Abstract
Workers decommissioning the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant damaged from the Great East Japan Earthquake and resulting tsunami are at risk of injury with possible contamination from radioactive heavy atoms including actinides, such as plutonium. We propose a new methodology for on-site and rapid evaluation of heavy-atom contamination in wounds using a portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) device. In the present study, stable lead was used as the model contaminant substitute for radioactive heavy atoms. First, the wound model was developed by placing a liquid blood phantom on an epoxy resin wound phantom contaminated with lead. Next, the correlation between the concentration of contaminant and the XRF peak intensity was formulated considering the thickness of blood exiting the wound. Methods to determine the minimum detection limit (MDL) of contaminants at any maximal equivalent dose to the wound by XRF measurement were also established. For example, in this system, at a maximal equivalent dose of 16.5 mSv to the wound and blood thickness of 0.5 mm, the MDL value for lead was 1.2 ppm (3.1 nmol). The radioactivity of 239Pu corresponding to 3.1 nmol is 1.7 kBq, which is lower than the radioactivity of 239Pu contaminating puncture wounds in previous severe accidents. In conclusion, the established methodology could be beneficial for future development of a method to evaluate plutonium contamination in wounds. Highlights: Methodology for evaluation of heavy-atom contamination in a wound was established. A portable X-ray fluorescence device enables on-site, rapid and direct evaluation. This method is expected to be used for evaluation of plutonium contamination in wounds.
Highlights
The Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant damaged from the Great East Japan Earthquake and resulting tsunami is currently being decommissioned
We focused on X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis, which can be applied to elemental analysis
This study presents a methodology for evaluation of heavy-atom contamination in wounds using stable lead as the model contaminant, because lead is a familiar heavy atom and the XRF peak energies for Pb La (10.55 keV) and Pb Lb (12.61 keV) are close to those for Pu La (14.28 keV) and Pu Lb (18.28 keV), respectively [15]
Summary
The Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant damaged from the Great East Japan Earthquake and resulting tsunami is currently being decommissioned. In the daunting task of decommissioning the plant, workers are at risk of injury with possible contamination from toxic radioactive heavy atoms including plutonium. Nuclear power plants or a-emitter handling facilities are equipped with survey meters for a-particle emissions [1]. Plutonium in the wound is, hard to detect because plutonium rarely emits c-rays, and a-particles emitted from plutonium cannot pass through blood exiting the wound [2]. For more rapid diagnosis and initiation of the treatment of the wound, new methods for on-site and rapid evaluation of plutonium contamination in a wound are required
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