Effect of Radiation Dose Rate on Circulatory Disease Mortality among Nuclear Workers: Reanalysis of Hanford Data.

The excess relative risk (ERR) of mortality for circulatory disease among nuclear workers was reanalyzed by taking into consideration the annual dose as the dose rate using publicly available epidemiological data of the Hanford site dedicated to the cohort study of nuclear workers in the US, the UK, and Canada. Values of the dose rate (cut-points) were chosen at 2 mSv y intervals from 2 to 40 mSv y, and risk estimates were made for 32,988 workers, considering the doses accumulated below and above each cut-point to have different effects. Similarly to that in the previous study for cancer by Sasaki et al., examinations of sensitivity analysis were also carried out for different risk models, lag periods, and impacts of adjusting the monitoring period to find the effect of the dose rate. As a result, emergence of a statistically significant difference between ßL1, which is the ERR for the doses accumulated below the specified cut-point, and ßH1, which is the ERR for that above the specified cut-point, was observed for cut-point of the dose rate of 4, 6, 34, 36, and 38 mSv y. While statistically negative values were estimated for ßL1 (4 and 6 mSv y) and for ßH1 (34, 36, and 38 mSv y), the overall relationship between the ERR and the cut-point of the dose rate was found to be similar to that obtained by the analysis of the mortality for all cancers excluding leukemia.

[ANALYSIS OF RADIATION IN THE DEPLOYMENT OF MILITARY UNITS OF THE MINISTRY OF DEFENSE OF UKRAINE].

There were observed radiation hazardous objects and zone of possibie rauioactive contaminationof the area with military units, and also possibility of influence of adverse factors (radiation) on the human organism. There is also available characteristic of Ukrainian nuclear Powers, number of population, that lives on the area with different pollution degree.

The necessity of nuclear reactors for targeted radionuclide therapies.

Nuclear medicine has been contributing towards personalized therapies. Nuclear reactors are required for the working horses of both diagnosis and treatment, i.e., Tc-99m and I-131. In fact, reactors will remain necessary to fulfill the demand for a variety of radionuclides and are essential in the expanding field of targeted radionuclide therapies for cancer. However, the main reactors involved in the global supply are ageing and expected to shut down before 2025. Therefore, the fields of (nuclear) medicine, nuclear industry and politics share a global responsibility, faced with the task to secure future access to suitable nuclear reactors. At the same time, alternative production routes should be industrialized. For this, a coordinating entity should be put into place.

Accumulation, organ distribution, and excretion kinetics of ²4¹Am in Mayak Production Association workers.

Americium-241 (²4¹Am) is the second most significant radiation hazard after ²³9Pu at some of the Mayak Production Association facilities. This study summarizes current data on the accumulation, distribution, and excretion of americium compared with plutonium in different organs from former Mayak PA workers. Americium and plutonium were measured in autopsy and bioassay samples and correlated with the presence or absence of chronic disease and with biological transportability of the aerosols encountered at different workplaces. The relative accumulation of ²4¹Am was found to be increasing in the workers over time. This is likely from ²4¹Pu that increases with time in reprocessed fuel and from the increased concentrations of ²4¹Am and ²4¹Pu in inhaled alpha-active aerosols. While differences were observed in lung retention with exposures to different industrial compounds with different transportabilities (i.e., dioxide and nitrates), there were no significant differences in lung retention between americium and plutonium within each transportability group. In the non-pulmonary organs, the highest ratios of ²4¹Am/²4¹Am + SPu were observed in the skeleton. The relative ratios of americium in the skeleton versus liver were significantly greater than for plutonium. The relative amounts of americium and plutonium found in the skeleton compared with the liver were even greater in workers with documented chronic liver diseases. Excretion rates of ²4¹Am in ''healthy'' workers were estimated using bioassay and autopsy data. The data suggest that impaired liver function leads to reduced hepatic ²4¹Am retention, leading to increased ²4¹Am excretion.

Methodology for a bounding estimate of activation source-term.

Sandia National Laboratories' Z-Machine is the world's most powerful electrical device, and experiments have been conducted that make it the world's most powerful radiation source. Because Z-Machine is used for research, an assortment of materials can be placed into the machine; these materials can be subjected to a range of nuclear reactions, producing an assortment of activation products. A methodology was developed to provide a systematic approach to evaluate different materials to be introduced into the machine as wire arrays. This methodology is based on experiment specific characteristics, physical characteristics of specific radionuclides, and experience with Z-Machine. This provides a starting point for bounding calculations of radionuclide source-term that can be used for work planning, development of work controls, and evaluating materials for introduction into the machine.

The disaster at Japan's Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and the resulting spread of radioisotope contamination.

On March 11, 2011 eastern Japan was struck by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and an enormous tsunami, over 13 m in height, which together killed over 20,500 people and resulted in the evacuation of over 320,000 people from the devastated areas. This paper describes the damage sustained by the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant during this unpredicted major natural disaster and the events that happened in the months after this accident. The events occurring at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant, the actions taken to minimize the effects of the damage to the plant and to protect the public, and the points at which the responses proved to be inadequate all offer lessons that will be of value to those planning for and responding to future natural disasters and accidents in Japan and around the world.

U.S. Department of Energy facilities needed to advance nuclear power.

This talk is based upon a November 2008 report by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee (NEAC). The report has two parts, a policy section and a technology section. Here extensive material from the Technical Subcommittee section of the NEAC report is used.

Panel session on "how to meet the challenges for nuclear power".

This panel session at the 2009 Annual Meeting involved a discussion of views of government, industry, and national research laboratory members on the primary future goals in developing advanced nuclear reactor and nuclear fuel cycle designs, fuel management, and used fuel disposal options. The session at the 2009 NCRP Annual Meeting on "How to Meet the Challenges for Nuclear Power" was chaired by Mary E. Clark of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and focused on efforts in the United States and worldwide to expand nuclear capabilities for electric power production in a safe, secure, and environmentally acceptable manner. This paper briefly summarizes the key topics discussed in five presentations during this session of the NCRP Annual Meeting.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma risk among nuclear workers: a review.

Exposure to ionising radiation has been suggested as a causal risk factor for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). Studies of patients treated by radiotherapy for primary cancers have suggested that radiation contributes to the development of secondary MPM. Here we examined the risk to nuclear workers of MPM related to exposure to low doses of occupational radiation at low dose rates. All results concerning MPM risk in published studies of nuclear workers were examined for their association with radiation exposure and potential confounders. We found 19 relevant studies. Elevated risks of pleural cancer were reported in most (15/17) of these studies. Eight reported risks higher for radiation monitored workers than for other workers. However, of 12 studies that looked at associations with ionising radiation, only one reported a significant dose-risk association. Asbestos was an important confounder in most studies. We conclude that studies of nuclear workers have not detected an association between ionising radiation exposure and MPM. Further investigations should improve the consideration of asbestos exposure at the same time as they address the risk of MPM related to occupational exposure of nuclear workers to low doses of ionising radiation at low dose rates.

Mortality and cancer registration experience of the Sellafield workers known to have been involved in the 1957 Windscale accident: 50 year follow-up.

This paper studies the mortality and cancer morbidity of the 470 male workers involved in tackling the 1957 Sellafield Windscale fire or its subsequent clean-up. Workers were followed up for 50 years to 2007, extending the follow-up of a previously published cohort study on the Windscale fire by 10 years. The size of the study population is small, but the cohort is of interest because of the involvement of the workers in the accident. Significant excesses of deaths from diseases of the circulatory system (standardised mortality ratio (SMR) = 120, 95% CI = 103-138; 194 deaths) driven by ischaemic heart disease (IHD) (SMR = 133, 95% CI = 112-157, 141 deaths) were found when compared with the population of England and Wales but not when compared with the population of Northwest England (SMR = 105, 95% CI = 90-120 and SMR = 115, 95% CI = 97-136 respectively). When compared with those workers in post at the time of the fire but not directly involved in the fire the mortality rate from IHD among those involved in tackling the fire was raised but not statistically significantly (rate ratio (RR) = 1.11, 95% CI = 0.92-1.33). A RR of 1.11 is consistent with an excess relative risk of 0.65 Sv(-1) as reported in an earlier study of non-cancer mortality in the British Nuclear Fuels plc cohort of which these workers are a small but significant part. There was a statistically significant difference in lung cancer mortality (RR = 2.18, 95% CI = 1.05-4.52) rates between workers who had received higher recorded external doses during the fire and those who had received lower external doses. Comparison of the mortality rates of workers directly involved in the accident with workers in post, but not so involved, showed no significant differences overall. On the basis of the use of a propensity score the average effect of involvement in the Windscale fire on all causes of death was - 2.13% (se = 3.64%, p = 0.56) though this difference is not statistically significant. The average effect of involvement in the Windscale fire was - 5.53% (se = 3.81, p = 0.15) for all cancers mortality and 6.60% (se = 4.03%, p = 0.10) for IHD mortality though neither figure was statistically significant. This analysis of the mortality and cancer morbidity experience of those Sellafield workers involved in the 1957 Windscale fire does not reveal any measurable effect of the fire upon their health. Although this study has low statistical power for detecting small adverse effects, due to the relatively small number of workers, it does provide reassurance that no significant health effects are associated with the 1957 Windscale fire even after 50 years of follow-up.

Mortality patterns among Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant workers.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant workers had mortality patterns that differed from the general US population and to investigate whether mortality patterns were associated with job title or workplace exposures. METHODS: A retrospective occupational cohort mortality study was conducted on 6759 workers. Standardized mortality ratio analyses compared the cohort with the referent US population. Internal comparisons producing standardized rate ratios were conducted by job title, metal exposure, and cumulative internal and external radiation exposures. RESULTS: Overall mortality and cancer rates were lower than the referent population, reflecting a strong healthy worker effect. Individual not significant standardized mortality ratios and standardized rate ratios were noted for cancers of the lymphatic and hematopoietic tissue. CONCLUSIONS: Although relatively low exposures to radiation and metals did not produce statistically significant health effects, no significant elevations for lymphatic and hematopoietic cancers were consistent with previous studies of nuclear workers.

A statistical model for reconstruction of historical internal doses for uranium workers.

Uranium workers are monitored for their internal doses mainly by urine measurements. During the years before the early nineties, urine samples were analysed using a fluorimetric system, and the lower limit of detection of the urine samples was relatively high, thus most of the urine measurements were recorded as below threshold. A model was developed for the reconstruction of doses to workers at uranium facilities during these years. The model is based on the assumption that the results of urine measurements are log-normally distributed and that a normalised log-normal distribution with a constant geometric standard deviation characterises the results distribution in all the uranium workplaces for workers throughout their occupational work. Therefore, the average of the urine results can be calculated from the general normalised distribution. The intake and dose can be evaluated from the reconstructed average urine concentration by assuming a constant chronic intake regime throughout the whole period of monitoring.

Preliminary modeling of BNCT beam tube on IRT in Sofia.

The technical design of the research reactor IRT in Sofia is in progress. It includes an arrangement for a BNCT facility for tumor treatment. Modeling of geometry and material composition of filter/collimator for the BNCT beam tube on IRT has been carried out following the beam tube configuration of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Reactor [Harling et al., 2002. The fission converter-based epithermal neutron irradiation facility at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Reactor. Nucl. Sci. Eng. 140, 223-240.] and taking into account an ability to include the tube into the IRT reactor geometry. The results of neutron and gamma transport calculations performed for the model have shown that the facility will be able to supply an epithermal neutron flux of about 5 x 10(9) n cm(-2)s(-1), with low contamination from fast neutrons and gamma rays that would be among the best facilities currently available. An optimiziation study has been performed for the beam collimator, following similar studies for the TAPIRO research reactor in Italy. [Nava et al., 2005. Monte Carlo optimization of a BNCT facility for treating brain gliomas at the TAPIRO reactor. Radiat. Prot. Dosim. 116 (1-4), 475-481.].

Evaluation of all dose components in the LVR-15 reactor epithermal neutron beam using Fricke gel dosimeter layers.

Fricke gel dosimeters in the form of layers are suitable to reconstruct bidimensional distributions of the absorbed dose; in accordance with their chemical composition and applying suitably developed algorithms, they can provide dose images of the different radiation components in a BNCT field. After the description of the applied method, this work presents the results obtained at the epithermal column of the BNCT facility at the NRI in Rez (CZ). The measured dose distributions are shown in comparison with data taken by means of other dosimeters thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLDs) and with calculations carried out with the Monte Carlo code MCNP5. The agreement with the results obtained by means of the different techniques is satisfying.

Determination of the irradiation field at the research reactor TRIGA Mainz for BNCT.

For the application of the BNCT for the excorporal treatment of organs at the TRIGA Mainz, the basic characteristics of the radiation field in the thermal column as beam geometry, neutron and gamma ray energies, angular distributions, neutron flux, as well as absorbed gamma and neutron doses must be determined in a reproducible way. To determine the mixed irradiation field thermoluminescence detectors (TLD) made of CaF(2):Tm with a newly developed energy-compensation filter system and LiF:Mg,Ti materials with different (6)Li concentrations and different thicknesses as well as thin gold foils were used.

Irradiation facility at the TRIGA Mainz for treatment of liver metastases.

The TRIGA Mark II reactor at the University of Mainz provides ideal conditions for duplicating BNCT treatment as performed in Pavia, Italy, in 2001 and 2003 [Pinelli, T., Zonta, A., Altieri, S., Barni, S., Braghieri, A., Pedroni, P., Bruschi, P., Chiari, P., Ferrari, C., Fossati, F., Nano, R., Ngnitejeu Tata, S., Prati, U., Ricevuti, G., Roveda, L., Zonta, C., 2002. TAOrMINA: from the first idea to the application to the human liver. In: Sauerwein et al. (Eds.), Research and Development in Neutron Capture Therapy. Proceedings of the 10th International Congress on Neutron Capture Therapy, Monduzzi editore, Bologna, pp. 1065-1072]. In order to determine the optimal parameters for the planned therapy and therefore for the design of the thermal column, calculations were conducted using the MCNP-code and the transport code ATTILA. The results of the parameter study as well as a possible configuration for the irradiation of the liver are presented.

Statistical criteria to set alarm levels for continuous measurements of ground contamination.

In the course of the decommissioning of the ASTRA research reactor at the site of the Austrian Research Centers at Seibersdorf, the operator and licensee, Nuclear Engineering Seibersdorf, conducted an extensive site survey and characterization to demonstrate compliance with regulatory site release criteria. This survey included radiological characterization of approximately 400,000 m(2) of open land on the Austrian Research Centers premises. Part of this survey was conducted using a mobile large-area gas proportional counter, continuously recording measurements while it was moved at a speed of 0.5 ms(-1). In order to set reasonable investigation levels, two alarm levels based on statistical considerations were developed. This paper describes the derivation of these alarm levels and the operational experience gained by detector deployment in the field.

Dose reconstruction for an occupational cohort at the Savannah River nuclear facility: evaluation of a hybrid method.

The Savannah River Site (SRS) is the only nuclear facility in the United States that produces tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The purpose of the study was to derive annual tritium dose estimates for SRS employees through the development of a job-exposure matrix. The proposed method is unique in that along with qualitative information on job, area and time of employment, it utilises recorded annual whole-body dose measures, when available, in order to estimate doses from tritium intakes of the monitored workers. Using information from 75 253 dose measures for the period 1954-1978, the average proportion of the whole-body dose that was due to tritium intake was calculated; these proportions were allowed to vary by job, area and time period. This information was used to assign tritium dose levels for 43 590 employment-years. The collective estimated tritium dose was 4319 mSv compared with the total known tritium dose of 17 382 mSv. The correlation (R2) of estimated tritium dose with known tritium dose was 0.68.