Radiation exposures in Utah from Nevada Nuclear Tests

Abstract

The exposure of the population of Utah to external gamma-radiation from the fallout from nuclear weapons tests carried out between 1951 and 1958 at the Nevada Test Site has been reconstructed from recent measurements of residual cesium-137 and plutonium in soil. Although the highest exposures were found in the extreme southwest part of Utah, as expected, the residents of the populous northern valleys around Provo, Salt Lake City, and Ogden received a higher mean dose and a significantly greater population dose (person-rads) than did the residents of most counties closer to the test site. However, population doses from external exposure throughout Utah were far too low to result in any statistically observable health effects.