Transport Of 131I Research Articles

TESTING PREDICTION CAPABILITIES OF AN 131I TERRESTRIAL TRANSPORT MODEL BY USING MEASUREMENTS COLLECTED AT THE HANFORD NUCLEAR FACILITY

A model describing transport of 131I in the environment was developed by SENES Oak Ridge, Inc., for assessment of radiation doses and excess lifetime risk from 131I atmospheric releases from Oak Ridge Reservation in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and from Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory in southeast Idaho. This paper describes the results of an exercise designed to test the reliability of this model and to identify the main sources of uncertainty in doses and risks estimated by this model. The testing of the model was based on materials published by the International Atomic Energy Agency BIOMASS program, specifically environmental data collected after the release into atmosphere of 63 curies of 131I during 2-5 September 1963, after an accident at the Hanford PUREX Chemical Separations Plant, in Hanford, Washington. Measurements of activity in air, vegetation, and milk were collected in nine counties around Hanford during the first couple of months after the accident. The activity of 131I in the thyroid glands of two children was measured 47 d after the accident. The model developed by SENES Oak Ridge, Inc., was used to estimate concentrations of 131I in environmental media, thyroid doses for the general population, and the activity of 131I in thyroid glands of the two children. Predicted concentrations of 131I in pasture grass and milk and thyroid doses were compared with similar estimates produced by other modelers. The SENES model was also used to estimate excess lifetime risk of thyroid cancer due to the September 1963 releases of 131I from Hanford. The SENES model was first calibrated and then applied to all locations of interest around Hanford without fitting the model parameters to a given location. Predictions showed that the SENES model reproduces satisfactorily the time-dependent and the time-integrated measured concentrations in vegetation and milk, and provides reliable estimates of 131I activity in thyroids of children. SENES model generated concentrations of 131I closer to observed concentrations, as compared to the predictions produced with other models. The inter-model comparison showed that variation of thyroid doses among all participating models (SENES model included) was a factor of 3 for the general population, but a factor of 10 for the two studied children. As opposed to other models, SENES model allows a complete analysis of uncertainties in every predicted quantity, including estimated thyroid doses and risk of thyroid cancer. The uncertainties in the risk-per-unit-dose and the dose-per-unit-intake coefficients are major contributors to the uncertainty in the estimated lifetime risk and thyroid dose, respectively. The largest contributors to the uncertainty in the estimated concentration in milk are the feed-to-milk transfer factor (F(m)), the dry deposition velocity (V(d)), and the mass interception factor (r/Y)dry for the elemental form of iodine (I2). Exposure to the 1963 PUREX/Hanford accident produced low doses and risks for people living at the studied locations. The upper 97.5th percentile of the excess lifetime risk of thyroid cancer for the most extreme situations is about 10(-4). Measurements in pasture grass and milk at all locations around Hanford indicate a very low transfer of 131I from pasture to cow's milk (e.g., a feed-to-milk transfer coefficient, F(m), for commercial cows of about 0.0022 d L(-1)). These values are towards the low end of F(m) values measured elsewhere and they are low compared to the F(m) values used in other dose reconstruction studies, including the Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction.

Radioiodine Retention in Ovine Thyroids in Northwestern Greece Following the Reactor Accident at Chernobyl

Iodine-131 concentrations were measured throughout the summer of 1986 in thyroids of lambs slaughtered at Ioannina (Northwestern Greece) following the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. During the survey, 40 thyroids were collected. The highest level of 131I detected was 2471 +/- 339 Bq per thyroid. The thyroids of 20 lambs did not contain detectable 131I concentrations, while the contamination content of the others was greatly variable. The transport of 131I from pasture to thyroids of lambs has been described through a simple model for the retention of 131I in the glands. The transfer coefficient fT, expressing the steady-state equilibrium, was estimated to be 564 +/- 270 kg-1 d. This result reflects the sensitivity of animal thyroids as biological radioiodine monitors.

Transport of 131I and 137Cs from air to cows' milk produced in North-Western Italian farms following the Chernobyl accident

After the Chernobyl accident, the levels of 131I and 137Cs were measured in surface air, pasture grass and milk produced by cows fed exclusively on fresh grass. The observed values of the vegetation-to-air, milk-to-vegetation and milk-to-air concentration ratios were compared with the values predicted by an internationally recognized assessment model for the transfer of radionuclides through terrestrial food chains. Predicted values were higher than the observed results by factors of 2·6, 2·1 and 5·6 for 131I and 4·3, 3·7 and 16 for 137Cs, for the vegetation-to-air, milk-to-vegetation and milk-to-air ratios, respectively. A better agreement between prediction and observation was achieved by using experimental values of the following parameters; the mass interception factor ( R/Y), the effective decay constants on vegetation ( λ v ) and the milk transfer coefficients ( F m ), these being lower than the model default values. Milk produced by dairy cows fed on a mixed diet showed a different behaviour with regard to excretion of 137Cs.

Transport of 131I through the grass-cow-milk pathway at a northeast US dairy following the chernobyl accident

Following the Chernobyl accident, samples of pasture grass and fresh farm milk were collected in northern New Jersey. The time-integrated activities of 131I were used to calculate a milk transfer coefficient of 0·001 d liter −1. This value is at the lower range of those previously reported. No significant difference in the value of the transfer coefficient was seen when calculated based on the integrated 131I in the total grass as compared to only the upper portion of the grass. Therefore, for this event, the height of the vegetation grazed by the cows would not have influenced the concentration of 131I in fresh milk.

A two-compartment model for transport of 131I via the pasture-cow-milk pathway.

A two-compartment model for transport of 131I via the pasture-cow-milk pathway.