Bush Panel Sees No Peril to U.S. From Radiation

Top Reagan Administration officials reviewed the Chernobyl nuclear accident at a White House meeting today and said they do not expect the disaster in the Soviet Union to create a danger to health in the United States.

Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger, asked whether there is any concern that the radioactive cloud from the accident might cause a health problem in the United States, replied, “I don’t think so; not at this point.”

Weinberger spoke to a reporter after attending the meeting, chaired by Vice President George Bush. The secretary described the session as a “general review” of the accident.

Bush’s press secretary, Marlin Fitzwater, said members of a task force set up by President Reagan to monitor health and environmental implications “advised the vice president that they do not expect the Soviet accident to result in adverse health consequences in the United States.”

‘Full Report’ to Reagan

Fitzwater said Bush will “make a full report to the President this afternoon on the status of U.S. government information and activities.”

He said the report is expected to be in written form and will be transmitted to Reagan in Tokyo, where the President arrived earlier in the day for the weekend economic summit meeting.

“Daily monitoring of environmental contamination continues,” the spokesman said. “The U.S. government continues to press the Soviet Union for additional data on the accident and subsequent radiation releases.”

Fitzwater’s statement said the group met for an hour to review U.S. activities in response to the accident.

The Cabinet-level review headed by Bush will consider what the U.S. diplomatic response to the accident should be and determine what further steps should be taken for working with the international atomic agencies.