Area Of Radiation Protection Research Articles

The top ten list of challenges for radiation protection dosimetry in 2011

Lists of things are apparently very popular. One can find on the Internet top 10 lists of music, movies, sports heroes, highest mountains, most picturesque cities and so on. There are even lists of lists. Not to be left out, this Editorial proposes a list of the top 10 challenges for radiation protection dosimetry for the coming year. The items listed and their relative positions represent a very arbitrary choice on the part of the author based upon the perceived importance of the items as judged by items in the news, session titles at scientific meetings and articles published in our journal. There are some items that have been of significance and importance for many years, and a few that have moved to the forefront fairly recently. Radiation has found applications in a number of areas of technology, and new applications are constantly under development. If such a list is updated in a year or two, or in ten, it may change somewhat, but likely not by very much. So, without further ado, here is the list according to the Editor-in-Chief. Items that should have been on the list or items that should not be on the list are undoubtedly emerging in the mind of the reader. That being the case, perhaps every reader can generate their own list. Why is it necessary to have a list at all? This list-making may have some use if plans are to be made as to where precious resources are to be allocated. Radiation protection budgets are often limited, and radiation protection personnel may be expected to monitor activities in a variety of areas. So, it may be useful to keep in mind long-term problems and newly emerging areas of radiation protection.

CORRELATION BETWEEN EXTERNAL EXPOSURE AND ACTIVITY IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING 131I THYROID CANCER THERAPY

The uptake and clearance of 131I activity for inpatients undergoing cancer therapy were determined from routine external dose survey measurements. A bi-exponential behavior was found, with the two time constants representing the iodine dynamics in the thyroid on one hand and in the rest of the body on the other. The external dose at 1 m from the patient was correlated to the activity in the thyroid remnant and inside the body, the averaged value being 52.8 +/- 11.4 microSv GBq(-1) h(-1). The temporal evolution of activity in the body, the urinary system and the thyroid remnant area were determined taking into account the clearance from thyroid and whole body (effective retention constants averages 0.23 +/- 0.14 d(-1) and 1.46 +/- 0.34 d(-1)) and the uptake in thyroid (3.15 +/- 3.36%). Applications of this study in the public and environmental radiation protection areas are presented.

Optimisation of occupational exposures during site remediation at WISMU

Abstract Since 1991 the national corporation WISMUT GmbH has been charged with the rehabilitation of the sites of former Uranium mining and milling in East Germany. Since decommissioning and site remediation are carried out at places with enhanced dose rates and high concentrations of airborne radioactivity (Rn-222, long-lived alpha emitters), a large part of the employees is classified as occupational exposed radiation workers. Thus, in 2002, 1,073 workers were engaged with relevant works in radiation protection areas aboveground (radiation exposed workers of category B; mean effective dose: 0.3 mSv; maximum dose: 2.2 mSv), and 514 workers still prepared by underground activities the flooding of the Uranium mines (category A; mean effective dose: 0.9 mSv; maximum effective dose: 4.9 mSv). The paper presents the measures taken by WISMUT to optimise the occupational exposure. The need for implementing appropriate ALARA methods in the field of occupational exposure is last but not least caused by the fact that for a number of employees the integral exposure over the total working life time has exceeded already the 400 mSv figure.

Societyʼs Valuation of Life Saving in Radiation Protection and Other Contexts

Various situations are described in which societal action may be interpreted as a dollar value placed on averting a human fatality, and numerical values are derived in each case. Situations included are a variety of medical screening and medical care programs and of automobile and highway safety measures, food for overseas relief, air pollution control, fire prevention, industrial safety, and several radiation-related activities including standards for radium in drinking water, radwaste systems in nuclear plants, and defense and civilian high-level waste management. Values varying from a few thousand dollars to hundreds of millions of dollars per fatality averted are obtained. An attempt to derive data of this type from polling is described. The problem of discounting when money is spent now to save lives far in the future (as with nuclear waste) is discussed. It is concluded that nearly all of the vast variation in the results is unjustified and represents a need for educating the public, especially in the area of radiation protection.

Impact of Various Types of Genetic Damage and Risk Assessment

I should like to review very briefly the various kinds of genetic damage that might be expected to occur from chemical mutagens, the time delay before such effects might be manifest, and something of the kind of impact that these might be expected to have on human well-being. I hardly need to add that this is an area where we know very little; we know enough to be apprehensive, but not enough to be at all certain. My remarks will draw heavily from two recent reports on radiation effects, the National Academy of Sciences Report (1) and the United Nations Report (2). In the area of radiation protection there are standards which are agreed to internationally and which form the basis of radiation protection policy. I suggest that in the area of chemical mutagenesis we can obtain considerable guidance from the older field of radiation mutagenesis. I shall have a specific suggestion later as to how radiation standards can be used as a starting point in setting limits for chemical mutagens.