The Divine Strake nonnuclear explosion at the Nevada Test Site "would disperse large amounts of radioactive particles into the atmosphere," says a noted pathologist.

Dr. Thomas M. Fasy of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City, comments on the test's potentially harmful effects in a document filed with the National Nuclear Security Administration's Las Vegas office.

The NNSA and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency are planning the detonation of 700 tons of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil. The explosion, dubbed Divine Strake, is intended to give a better idea about how to attack underground fortifications of some enemy.

The proposed test has raised concerns among those living downwind because of past nuclear blasts at the test site, particularly in the 1950s and '60s. Many "downwinders" blame such tests for cancers and other diseases suffered over the past half-century. The issue has also elicited comments from scientists on both sides of the controversy, some concerned about particulates raised by such a blast, others doubting the possibility for serious harm.

Critical comments by experts were filed with the NNSA by Robert Hager, a Reno attorney for plaintiffs seeking to halt the test. In a telephone interview, he said he had to file the documents by the end of the environmental assessment comment period, which was this past Wednesday. Otherwise, he would not be able to raise the issues later in his lawsuit.

After the federal government makes a decision on the project, he can convert the experts' comments into legal affidavits, Hager said.

In a transmittal letter to the NNSA, Hager wrote that the explosion "would pose a clear and present threat of irreparable harm" and that if the decision is made to proceed with it, plaintiffs will seek a court injunction.

Fasy added in his written comments that he believes "to a reasonable degree of medical and scientific certainty that the inhalation or ingestion of radionuclides may lead to the development of serious diseases, including various forms of cancer, congenital malformations (birth defects), DNA damage, genetic mutations and sterility....

"Thus, internationally recognized authorities acknowledge that there is no dose of radiation below which a population receiving that dose will not incur an increased risk.... "

Fasy stated that if the explosion happens as planned, "millions of people living downwind of the Nevada Test Site are at risk of inhaling radioactive particles that will be dispersed into the atmosphere."