TERMS AND ACRONYMS


ABCC      Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (established in 1946 to
study effects of atomic bombs dropped on Japan; disbanded in
1975; see RERF)

ACBM      AEC Advisory Committee on Biology and Medicine
(established in 1947 to review medical and biological research
and to asssist AEC in developing policy in these areas; the
principal advisory committee to DBM; dissolved in 1974)

ACXRP     Advisory Committee on X-ray and Radium Protection
(1929-1946 independent committee under the auspices of the
National Bureau of Standards; recommended dose limits;
predecessor of NCRP)

AEC       Atomic Energy Commission (1947 MED successor and ERDA
predecessor)

AFB       Air Force Base

AFMPC     Armed Forces Medical Policy Council (late 1940s/early
1950s medical advisory group to OSD)

AFRRI     Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (part of
DASA and later of DNA, 1962-1993)

AFSWP     Armed Forces Special Weapons Project (DOD successor,
with AEC, to MED; predecessor to DASA, 1947-1958, and present
Defense Nuclear Agency)

AHCPR     Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (one of
eight components of PHS)

ALARA     as low as reasonably achievable (standard for
acceptable occupational exposure to radiation)

ANL       Argonne National Laboratory (AEC facility for nuclear
research, established near Chicago in 1946; now operated by the
University of Chicago for DOE)

ANP       Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion program (see NEPA)

ARC       Ames Research Center (established in 1941 near Palo
Alto, now part of NASA; conducts life sciences and aerospace
technological research)

ARS       acute radiation syndrome (disease produced by exposure
to excessive dosage of radiation; term coined by Dr. Robert Stone
in 1949)

ATSDR     Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry
(established in 1983, one of eight components of PHS)

BNL       Brookhaven National Laboratory (AEC clinical research
facility established in 1947 on Long Island, now operated by
Associated Universities and funded by DOE; a key site of
biomedical research with radionuclides)

BRH       Bureau of Radiological Health (part of PHS)

BUMED     Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (part of Navy)

CDC       Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (successor
to 1942 Malaria Control in War Program; established in 1946 as
the Communicable Disease Centers, now one of eight components of
PHS; based in Atlanta; responds to public health emergencies,
including radiation emergencies, and seeks to prevent and control
infectious and chronic diseases)

CDRH      Center for Devices and Radiological Health (FDA
predecessor)

CHR       Center for Human Radiobiology (created within Argonne
National Laboratory in the late 1960's)

CIA       Central Intelligence Agency (established in 1947 to
replace the wartime Office of Strategic Services; Federal agency
charged with coordinating intelligence activities and carrying
out clandestine activities abroad)

CIC       Coordination and Information Center (contractor that
acts as a repository for DOE documents)

CMR       Committee on Medical Research (WWII funder of medical
research as part of OSRD; contracts folded into NIH)

CRS       Congressional Research Service (part of Library of
Congress; prepares reports on any topic at the request of a
Member of Congress)

DASA      Defense Atomic Support Agency (1958 AFSWP successor,
within DOD; responsible for coordinating production and study of
nuclear weapons, weapons effects, and nuclear weapons testing
programs)

DBM       AEC Division of Biology and Medicine (established in
1948 to direct and coordinate AEC biomedical research activities; 
became the Biological and Environmental Research Division in
1974)


DCI       Director of Central Intelligence

DDP       Directorate of Plans (part of CIA; now the Directorate
of Operations)

DDR&E     Department of Defense Director of Research &
Engineering (1953 RDB successor)

DMA       Division of Military Application (part of AEC,
concerned with nuclear weapons and some radiological
health/safety issues)

DNA       Defense Nuclear Agency (1971 successor to DASA, within
DOD)

DOD       Department of Defense (organized in 1949 to replace the
War and Navy Departments)

DOE       Department of Energy (1977 ERDA successor;
responsibilities include directing nuclear weapons research and
development, and nuclear energy)

EOP       Executive Office of the President (U.S.)

ERDA      Energy Research and Development Agency (1974 AEC
successor and DOE predecessor)

FACA      Federal Advisory Committee Act (federal statute
governing procedures for Presidential advisory committees)

FDA       Food and Drug Administration (established in 1927
within Agriculture Department; transferred to FSA in 1940 and to
HEW in 1953; part of PHS since 1968; oversees safety of food,
drugs, cosmetics, and medical devices)

FOIA      Freedom of Information Act (1966 federal statute
governing public release of government documents; nine categories
of documents, including those relating to national security, are
exempt)

FRC       Federal Records Center (repository of agency documents)

FSA       Federal Security Agency (1939 HEW predecessor)

GAO       General Accounting Office

GSA       General Services Administration (the Federal
Government's office administrator)

GSFC      Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA division in
Beltsville, MD; conducts research on the atmosphere and space
environment; site of design and construction of satellites and
spacecraft)

HASL      Health and Safety Laboratory (AEC facility that worked
on industrial hygiene and fallout questions)

HEW       Department of Health, Education and Welfare (1953 HHS
predecessor)

HHS       Department of Health and Human Services (1980 HEW
successor; the principal Federal agency charged with advancing
the health of Americans and providing essential human services)

HUMRRO    Human Resources Research Organization (affiliate of
George Washington University; prepared reports on bomb tests)

ICRP      International Commission on Radiation Protection

IG        Inspector General

IHS       Indian Health Service (provides comprehensive health
services for Native Americans and Alaska natives; successor to
programs of Interior Department begun in 1849, part of PHS since
1955; elevated in 1988 to full agency status)

INEL      Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (DOE facility)

IRB       Institutional Review Board

JAEIC     Joint Atomic Energy Intelligence Committee (1948 JNEIC
successor, chaired by the CIA; monitored Soviet nuclear weapons
program)

JCAE      Joint Committee on Atomic Energy (1947-1974
Congressional body charged with oversight of AEC)

JNEIC     Joint Nuclear Energy Intelligence Committee (1947-1948
interagency group providing foreign atomic energy program
estimates)

JRDB      Joint Research and Development Board (1946-1947
successor to OSRD; coordinated R&D between War and Navy
Departments)

JSC       Johnson Space Center ( NASA division in Houston, TX;
conducts research on space medicine, responsible for astronaut
selection and training, and handles mission control for space
flights)

LANL      Los Alamos National Laboratory (AEC facility in New
Mexico established in 1943 as the Atomic Research Laboratory;
site of  biomedical and other research; produced the first atomic
and hydrogen bombs; now operated by the University of California
with DOE funding)

LASL      Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (prior name of LANL)

LBL       Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (research center near San
Francisco established in 1931; operated by the University of
California, now funded by DOE; site of first cyclotron
accelerators)

LETBI     low exposure total body irradiator

LLNL      Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (established in
Livermore, CA in 1952 as a separate institution from LBL;
conducts nuclear research and underground nuclear explosion tests
in Nevada)

MED       Manhattan Engineer District, also known as the
Manhattan Project (AEC/AFSWP predecessor; established in 1942
under the U.S. Army to build the atomic bomb)

METlab    Metallurgical Laboratory (Chicago-based MED laboratory)
     
METBI     medium exposure total body irradiator

MGH       Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston site of
radiation research)

MLC       Military Liaison Committee to AEC (DOD liaison to AEC;
reports to OSD)

MOU       Memorandum of Understanding

MKULTRA   A domestic CIA program in the 1950s and 1960s involving
human experimentation to investigate control of human behavior
through the use of chemical, biological and other means
(including drugs such as LSD, psychology, and possibly radiation)

NACA      National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NASA
predecessor, established in 1915 to advance U.S. aviation
technology)

NARA      National Archives and Records Administration

NARS      National Archives and Records Service (NARA
predecessor, part of GSA before establishment as an independent
agency)

NAS       National Academy of Sciences (private body of
scientists and engineers chartered by Congress in 1863; goal is
to further the use of science for the general welfare; acts as
official Government advisor on science and technology issues)

NASA      National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(established in 1958; agency responsible for the development of
aviation and space technology and for space exploration)

NCI       National Cancer Institute (established in 1937, part of
NIH)

NCRP      National Committee on Radiation Protection (1946 ACXRP
successor, known after 1964 as National Council on Radiation
Protection and Measurements; expanded ACXRP's interests to
include ionizing radiation)

NDRC      National Defense Research Committee (with CMR, formed
OSRD during WWII)

NEPA      Nuclear Energy Propulsion for Airplanes (1946-1961 Air
Force program on nuclear-powered bomber; also known as ANP)

NHI       National Heart Institute (part of NIH)

NIAMD     National Institute for Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases
(part of NIH)

NIH       National Institutes of Health (part of PHS; focuses on
research on causes, prevention, and cure of diseases; begun as a
one-room Laboratory of Hygiene in 1887, now the world's largest
biomedical research facility; based in Bethesda, MD)

NIOSH     National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(part of CDC)

NNES      National Nuclear Energy Series (series of 50 reports
comprising the official history of  the Manhattan Project)

NNMC      National Naval Medical Center (military medical
facility in Bethesda, MD)

NRC       National Research Council (operating arm of NAS;
established in 1916 to coordinate scientific and technological
resources for national service)

NRC       Nuclear Regulatory Commission (with ERDA, successor to
AEC; established in 1974 to run civilian nuclear power program,
including regulatory and licensing authority, and assume
radioisotope distribution)

NRDL      Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory (Navy radiation
research lab; dissolved in 1969)

NSC       National Security Council (a seven-member body
established in 1947 to advise the President on national security
matters; directs policies of the CIA)

NTPR      Nuclear Test Personnel Review (DNA program, established
in 1978)

NTS       Nevada Test Site (locus of 925 bomb tests between 1950
and 1992)

NWER      Nuclear Weapons Effects Research

OHRE      Office of Human Radiation Experiments (DOE headquarters
component responsible for identifying human radiation
experiments)

ONR       Office of Naval Research (part of Navy, established at
the end of World War II)

OPRR      Office for Protection from Research Risk (established
within NIH in 1966 to educate investigators and others about
research ethics)

ORAU      Oak Ridge Affiliated Universities (1966 successor to
ORINS; site of TBI)

ORD       Office of Research and Development (CIA and other
agencies)

ORINS     Oak Ridge Institute of  Nuclear Studies (site of
biomedical research; later renamed ORAU)

ORNL      Oak Ridge National Laboratory (AEC research facility in
Tennessee; established as Clinton Laboratories in 1943 as part of
the MED; renamed in 1948)

ORO       Operations Research Organization (Johns Hopkins
University affiliate; produced reports on bomb tests)

OSD       Office of the Secretary of Defense

OSG       Office of the Surgeon General (within PHS and other
agencies)

OSI       Office of Scientific Intelligence (part of CIA's
Directorate of Intelligence)

OSRD      Office of Scientific Research and Development (within
EOP during World War II; composed of NDRC and CMR)

PHS       Public Health Service (the Federal Government's
principal health agency; restructured three times since World War
II, now one of five operating divisions of HHS)

PNL       Pacific Northwest Laboratory (DOE contractor: successor
to Hanford Laboratory; part of Batelle/Memorial Laboratories, a
private nonprofit organization)

R&D       research and development

RAC       Research Advisory Council (coordinated Navy's R&D from
late 1940s to 1960s)

RDB       Research and Development Board (1947-1953 JRDB
successor; within DOD)

RERF      Radiation Effects Research Foundation (1975 successor
to ABCC)

RFA       Request For Applications

RFP       Request For Proposals

SAB       Scientific Advisory Board (coordinates Air Force R&D,
established in 1947)

SAM       School of Aviation Medicine (Air Force component;
conducted radiobiology research beginning in the late 1940s;
coordinated efforts with AFSWP and ORNL)

SAP       Scientific Advisory Panel (coordinated Army's R&D from
late 1940s to 1960s)

SWRHL     Southwestern Radiological Health Laboratory (PHS
facility in Las Vegas, NV, that performed work for AEC)

TBI       total body irradiation

TSD       Technical Services Division (part of CIA's former
Directorate of Plans; ran Project MKULTRA)

UCSF      University of California at San Francisco (key research
site)

USAF      United States Air Force

USN       United States Navy

VA        Department of Veterans Affairs (successor to 1930-1989
Veterans Administration)

VACO      VA Central Office (VA headquarters)

VAMC      VA Medical Center (VA field site or facility)

VHA       Veterans Health Administration (VA division; successor
to Department of Medicine and Surgery)

WNRC      Washington, D.C., National Records Center

WRAIR     Walter Reed Army Institute of Research

WRAMC     Walter Reed Army Medical Center




Interim Report of the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation
Experiments, October 21, 1994