Individual Dose Distributions Research Articles

Radiocesium in children residing in the western districts of the Bryansk Oblast from 1991-1996.

Measurements of 137Cs body burden were carried out in 1991-1996 for children residing in the western part of Bryansk Oblast (Russia) where area contamination with 137Cs following the Chernobyl accident varied from 0.03-3.7 MBq m(-2). The mean and median values of 137Cs specific activity (SA) in the bodies of children 5-15 y old for the whole period of surveillance averaged for 26,029 measurements was 85 Bq kg(-1) and 49 Bq kg(-1), respectively. Mean values in different places of residence varied from 30-342 Bq kg(-1) for the settlements where the number of examinees was not less than 50. There is a moderately strong relationship between mean SA in the settlement and the level of area contamination with 137Cs. A strong seasonal effect on 137Cs body burden was found. The ratio of average SA values is 1:1.75 for spring to autumn 1992-1995 in the settlement where the largest number of children was examined. This effect might be attributed to a seasonal change in diet. Based on questionnaire information on individual consumption of locally produced foods, the descending rank of contribution of food items to 137Cs intake by children was found to be: meat-mushrooms-milk-vegetables. Assuming that the dose distribution would follow the distribution of SA values, internal doses to the whole body from ingested 137Cs were assessed. The mean value of annual internal dose averaged for the whole set of measurements is 0.21 mSv, and the median of the individual dose distribution is 0.12 mSv y(-1) For 2% of the total sample the annual dose exceeded 1 mSv, with the highest individual dose being 9 mSv in 1994 for a 7-y-old girl.

Chernobyl Accident

The Chernobyl accident in April 1986 resulted in widespread contamination of the environment with radioactive materials, including (131)I and other radioiodines. This environmental contamination led to substantial radiation doses in the thyroids of many inhabitants of the Republic of Belarus. The reconstruction of thyroid doses received by Belarussians is based primarily on exposure rates measured against the neck of more than 200,000 people in the more contaminated territories; these measurements were carried out within a few weeks after the accident and before the decay of (131)I to negligible levels. Preliminary estimates of thyroid dose have been divided into 3 classes: Class 1 ("measured" doses), Class 2 (doses "derived by affinity"), and Class 3 ("empirically-derived" doses). Class 1 doses are estimated directly from the measured thyroidal (131)I content of the person considered, plus information on lifestyle and dietary habits. Such estimates are available for about 130,000 individuals from the contaminated areas of the Gomel and Mogilev Oblasts and from the city of Minsk. Maximum individual doses are estimated to range up to about 60 Gy. For every village with a sufficient number of residents with Class 1 doses, individual thyroid dose distributions are determined for several age groups and levels of milk consumption. These data are used to derive Class 2 thyroid dose estimates for unmeasured inhabitants of these villages. For any village where the number of residents with Class 1 thyroid doses is small or equal to zero, individual thyroid doses of Class 3 are derived from the relationship obtained between the mean adult thyroid dose and the deposition density of (131)I or 137Cs in villages with Class 2 thyroid doses presenting characteristics similar to those of the village considered. In order to improve the reliability of the Class 3 thyroid doses, an extensive program of measurement of (129)I in soils is envisaged.

Measured lung dose correction factors for 50 MV photons

Some clinically relevant measurements of lung tissue/water equivalent interfaces have been performed for a 50 MV therapeutic x-ray beam. The purpose was to investigate the severity of dose perturbation effects in lung tissue and adjacent tissues using an energy well above the common clinical practice in thoracic irradiations. The phantoms were constructed of solid water, PMMA and white polystyrene as soft tissue (water) equivalents, and cork was used as the lung tissue equivalent. Measurements were performed using radiographic film and a cylindrical ionization chamber. The results show that the degradation of the 20/80% beam penumbra in the lung region is severe, up to 2.5 times the penumbra in water for a 10 cm thick lung with a density of . The lack of electronic equilibrium in the low-density region can cause underdosage at the lung/tumour interface of up to 30% of maximum target dose, and the build-up depth to 95% of target dose in unit density tissue behind the lung may be as large as 22 mm. It is also shown that these figures strongly depend on patient anatomy and beam size and why a careful calculation of the individual dose distribution is needed for optimal choice of photon beam energy in thoracic treatments.

Individual-dose distribution for the population in different regions with radioactive contamination

The reconstruction of individual doses as a result of the Chernobyl accident often relied on the method of EPR measurement from the enamel from extracted teeth. This method was used reliably, with individual confirmations of its indications being obtained. In determining the relatively small irradiation dose to the population, doubts arise because of the fact that the measured dose is often greater than the dose calculated by an indirect method---from external radiation fields at the location and the contents of radionuclides in foods. It is necessary, therefore, to perform an independent check of the results. In this paper, we describe one method for checking the reliability---comparing the measurements of the dose from several teeth in the same individual---in determining the dose from tooth enamel for the population of the Kamensk-Ural region of Sverdlovsk province. This group lived in the zone of passage for the eastern Ural radioactive wake in 1957. The error of the dose determination for different samples was different, since it depends on the mass and quality of the enamel obtained. The results presented show that the method of EPR dosimetry using the enamel of extracted teeth makes it possible to determine quite reliably the individual dose ofmore » external radiation from the background up to several Gy of the measurements. Our method compares measurements.« less

Effects of dose limits reduction on the Argentine nuclear power plants.

Occupational doses are evaluated in different stages of the fuel cycle and in the operation of nuclear power plants. Trends in individual dose distribution and collective doses are analyzed. The most contributive working conditions to collective dose are identified and the implications of dose limit reduction recommended by the ICRP in 1990 are assessed. It is concluded that no relevant difficulties should appear in accomplishing the new recommendations except for implementation at Atucha I, a nuclear power plant designed in the 1960s. Some options to reduce individual and collective doses in this plant are analyzed. The change of fuel channels by new ones free from cobalt is essential to get effective improvement of occupational exposures.

Collective Radiation Dose in West European Power Reactors and Some Observations on Distribution of Doses Between Individual Workers

Collection, analysis and discussion of radiation dose statistics is one way in which the European Commission promotes the ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) principle in nuclear power plants of member countries. Some of the analyses undertaken are presented and the following major conclusions drawn: 1. Collective dose and the number of people receiving dose are log-normally distributed through the reactor population. 2. Collective dose in European water reactors is slowly increasing with age. 3. The number of people receiving measurable dose at each site varies from 300 to over 2000 with a geometric mean value of about 1000. 4. Average individual dose, collective dose and individual dose distributions are closely related and the relationship appears to be independent of the reactor type. If this relationship is not recognised when setting criteria for individual, average individual and collective dose, incompatibility can arise and cause difficulties when criteria are applied in operation and design.

The use of a new multi-field isodose contour plotter.

Graphical methods for compounding the dose distributions for the individual fields so as to get the isodose plot for a multi-field or rotation technique are both tedious and time consuming. This note describes an analogue computer for performing this operation quickly and accurately. Figure 1 shows schematically the principle of operation of the instrument. The individual beam dose distributions are represented by analogue plates on which the dose at any point is represented by a voltage proportional to it. How this is achieved will be described later. The plates, mounted horizontally in decks, one above the other, are adjusted so that, except for the vertical displacement, they are in the correct relative positions for the multi-field distribution concerned. A series of probes, one for each deck, ganged together mechanically in the same vertical line, pick up the voltages from the plates. The voltage on each probe is fed to a high-input impedance amplifier, adjusted to have a gain of unity. These are imp...