New lab can diagnose radiation victims |
|
|
|
Published
:
Mon, 02 Apr 2007 22:29
|
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (AP) - The government has opened a laboratory capable of diagnosing radiation exposure to civilians caught in a nuclear accident or terrorist attack.The new $1 million Cytogenetics Biodosimetry Laboratory, dedicated Friday in Oak Ridge, will be able to estimate personal radiation dosages based on chromosome damage in blood samples collected from victims wherever the incidents occur.The information should help physicians decide treatment.'Determining the amount of radiation exposure can ultimately mean the difference between life and death for the victims,' said Joseph Krol, who heads emergency operations for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.'This facility is absolutely unique within the civilian community and it will help to ensure that our nation is ready and able to respond to a nuclear emergency.'The lab is part of the Radiation Emergency Assistance Center and Training Site, which is managed by Oak Ridge Associated Universities for the federal government.A cytogenetics lab operated at Oak Ridge until 1998, and after that only the military had cytogenetics capability at the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute in Bethesda, Md.NNSA decided to re-establish civilian cytogenetics capabilities with a new enhanced lab in Oak Ridge as a result of 'increased focus on nuclear terrorism since the 9/11 terrorist attacks,' the agency said.Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
|
|
|
|
Print this Story
Air China ordered to pay relatives of SKorean air crash victims 