Why should we do environmental dose reconstructions?

Abstract

Environmental dose reconstructions are being conducted at many nuclear weapons production and testing sites in the United States. These projects involve reconstructing potential radiation exposures and doses from past releases of radionuclides to people who lived near nuclear facilities where these releases occurred. The results of dose reconstructions can be used as the basis for deciding if epidemiologic studies or other public health activities should be undertaken. In addition, the results of dose reconstruction can be used in other risk assessment activities, such as those associated with environmental restoration and radioactive waste management. For example, the historical inventory of hazardous materials used and potentially released at the site can be used to begin to assess the risk for exposures from current and future activities. The site-specific environmental dosimetry methods developed for dose-reconstruction purposes are applicable to other environmental risk assessments performed for that site. These and other benefits of environmental dose reconstructions are discussed.