Abstract
A general method for calculating doses absorbed from isotopes released in nuclear accidents is presented. As an example, this method was used to calculate doses for inhabitants of Southern Poland due to inhalation of 131I released due to the Fukushima nuclear plant accident. 131I activity measurements in the air of that region provided the basis for the study. The proposed model is based on a complex biokinetic model for iodine merging the Leggett model developed in 2010 with the human respiratory tract and gastrointestinal tract models recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). This model is described here, and it is demonstrated that resulting dose estimates are consistent with those obtained using the ICRP methodology. Using the developed model, total doses were calculated for six age groups of both genders, for gaseous and aerosol fractions alike. The committed effective dose, H50, for an adult man reached 16 nSv, which is lower than 0.001% of the background dose. The dose for the thyroid of an adult reached 0.33 μSv, which corresponds to circa 0.0007% of the dose to the population of Southern Poland after the Chernobyl nuclear plant accident.
Highlights
On 11 March 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake took place off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, Japan
The proposed model is based on a complex biokinetic model for iodine merging the Leggett model developed in 2010 with the human respiratory tract and gastrointestinal tract models recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP)
Doses to South Poland residents due to inhalation of 131I were calculated, based on the 131I measured in air in South Poland after the nuclear power plant accident in Fukushima
Summary
On 11 March 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake took place off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, Japan. Subsequent 13-mhigh tsunami waves damaged the cooling system (Tanaka 2012; Lipscy et al 2013) at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. A radioactive emission occurred on the 12th of March containing mainly 131I, 133I, 134Cs, 137Cs, and other volatile species, which were transported in the atmosphere towards the north-western direction (Tanaka 2012). Only the Chernobyl accident was rated at this level. During this accident, 1.8 9 1018 Bq of 131I were released into the environment (UNSCEAR 2000), whereas during the Fukushima accident 0.12 9 1018 Bq of 131I were released (USCEAR 2014)
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