1 MICROWAVE HEALTH AND ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS The microwave power transmission system for satellite power systems will expose the general population and the environment to low levels of microwave radiation. In addition, there will be a potential for high levels of exposure under certain conditions, e.g., for birds flying over a rectenna site, and occupational exposure of workers both at the rectenna site and at the satellite generating facility. A representation of the exposure of the population and the ecosystem is presented in Fig. 1.1. In light of these facts, the health and ecological effects of such exposure to SPS microwave radiation must be determined. The international literature in this area consists of roughly 5000 citations. The majority of these publications originate from research in the Soviet Union and other East European countries. Very basic differences in experimental design, statistical analyses, and technical reporting between U.S. and Soviet scientists have limited the value and applicability of this potential resource in the judgment of most Western investigators. Of the remaining reports, relatively few are concerned with the health effects of continuous wave 2.45 GHz radiation and almost none with the ecological effects. Although a data base does exist for the SPS-specific frequency, it is incomplete, often contradictory, and not entirely pertinent to the environmental conditions projected to be associated with SPS. The available base consists mainly of limited observations on the consequences of short-term, high-exposure-level health effects in animals. While the data on the effects on animals have a qualitative value, the essential information needs are for data on the effects on human health of continuous or chronic exposure at very low levels. Figure 1.2 diagrams the types of effects that may be harmful to human health. In the SPS microwave health and ecology program two types of studies must be combined to arrive at an assessment of impacts. One type, which we call prospective, will be directed toward research areas where no data exist and which pose serious questions about the feasibility of using a microwave transmission beam for SPS. Principal among these are the effects of continuous, low-level exposure on humans and short-term high-level exposures on airborne biota. Long-term studies using experimental animals will be the primary determinants in answering some of these questions, but much
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