Body Counter Evaluations of Plutonium Exposures

Abstract

Body counter measurements have been made on individuals who have undergone accidental exposure to 239Pu. The liver, lungs and other parts of the body were measured. The exposures are the result of contaminated wounds and inhalations. 241Am is present in the plutonium to which the individuals have been exposed. 2uAm, which emits a 60-keV gammaray, is used as a tracer for making plutonium measurements. A plastic phantom was used to calibrate the counter by placing known amounts of 239Pu and z41Am into the major internal organs. The data were collected with a 512-channel pulse-height analyzer and a 4-in. by 4-mm-thick, thin-window NaI(T1) detector. A gas flow proportional detector presently under development was used to supplement the scintillation detectors. About 150 unexposed people have been examined in the counter in order to establish background levels for a variety of body weights and 137Cs-40K content. These background levels are used as a basis for determining internal deposition.

Translocation dynamics of 239-plutonium

“…Third, there .is a s:ignificant effect of self-absorption that occurs for the 17 keV energy photons which is·a function of particle size from which they originate· (Cloutier, 1967). Nevertheless, wound counting for detection of Pu contamination using this technique is a standard practice at most installations (Johnson, 1969;Boss and Mann, 1967 (Johnson, 1969). Studies are·now in progress.to monitor low abundance and difficult to resolve·Pu gamma and U K-x 1 rays with high resolution Ge(Li) detector system (Tyree and Bistline, 1970;.Falk, 1973 (Norwood, 1972 b).…”

RELATIVE TRANSLOCATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF Pu AND Am FROM EXPERIMENTAL PuO$sub 2$ SUBCUTANEOUS IMPLANTS IN BEAGLES.

“…These authors recorded the development and use of thin NaI (Tl) detectors primarily for measurement of the uranium L X-ray emissions which occur following about four percent of the alpha decays of Pu (Roesch, 1964). Thin thallium 239 activated sodium iodide detectors have been used to measure less than a maximum permissible lung or liver burden by Boss and Mann (1967).…”

“…The use of silicon diode detectors for wound counting has received recent attention as reported by Bistline and Tyree ( 1967) and Palmer, Wogrnan, and Cooper(1967). (Boss and Mann, 1967). The recent development of germanium diode detectors which have resolutions of less than 2 keV full width at half maximum for the 60 keV region seem to offer hope for simultaneous in vivo measurement of americium and plutonium.…”

The Use of Animal Experiments for Assessing Annual Limits on Intake and Interpreting Chest-monitoring Data for Workers Exposed to Industrial Actinide-bearing Dusts

“…For interpreting the results of chest-monitoring data, some health physicists have assumed that their lung retention kinetics are similar (Boss and Mann 1967;Palmer 1985), while others considered this assumption valid only in the immediate period after intake (Voelz et al 1976;Ramsden 1976;Anderson et al 198 1 ). However, for many industrial dusts, little information is usually available on the relative clearance rates of 239Pu and 241Am from the lungs.…”