Occupational exposure to radionuclides in French nuclear power plants: five years excretion monitoring results.
In the French Nuclear Power Plants, monitoring of individual internal exposures is accomplished by lung counting by the medical service of the plant, and on request of the physician by analysis of biological samples in the Saint-Denis Laboratory. A description of the various methods used in the Laboratory for measuring low level activity samples is given. In particular, the performance of routine contamination monitoring by gamma spectrometry of urines with a semiconductor detector is discussed. An automatic system, designed for Marinelli beaker analysis, made up of a sample changer, a germanium detector and a computerized multichannel analyser is presented. The same device is used for counting faecal ashes and nose blows sampled after an incident. The estimation of the incorporated activities is achieved by using a computer program originating from the compartmental metabolic model of the ICRP. This paper presents a survey of routine monitoring of excretions over a period of 5 years, and a discussion of the ICRP Cobalt metabolic models based on the study of its elimination kinetics after occupational intake.