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Radiological Dose to the Public
Everyone is exposed to radiation during their daily activities. The
average person living in the United States receives a dose of about 365
millirems per year from natural sources such as cosmic rays, radon
released from the ground, and naturally-occurring radionuclides in our
bodies and in our food. We also expose ourselves routinely to radiation
from medical/dental X-rays, cigarette smoking, air travel, and by using
natural gas in our homes.
The Environment, Safety, and Health (ES&H) Program of NNSA/NSO is
responsible for routine radiological monitoring of NTS operations, air,
water, and wildlife to ensure that the public is protected from harm due
to past and present NTS activities. The federal government has placed a
limit on the dose which members of the public can receive from DOE
facilities such as the NTS. This limit is 10 millirems per year from the
inhalation exposure pathway, 4 millirems per year from drinking water,
and 100 millirems per year from all exposure pathways combined
(inhalation, drinking water, ingestion, and direct exposure to
radioactive materials residing outside the body). Monitoring of
air,
water,
direct radiation, and
game animals is conducted each
year to demonstrate that members
of the general public living near the NTS are not exposed to hazardous
levels of radioactivity from the site and that their dose estimates are
well below these federal limits.
The detailed methods and results of estimating dose to the public can
be found in Chapter 8 of the most currently published
Nevada Test Site Environmental Report [
PDF, 15 MB].
Refer to the following Fact Sheet for more information:
What is
Radiation [PDF, 185KB]
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