[1] It conducts research in the field of radiobiology and related matters which are essential to the operational and medical support of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the U.S. military services.
Department of Defense (DoD) interest in the health effects of exposure to radiological agents (radiobiology), born in the wake of the Manhattan Project, motivated a 1958 Bureau of Medicine and Surgery proposal that a bionuclear research facility be established to study such issues.
On June 8, 1960, Public Law 86-500 authorized the construction of such a facility, including a laboratory and vivarium under the Defense Atomic Support Agency (DASA, now the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)); on December 2, 1960, DASA and the surgeons general of the Army, Navy, and Air Force approved a charter for the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFFRI).
The institute was formally established on May 12, 1961, by DoD Directive 5154.16 as a joint agency of the Army, Navy, and Air Force under the command and administrative control of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD).
AFRRI conducted animal testing to determine the effects of radiation doses and opened collaborations with universities, government agencies, and corporations.
To address growing DOD concerns about the correlation between radiation presence and cancer in service members, AFRRI helped establish the Nuclear Test Personnel Review (NTPR) program in January 1978.
NTPR-which still operates today-estimated the absorbed radiation dose of veterans who participated in U.S. atmospheric nuclear tests or the postwar occupations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki immediately after the atomic bombings and determined monetary compensation for long-term radiation-related illnesses accordingly.
As private companies lacked the incentive to develop radioprotectants (drugs protecting against radiation damage) and countermeasures for the military, funding for AFRRI was increased in 2000.
The attacks helped expand AFRRI's scope of work to include minimizing the effects of radiological dispersal devices (i.e. dirty bombs), terrorist access to radiation sources, and sabotage of nuclear reactors.
It serves the military by performing medical research and development, education, and advisory and consultative functions to increase understanding of the effects and risks of ionizing radiation.
Its civilian and active duty military personnel conduct exploratory and developmental research to identify and develop medical countermeasures against ionizing radiation.
AFFRI's Military Medical Operations (MMO) Team, staffed by health physicists and radiation trained physicians, exists to apply and make useful AFRRI's research.
[5] Additionally, AFRRI publishes various guidebooks and manuals regarding nuclear accident response and treatment,[12] as well as journal articles, books, and scientific and technical reports.
[15] AFRRI has contributed significantly to the development of Amifostine, Neupogen, Neulasta, Nplate, and Leukine, a series of drugs treating or preventing radiation injuries.