating records asks for originals, and the originals are not returned.
Surely the nuclear material is shielded and distance is your friend in terms of gamma radiation exposure. But just how well shielded and how far the workers were is the question. We read that they did get sick.
You make a good point about other materials that could be present in the bunkers that could have harmed these misseleers.
You mention lost records. What was notable about my radiation exposure, which occurred in a Harvard Medical School teaching lab back in the 1980s, is that for several months following the contamination of our cold room, our normal monthly radiation checks were suspended. My co-worker (an MDPhD) and I only accidentally discovered we were contaminated when a geiger counter held to our throats showed signal. When we were then tested, it was decided that our exposure was minimal. However, for months the I-125 had been radiating and being turned over in our bodies. Its half life was short and so was the biological turnover rate. I was so disgusted with the dishonest (fear of lawsuits?) non-investigation and lack of records that I quit science till well after I had had my children. My cousin Erika said: "Grab your liver and run!"
I have a history of gamma radiation exposure: I was internally contaminated with I-125 as a young woman working as a technician in an immunology research lab. And according to my mother, my grandfather, who died of some kind of leukemia in his 50s, used radioactive paint in his work, and also received x-ray treatments on his sore knees.
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Health Check: should we be using alcohol-based hand sanitisers?
Does anyone with CLL or cancer, part of \"Downwinder\" radiation exposure from 1950s.
Am I overly concerned? 
