NSA-RDP96X00790R000100040014-9

Approved For Release 2008/05/29 : NSA-RDP96X00790R000100040014-9
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COMSEC OPERATIONS CENTER
S1
PRESS
CLIPPINGS
Tuesday, November 21, 1978 THE WASHINGTON POST
STAT
Moscow Microwaves; No Harm Seen
By Thomas O"Toole
Washington Post Sta !! Writer
BALTIMORE Personnel working
at the American embassy in Moscow
between 1953 and 1976 suffered no ap-
parent ill effects from the Soviet Uu-
ian's microwave bombardment of the
embassy during those 23 years.
That was the conclusion of the
Jolins Hopkins University School of
Public Health. where more than 100
people spent more than two years in
an exhaustive study of the health of
the more than 2.000 Americans who
worked at the U.S. embassy in dios-
cov froin 1553 to 1976 when the Soviet
secret police bramed microwaves at
the building to tap telephones and in-
terfore with U.S. telephone and cable
traffic.
-
"With very few exceptions, there
was no difference in the health of
- these people." Johns Hopkins' Dr. )
. Abraham Lillenfield, who directed the
: study at the request of the State De-
partment, told a news conference yes-
terday. "There is no. convincing evi-
dence to implicate the exposure of
these people to microwave radiation
and the onset of any adverse heaith
effects."
There was no extraordinary inci-
dence of cancer, brain disorders or
loss of vision in any of the embassy
personnel scrutinized in the Joins
Hopkins study. There were the three
tyres of disease looked tor in the
study, since experiments with animals
suggested in the past that microwave
- beamas can cause malignancies, neuro-
. logical disorders- and cataracts in die
eyes of animals given heavy doses of
microwaves.
-
The Johns Hopkins group attrib-
uted the rise in white blood cell count
and the complaints of headaches, Icss
of memory and fitful sleep armony
embassy personnel two years ago to a
normal rise in infectious disease and
to the publicity ;iven the microwave
bombardrent at the time.
"There is a high incidence of bacter-
ial infection in the Soviet Union,
which was the case of the high while-
'cell count," #":3 Dr. James Tonascia,
"who helped i. direct the Johns Hop-
fins study. 'At the same time, the
"Moscow group showed a high degree
- of nervousness, anxiety, loss of mem-
ory end sleep which we could in no
·way tic in with the effects of micro-
.wave radiation. "Maybe it was the
result of the publicity given the mi-
crowave incident or the stress of lv-
: ing in Moscow."
Nonetheless, the Johns Hopkins
: study team recommended that State
Department : hysicians follow person-
nel who served in the embassy in Mos-
;cow, especially those who worked
there in 1976 and 1976 when the Sov !-
fets increased the intensity of the mi-
erowave beam directed at the upper
three floors of the 10-story embassy
building.
": "I would recommend this recent
group of abou: 4: 7 pronte be followed
andi examined every two years for the
next 10 years," Dr. Iflienfeld said.
"It's too recent a period for ill effects
to develop to the point where they
might be noticed right now."
The Soviets began beaming micro-
waves at the upper three floors along
the west facade of the embassy build-
ing in 1955. The beam bombarded the
upper three floors nine hours a day
until 1975, wner. the beam was redi-
reeted, intensified and prolonged.
From May 30, 1075, tu February
1975. the beam was redirected to the
south and cast facades of the building
and was inercased seven times in in-
tensity and extended to 13 hours a
day. At this, the State Department
filed a formal protest and installed
aluminum screens across the windows
of the upper three floors, which kept
out 90 percent of the Seam.
The State Department has arver ex-
plained why it thought the Soviets
bombarded the U.S. embassy with mi-
crowaves, but it won't have to be fer
surveillance of some kind -- to tap
Jongt-distance celephone calls os to in-
torfere with telephone and cable tras-
fle ihot are selkyed by microwave.
.
Leifeld said the Johns Hopkin
stuc; was the most exhaustive statist
cal s uly cver carried out on the c
fects of microwave radiation on h
mar.". He said it involved the seard
of mire than 150,000 records of Stal
Department personnei. thousands of
questionnaires and telephone calls to
Recp. : who had moved four and five
time . around the world.
"Cir hardest job was finding people
wo : ad long left Moscow," Lilienfeld
said. "Believe it or not, nobody at
Stat : keeps records of people who
have been there."
1
STAT
In its study of embassy personnel
the & hns Hopkins == oap discoverc;
that the men in the embassy sufferer
an incidence of cancer half what thei
counterpart age brackets suffered it
the United States. The women fere
less well, but their maiker rate stil
was less than their counterparts i
the United States.
"We think this is due to what's
called the 'healthy worker effect.'"
LiMenfeld seid. "By that. I mean, the
State Department only sends to places
ilke Moscow people who pass pretty
stiff medical exams."
The way the Johns Hopkins team
set up the study was to compare the
health of an estimated 2.550 Moscow
embassy personnel with a similar
sized group of people who had worked
in U.S. embassies in Leningrad, Buds-
pest, Beigrade, Zagreb, Prague, Bu-
charest and Warsaw, all Eastern Eurc-
post cities.
"W's wanted to compare the hentin
effects," Lilienfeld said, "in pisces
where social and living conditions
were similar to those in Moscow."
Lilienfeld sold the microwave bom-
bardment was confined to the em-
bassy in Moscow. He said there was
no evidence of any microwave beans-
ing in Lendingred or in any of the cit-
ies of Eastern Europe where the
Colica states has emissies.
.
.
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.
.
.
The reason the microwave seam
was directed at the upper Moore of the
building is that is where key eninassy
. personnel save their offices. The U.S.
aml :. reador, his key aldez, military at-
inches and Contra!
Jute Necace
Agency ufficials assigned to the en-
bass all work on the top f.a.s.
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