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At least 811 records · Page 45Linked to original sources
PubMed2006

Radioactivity concentrations and dose assessment for soil samples from Kestanbol granite area, Turkey.

The concentrations and distribution of natural and anthropogenic radionuclides in soils from around the Kestanbol (Canakkale), Turkey were investigated with an aim of evaluating the environmental radioactivity and radiological health hazard. Concentrations of radionuclides in the samples were determined by gamma ray spectrometer using HPGe detector. In the soils in general, the concentration of (232)Th was found to be higher than that of the (238)U and the activities of (232)Th and (238)U in this area are higher than the world average. (137)Cs was observed in all the samples, ranging from 0.37 +/- 0.22 to 36.03 +/- 0.54 Bq kg(-1). The mean radium equivalent activity, external hazard index and terrestrial absorbed dose rate for the area under study are 498 Bq kg(-1), 1.4 and 219 nGy h(-1), respectively. The annual effective dose to the public was found to be 269 muSv. The present data were compared with data obtained from different countries.

Background Radiation↗
PubMed2006

Radiation exposure during travelling in Malaysia.

Absorbed dose rates in vehicles during travelling by different modes of transport in Malaysia were measured. Radiation levels measured on roads in Peninsular Malaysia were within a broad range, i.e. between 36 and 1560 nGy h(-1). The highest reading, recorded while travelling near monazite and zircon mineral dumps, was 13 times the mean environmental radiation level of Malaysia. It is evident that radioactive material dumps on the roadsides can influence the radiation level on the road. The absorbed dose rates measured while travelling on an ordinary train were between 60 and 350 nGy h(-1). The highest reading was measured when the train passed a tunnel built through a granite rock hill. The measurement during sea travelling by ferries gave the lowest radiation level owing to merely cosmic radiation at the sea level.

Environmental Exposure↗
PubMed2006

Calculation of total effective dose equivalent and collective dose in the event of a LOCA in Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant.

In this research, total effective dose equivalent (TEDE) and collective dose (CD) are calculated for the most adverse potential accident in Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant from the viewpoint of radionuclides release to the environment. Calculations are performed using a Gaussian diffusion model and a slightly modified version of AIREM computer code to adopt for conditions in Bushehr. The results are comparable with the final safety analysis report which used DOZAM code. Results of our calculations show no excessive dose in populated regions. Maximum TEDE is determined to be in the WSW direction. CD in the area around the nuclear power plant by a distance of 30 km (138 man Sv) is far below the accepted limits. Thyroid equivalent dose is also calculated for the WSW direction (maximum 25.6 mSv) and is below the limits at various distances from the reactor stack.

Air Pollutants, Radioactive↗
PubMed2006

Activity concentrations of 226Ra and 228Ra in drilled well water in Finland.

The activity concentrations of (226)Ra and (228)Ra in drinking water were determined in water samples from 176 drilled wells. (226)Ra activity concentrations were in the range of <0.01-1.0 Bq l(-1) and (228)Ra activity concentrations in the range of <0.03-0.3 Bq l(-1). The mean activity concentration of (226)Ra and (228)Ra were 0.041 and 0.034 Bq l(-1), respectively. High radium activity concentrations in drinking water were rare. Only 2-4% of the drilled wells exceeded a (226)Ra concentration of 0.5 Bq l(-1) and 1-2% of the wells exceeded a (228)Ra concentration of 0.2 Bq l(-1). These are the activity concentrations that cause a 0.1 mSv annual effective dose for users of drinking water. The maximum annual effective doses from (226)Ra and (228)Ra for users of drilled wells were 0.21 mSv, and 0.16 mSv respectively. The elevated activity concentrations of (226)Ra and (228)Ra did not occur simultaneously in the same groundwaters and the correlation between (226)Ra and (228)Ra was small.

Background Radiation↗
PubMed2006

Risk assessment for chemical pickling of metals contaminated by radioactive materials.

In recent years, many cases of contamination of metal scraps by unwanted radioactive materials have occurred. Moreover, international organisations are evaluating the possibility to re-use or to recycle metals coming from nuclear power plants. The metal recycling industry has started to worry about radiation exposure of workers that could be in contact with contaminated metals during each manufacturing phase. Risks are strongly dependent on the radiation source features. The aim of this study is to perform risk assessment for workers involved in chemical pickling of steel coils. Monte Carlo simulations have been performed, using the MCNP package and considering coils contaminated with (60)Co, (137)Cs, (241)Am and (226)Ra. Under the most conservative conditions (coil contaminated with 1.0 kBq g(-1) of (60)Co), the dose assessment results lower than the European dose limit for the population (1 mSv y(-1)), considering a maximum number of 10 contaminated coils handled per year. The only exception concerns the case of (241)Am, for which internal contamination could be non- negligible and should be verified in the specific cases. In every case, radiation exposure risk for people standing at 50 m from the coil is widely <1 mSv y(-1).

Body Burden↗
PubMed2006

Indoor air radon concentration in schools in Prizren, Kosovo.

Indoor air radon ((222)Rn) concentrations were measured in spring and winter in 30 rooms of 9 elementary schools and 19 rooms of 6 high schools in Prizren, Kosovo, using alpha scintillation cells. Only in three rooms of elementary schools and four rooms of high schools did winter concentrations exceed 400 Bq m(-3).

Air Pollutants, Radioactive↗
PubMed2006

Gamma shielding factor for typical houses in Brazil.

The housing features in a country depend much on its climate. Dwellings in warm countries are much lighter constructions than in cold ones, which will reflect on the amount of shielding against radiation they provide. In addition to that, wealth is another factor that influences the building's finishing. Great effort has been taken to determine parameters to more accurately estimate dose to a population in case of a radioactive or nuclear accident. Nevertheless, most available data are concerned with typical housing in cold climate countries. This study aims to determine shielding factors for typical building materials used in the southeast of Brazil, a warm area, due to radioactive material deposited on the surrounding field, walls and ceiling of the external surfaces. The shielding factors determination was performed by simulation with the MCNP5 Monte Carlo computer code. The air kerma indoors for the 300, 662 and 3000 keV photon energies have been determined for three different housing patterns, ranging from the very simple to a very complex structure. The shielding factor, defined as the ratio of the air kerma indoor to the air kerma in open field, for the most simple house type and 300 keV photon energy was found to be twice of the best finished one for the same energy.

Air Pollution, Indoor↗
PubMed2006

Application of voxel phantoms in whole-body counting for the validation of calibration phantoms and the assessment of uncertainties.

This article is dedicated to the application of voxel phantoms in whole-body counting calibration. The first study was performed to validate this approach using IGOR, a physical phantom dedicated to fission and activation product (FAP) measurement, and a graphical user interface, developed at the IRSN internal dose assessment laboratory, called OEDIPE (French acronym for the tool for personalised internal dose assessment) associated with the Monte Carlo code MCNP. The method was validated by comparing the results of real measurements and simulations using voxel phantoms obtained from CT scan images of IGOR. To take this application further, two studies were carried out and are presented in this article. First, a comparison was made between the IGOR voxel based phantom (IGOVOX) and a voxel human body (Zubal Phantom) to confirm whether IGOR could be considered as a realistic representation of a human. Second, the errors made when considering sources homogeneously distributed in the body were assessed against real contamination by taking into account the biokinetic behaviour of the radioactive material for two modes of exposure: the ingestion of 137Cs in soluble form and the inhalation of insoluble 60Co several days after acute incorporation.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2006

Experience of radiation passbooks in the UK NRPB dose record keeping service.

The National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB)--now part of the new UK Health Protection Agency (HPA)--has operated an automated Dose Record Keeping (DRK) Service for over 30 y, and currently maintains records for some 10,000 workers. A proportion of these are designated as Outside Workers, and are issued with Radiation Passbooks, under the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 (IRR99). The present study reports the operational experience of NRPB's DRK Service in issuing passbooks, providing advice to users and issuing tailored reports. Indication is given on some problems commonly encountered by employers and dosimetry services.

Body Burden↗
PubMed2006

Improvement and calibration of a SSNT personal dosemeter and study of importance of albedo factor for dose calculation.

The Neutriran albedo neutron dosemeter has been improved and calibrated for neutron personal dosimetry. The Monte Carlo code MCNP4b was used to calculate the thermal neutrons backscattered from the body (albedo factor). Backscattering from the wall, ceiling and floor in calibration room was considered also via simulation by MCNP4C. A semi automated counting system applying a high-resolution scanner was used for counting of tracks. An 241Am source was used to produce similar alpha particles from 10B (n,alpha)7Li reaction for the optimisation of scanner parameters to distinguish and separate the tracks in SSNTD, which lead to a better distinction between etched alpha tracks and, consequently, a higher linear region of dose characteristic.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2006

Development of LiF:Mg,Cu,Si TL material (new KLT-300) with a low-residual signal and high-thermal stability.

LiF-based thermoluminescence (TL) materials have been widely used for radiation dosimetry due to their attractive features. LiF:Mg,Cu,P is one of the most sensitive tissue-equivalent TL materials, approximately 40 times more sensitive than LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-100), but it has two main drawbacks: a thermal loss of the TL sensitivity when annealed at temperatures>240 degrees C, and a relatively high-residual signal. Recently, LiF:Mg,Cu,Na,Si TL material was developed to overcome these drawbacks at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, but it provided only marginal improvements in reducing the residual signal. The newly developed LiF:Mg,Cu,Si TL material has a significantly lower residual signal and a better stability to thermal treatments. In this article, the preparation method and some dosimetric properties (sensitivity and residual signal) of the new LiF:Mg,Cu,Si TL material are presented. At the end of the preparation procedures, a dual-step annealing method is introduced and this has proved as a very efficient method to reduce the high-temperature peak and is the cause of residual signal. Therefore, the high-temperature peak in the glow curve was significantly reduced. The sensitivity is approximately 20 times higher than that of TLD-100 and the residual signal was estimated to be approximately 0.04%.

Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation↗
PubMed2006

The results of cosmic radiation in-flight TEPC measurements during the CAATER flight campaign and comparison with simulation.

The European-Commission-supported project DOSMAX (Dosimetry of Aircrew Exposure to Radiation During Solar Maximum) was aimed at measuring aircrew exposure to cosmic radiation on-board the aircraft during solar maximum. During a dedicated international comparison mission (Co-ordinated Access to Aircraft for Transnational Environmental Research; CAATER) different measurement techniques have been compared by six European institutes (Results of the CAATER Mission, DOSMAX Meeting, Dublin, June 2004). In this paper, we present the tissue-equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) measurements carried out by ARC Seibersdorf research (ARCS), Austria, and Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), France, together with a comparison with simulation results under the same conditions. The whole flight campaign consists of four different in-flight investigations performed at two different geographical positions at 12.2 km (FL 400) and 9.8 km (FL 320). One location was chosen above Rome (42 degrees North, 12 degrees East), Italy, for high cut-off rigidity (6.4 GV) and the second above Aalborg (57 degrees North, 10 degrees East), Denmark, for low cut-off rigidity (1.8 GV). The TEPC measurements are presented in terms of absorbed dose and ambient dose equivalent as well as microdosimetric spectra as a function of lineal energy. For the same conditions of the CAATER flights the response of the TEPC has also been simulated by using the Monte Carlo Transport Code FLUKA (version 2003). The results from simulations are compared with measurements and they show a reasonable agreement.

Aviation↗
PubMed2006

Improved characterisation of the HPA PADC neutron personal dosemeter.

The fast neutron energy dependence of response of the HPA PADC neutron personal dosemeter has been measured from 144 keV to 19 MeV using monoenergetic neutron fields. Below 144 keV the relative energy and angle dependence of response have been determined using MCNP-4C2. New data from the SIGMA field at Cadarache, France, have been used to determine the appropriate scaling factor for the calculated response to thermal and intermediate energy neutrons. These newly determined response characteristics of the dosemeter are discussed with respect to its performance in the EVIDOS workplace field irradiations.

Environmental Exposure↗
PubMed2006

Evaluation of dose equivalent by the electronic personal dosemeter for neutron 'Saphydose-N' at different workplaces of nuclear facilities.

This paper presents the results of measurements made with the electronic personal neutron Saphydose-N during the four campaigns of the European contract EVIDOS (EValuation of Individual DOSimetry in mixed neutron and photon radiation fields). These measurements were performed at Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) in France (C0), at the Krümmel Nuclear Power Plant in Germany (C1), at the VENUS Research Reactor and the Belgonucléaire fuel processing plant in Belgium (C2) and at the Ringhals Nuclear Power Plant in Sweden (C3). The results for Saphydose-N are compared with reference values for dose equivalent.

Electronics↗
PubMed2006

Doses to nuclear technicians in a dedicated PET/CT centre utilising 18F fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG).

The first dedicated PET/CT centre in Norway was established at the Norwegian Radiumhospital in Oslo in 2005. Knowing that the introductions of PET-isotopes in nuclear medicine give increased occupational radiation dose to the technicians, a study was carried out in order to map the doses to staff members during different working operations and to see if any dose reducing measures were needed. The results of the study are in good agreement with other studies, and a technician dose of 20-25 nSv per injected MBq of 18F seems to be representative for such centres. For an average injected activity of 350 MBq per patient, the dose limit is reached after handling around 3000 patients annually. For an annual number of less than 500 patients at the centre and rotation of the staff, an annual individual dose for the technicians would realistically be less than 2-3 mSv. Even a major increase in the number of patients will not result in individual doses near the ICRP dose limit.

Allied Health Personnel↗
PubMed2006

Neutron dose calculation at the maze entrance of medical linear accelerator rooms.

Currently, teletherapy machines of cobalt and caesium are being replaced by linear accelerators. The maximum photon energy in these machines can vary from 4 to 25 MeV, and one of the great advantages of these equipments is that they do not have a radioactive source incorporated. High-energy (E > 10 MV) medical linear accelerators offer several physical advantages over lower energy ones: the skin dose is lower, the beam is more penetrating, and the scattered dose to tissues outside the target volume is smaller. Nevertheless, the contamination of undesirable neutrons in the therapeutic beam, generated by the high-energy photons, has become an additional problem as long as patient protection and occupational doses are concerned. The treatment room walls are shielded to attenuate the primary and secondary X-ray fluence, and this shielding is generally adequate to attenuate the neutrons. However, these neutrons are scattered through the treatment room maze and may result in a radiological problem at the door entrance, a high occupancy area in a radiotherapy facility. In this article, we used MCNP Monte Carlo simulation to calculate neutron doses in the maze of radiotherapy rooms and we suggest an alternative method to the Kersey semi-empirical model of neutron dose calculation at the entrance of mazes. It was found that this new method fits better measured values found in literature, as well as our Monte Carlo simulated ones.

Body Burden↗
PubMed2006

Analysing an accident related to orphan sources including dose assessment.

This paper discusses an accident, which occurred in one of the radiation application centres in Iran, follow-up investigations as well as lessons learnt. In January 2004 the Regulatory Authority was informed through a university radiation protection officer of an accident regarding orphan sources. Investigations revealed that one Am-Be and three (137)Cs sources in the container were subject to extensive heat due to burning of the container and melting of the paraffin content of the container; consequently, sources were stuck to the side wall of the container, but they were still undamaged and no radioactive leaking had occurred. Further investigations showed that the container had been given to the above mentioned centre a long time before by a foreign well-logging company without notifying the Regulatory Authority. Follow-up measurements and assessments indicated that the collective effective dose due to the accident is unlikely to be more than 21 mSv; consequently, no severe deterministic effect to individuals was expected. The findings showed that the main reasons for the accident were as follows: (1) violation of obligation under radiation protection regulations by the owner of the sources; (2) leaving the sources in an improper storage condition; (3) unauthorised access to the radiation sources at the owner centre; and (4) lack of an integrated national registration system in the Regulatory Authority.

Guideline Adherence↗