Joseph T. Burns: “this day is an important occasion for folks in my State of Montana. This afternoon, at 4 o'clock, the National Academy…”

“this day is an important occasion for folks in my State of Montana. This afternoon, at 4 o'clock, the National Academy of Sciences will release an extensive report on health effects resulting from nuclear bomb tests that were carried out at the Nevada test site in the 1950s and 1960s. For years now, Montanans and their loved ones have experienced the pain of developing various forms of cancer, most commonly, cancer of the thyroid, caused by exposure to this dangerous radiation. These cancers seemed to be a little too common among people living in certain areas of our State. According to the National Academy of Sciences, these innocent victims--mostly children and babies--who were living in Montana, were exposed to the highest dosages of radiation of any State in the Nation as a result ofthis nuclear testing; even more than Nevada, where the tests were actually conducted. You see, the radioactive iodine is the part that is dangerous. It was blasted high up into the atmosphere and the wind carried it north to Montana where it finally settled on the ground, then into the water and food supply. Thyroid cancer takes around 10 to 40 years to develop. Radiation exposure in the late 1950s might not manifest in cancer until the late 1990s. While the national average for thyroid cancer has remained steady over the past 30 years, the rate of reported thyroid cancer in Montana has increased steadily.…”