
In this public EPA document, the agency says it was ordered by President Obama’s Executive Order 12656 (section 1601(2)) to “[d]evelop, for national security emergencies, guidance on acceptable emergency levels of nuclear radiation….”
In this report, the EPA warns that a nuclear “incident” may strike the United States, and if people are going to drink the radioactive water, somebody needs to decide how much radioactivity Americans will be allowed to consume.
From the EPA report:
A large scale radiation contamination incident could impact the United States, driving the need for a pre-established drinking water PAG. EPA is proposing a two-tiered intermediate phase drinking water PAG of 100 mrem projected dose in the first year for infants, children and pregnant or nursing women and 500 mrem projected dose in the first year for the general population.