Government Cancels Plans to Release Nuclear Fallout Maps

.c The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - The government canceled plans to release maps Wednesday that identify 24 sites around the country that experienced intense radiation fallout from 1950s nuclear testing.

Nuclear watchdog groups immediately accused the National Cancer Institute of a coverup.

The NCI's 14-year, county-by-county study of nuclear fallout from the blasts found that people as far away as the East Coast - particularly children - were exposed to as much radiation fallout as residents directly downwind from the Nevada blasts. Critics say the radiation amounts could be linked to thyroid cancer later suffered by residents of those hot spots.

The government said last week that it would release maps showing the hot spots on Wednesday. Now, NCI says those maps are not yet ready for release and will not say when the information will be available.

``The public has a right to know who's at risk,'' said Bob Schaeffer of the activist group Military Product Network, which has petitioned the government to release the information. ``We want a presidential commission to investigate the ongoing coverup.''

AP-NY-07-29-97 1843EDT