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PubMed2005

Preparedness of households and catering establishments for incidents involving radioactive contamination.

This short paper describes a number of investigations carried out to ensure preparedness for crises involving radioactivity to catering operations and private households in Finland. The specific recommendations for catering kitchens during crises were published in 1994. A study to determine the level of adherence to these recommendations is summarised here, together with its findings and subsequent recommendations. Another study on the pre-planning of crisis menus is described. New challenges for the catering kitchens are touched upon. A crisis food preparation booklet for households is described and based on consumers' attitudes suggestions are made for how this can be improved in the future.

Cities↗
PubMed1984

An assessment of the radiological impact of the Windscale reactor fire, October 1957.

On the 10th and 11 October 1957 a fire in the No 1 Pile at the Windscale establishment in Cumbria led to an uncontrolled release of activity to the atmosphere. The resultant cloud subsequently dispersed and radionuclides could be detected over England, Wales and parts of northern Europe. The extensive environmental measurements which were made during and after the release enabled a fairly accurate estimate to be made of the radiation doses to the most exposed individuals in the local population. Until recently, no estimates of the population dose resulting from the release had been published. This paper describes assessments which have been made by the NRPB of the population or collective dose from the release and of the possible associated health impact. In addition to the fission products that escaped, radionuclides were released from materials undergoing irradiation in the pile at the time of the fire. The assessment has included the results of a review of previously unpublished data which established the quantity of these nuclides released and considers their impact on both individual and population doses. The collective effective dose equivalent commitment from the release is estimated to have been 2.0 x 10(3) man Sv. The route of exposure which contributed the most to the collective dose was the inhalation pathway. Iodine-131 was the most important radionuclide, contributing nearly all of the collective dose to the thyroid and a large part of the collective effective dose. Polonium-210 and caesium-137 also made significant contributions; that from caesium-137 came in the longer term via external irradiation from ground deposits and the ingestion of contaminated foodstuffs. The methodology used in the study has been validated to a certain degree by comparing the predicted levels of individual thyroid activity and those measured directly in the weeks following the accident in London, Leeds and Cumbria.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

An estimate by two methods of thyroid absorbed doses due to BRAVO fallout in several Northern Marshall Islands.

Estimates of the thyroid absorbed doses due to fallout originating from the 1 March 1954 BRAVO thermonuclear test on Bikini Atoll have been made for several inhabited locations in the Northern Marshall Islands. Rongelap, Utirik, Rongerik and Ailinginae Atolls were also inhabited on 1 March 1954, where retrospective thyroid absorbed doses have previously been reconstructed. The current estimates are based primarily on external exposure data, which were recorded shortly after each nuclear test in the Castle Series, and secondarily on soil concentrations of 137Cs in samples collected in 1978 and 1988, along with aerial monitoring done in 1978. The external exposures and 137Cs soil concentrations were representative of the atmospheric transport and deposition patterns of the entire Castle Series tests and show that the BRAVO test was the major contributor to fallout exposure during the Castle series and other test series which were carried out in the Marshall Islands. These data have been used as surrogates for fission product radioiodines and telluriums in order to estimate the range of thyroid absorbed doses that may have occurred throughout the Marshall Islands. Dosimetry based on these two sets of estimates agreed within a factor of 4 at the locations where BRAVO was the dominant contributor to the total exposure and deposition. Both methods indicate that thyroid absorbed doses in the range of 1 Gy (100 rad) may have been incurred in some of the northern locations, whereas the doses at southern locations did not significantly exceed levels comparable to those from worldwide fallout. The results of these estimates indicate that a systematic medical survey for thyroid disease should be conducted, and that a more definitive dose reconstruction should be made for all the populated atolls and islands in the Northern Marshall Islands beyond Rongelap, Utirik, Rongerik and Ailinginae, which were significantly contaminated by BRAVO fallout.

Air Pollutants, Radioactive↗
PubMed1988

The environmental behavior of 131I in northwestern Greece following the nuclear reactor accident at Chernobyl.

A three compartment (air-grass-milk) milk contamination model for 131I has been applied to atmospheric, grass and milk data, following the April 1986 nuclear accident at Chernobyl. Samples of ovine and bovine milk collected daily by a large dairy company in Ioannina (northwestern Greece), throughout the month of May 1986 have been employed. The contamination impulse in the area, which provides the input to the model, has been approximated by a first order gamma-variate curve. Transfer rates and decay constants have been extracted by fitting predictions of the model independently to each set of data (air, grass and milk). All model parameters obtained from more than one set of data show remarkable consistency. These parameters are used to calculate the transfer coefficients fm for the transport of radioiodine at equilibrium for sheep and cows. The results are also employed for the extraction of radiation dose estimates sustained through ingestion and inhalation by the population in the area.

Accidents↗
PubMed1984

The assessment of human exposure to radionuclides from a uranium mill tailings release and mine dewatering effluent.

This study provides an assessment of human exposure to radiation from a river system contaminated by radionuclides of the 238U decay series released through a dam break at a uranium mill tailings pond and by the continuous discharge of dewatering effluent from 2 uranium mines. The in vivo analyses of radionuclides in 6 Navajo Indians who lived near the river indicate no detectable elevations above background concentrations. Dose estimates for inhalation of suspended river sediment indicate a maximum annual 50-yr dose commitment of 204 mrem to the endosteum. Estimates of doses (50-yr dose commitments) from the ingestion of livestock range between 1 mrem (to liver) and 79 mrem (to bone) suggest that the major contribution to human exposure is from mine dewatering effluent that has been continuously released into the river system for many years. Although the estimated exposures do not exceed existing state or federal regulations, their magnitude justifies further measurement of radionuclides in animals and in the natural environment and the consideration of strategies to reduce radiation exposure to humans and animals.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed1986

Pre-operational survey of a U mine near Val Vedello, Italy.

Results obtained from radiometric research carried out from 1980-81 in the region of U mines in the Val Vedello are provided. Data are presented on 222Rn, 226Ra and natural U concentrations in spring and surface waters. Concentrations were found to be relatively low. There is some increase in the vicinity of the exploratory U mine but this is, at least up to the present, only of a local character. Data are presented on external gamma exposure, 210Pb and 210Po in foodstuffs and in the urine of normal and exposed population as well as 226Ra in milk and vegetable samples. The aim of this study is to outline a preliminary map of natural radioactivity on the site before starting the mining activity. This will enable us later to detect changes caused by the U mining, milling and mill-tailing disposal operations.

Air Pollutants, Radioactive↗
PubMed1988

The beagle: an appropriate experimental animal for extrapolating the organ distribution pattern of Th in humans.

The concentrations and the organ distribution patterns of 228Th, 230Th and 232Th in two 9-y-old dogs of our beagle colony were determined. The dogs were exposed only to background environmental levels of Th isotopes through ingestion (food and water) and inhalation as are humans. The organ distribution patterns of the isotopes in the beagles were compared to the organ distribution patterns in humans to determine if it is appropriate to extrapolate the beagle organ burden data to humans. Among soft tissues, only the lungs, lymph nodes, kidney and liver, and skeleton contained measurable amounts of Th isotopes. The organ distribution pattern of Th isotopes in humans and dog are similar, the majority of Th being in the skeleton of both species. The average skeletal concentrations of 228Th in dogs were 30 to 40 times higher than the average skeletal concentrations of the parent 232Th, whereas the concentration of 228Th in human skeleton was only four to five times higher than 232Th. This suggests that dogs have a higher intake of 228Ra through food than humans. There is a similar trend in the accumulations of 232Th, 230Th and 228Th in the lungs of dog and humans. The percentages of 232Th, 230Th and 228Th in human lungs are 26, 9.7 and 4.8, respectively, compared to 4.2, 2.6 and 0.48, respectively, in dog lungs. The larger percentages of Th isotopes in human lungs may be due simply to the longer life span of humans. If the burdens of Th isotopes in human lungs are normalized to an exposure time of 9.2 y (mean age of dogs at the time of sacrifice), the percent burden of 232Th, 230Th and 228Th in human lungs are estimated to be 3.6, 1.3 and 0.66, respectively. These results suggest that the beagle may be an appropriate experimental animal for extrapolating the organ distribution pattern of Th in humans.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMed1993

A probabilistic estimation of atmospheric tritium dose.

A radiation dose distribution has been calculated for an individual exposed to tritium oxide (tritiated water vapor) in the atmosphere. A specific activity model was used that is similar to that detailed in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Regulatory Guide 1.109. The values of 19 parameters are sampled consistent with assigned probability distributions using a Latin Hypercube approach. Dose was estimated assuming a concentration of tritium in atmospheric moisture of 0.13 +/- 0.16 Bq mL-1. Conventional dosimetric methods for tritium that were consistent with the Regulatory Guide result in an estimate of 0.63 microSv for annual exposures to airborne tritiated water. For the same atmospheric tritium concentration, the estimated dose distribution is lognormal and ranges from 0.08-3.2 microSv (at 95% confidence) with a median value of 0.59 microSv and a 95th percentile of 2.6 microSv.

Air Pollution, Radioactive↗
PubMed1995

A sensitivity study of the SCK.CEN BIOSPHERE model for performance assessment of near-surface repositories.

At SCK.CEN a model has been developed on behalf of NIRAS/ONDRAF for the performance assessment of near-surface repositories, consisting of several submodels. This article deals with the submodels BIOSPHERE, describing the transfer and accumulation of the radionuclides in the biosphere and DOSE, calculating effective individual doses to the critical group. An extensive literature review was performed in order to determine best-estimate values and uncertainty ranges (probability density functions) of biosphere parameter values, specific to conditions that may prevail at potential disposal sites in Belgium. In this paper the BIOSPHERE and DOSE models are described and default and site-specific values (probability density functions where appropriate) of the parameters involved are indicated for the radionuclides 129I, 239Pu, and 94Nb. A combined uncertainty/sensitivity analysis based on the pdf of the site-specific parameter values has been carried out. Median values and 95% confidence intervals of the site-specific doses are indicated and most influential parameters to the uncertainty identified. Site-specific median dose values are also compared with generic doses.

Air Pollutants, Radioactive↗