Dose Reconstruction System for the Exposed Population Living Along the Techa River

Abstract

The Mayak Production Association, which began operation in 1948, was the first facility in the former Soviet Union for the production of plutonium. Significant worker and population exposure occurred as a result of failures in the technological processes in the late 1940's and early 1950's. Members of the public were exposed via discharge of about 1017 Bq of liquid wastes into the Techa River during 1949-1956, an explosion in the radioactive waste-storage facility in 1957, and gaseous aerosol releases within the first decades of the facility's operation. Residents of many villages downstream on the Techa River were exposed via a variety of pathways; the more significant included drinking of water from the river and external gamma exposure due to proximity to sediments and shoreline. The specific aim of this project is to enhance the reconstruction of external and internal radiation doses for individuals in the Extended Techa River Cohort. The purpose of this paper is to present the details of the methods that are being used in this enhanced dose-reconstruction effort and to provide example and representative results of the calculations. The methods of dose assessment currently being developed for the exposed population [termed the Techa River Dosimetry System-2000 (TRDS-2000)], which are a significant improvement on past methods (TRDS-1996), are presented. The new TRDS-2000 doses from the ingestion of radionuclides are substantially higher for the gastrointestinal tract, due to consideration of short-lived radionuclides. The TRDS-2000 doses from external exposure are substantially lower due to improvements in several factors. Assessment of uncertainty and validation of the "new" doses are significant issues currently under investigation.

EPR dosimetry with tooth enamel: A review

“…Donor's residence Estimate of the regional natural radiation background dose (19.4) Survivors of A-bombing of Hiroshima, Japan ~100 Cytogenetic methods Ikeya et al (1984); Ikeya and Ishii (1989); Ikeya et al (1986); Tatsumi Mayak nuclear workers, Russia ~100 Occupational dosimetry Romanyukha et al (1994Romanyukha et al ( , 1996cRomanyukha et al ( , 2000b; Wieser et al (2006b) Techa River basin population, Russia ~300 Model-calculated dose, cytogenetic methods Degteva et al (2000bDegteva et al ( , 2005; Romanyukha et al (1996aRomanyukha et al ( , 1996bRomanyukha et al ( , 2001Romanyukha et al ( , 2002b; Shishkina et al (2001Shishkina et al ( , 2003Shishkina et al ( , 2005; Tikunov et al …”

Retrospective and emergency dosimetry in response to radiological incidents and nuclear mass-casualty events: A review

“…Luminescence techniques were applied to the three surviving brick buildings in Metlino, with the objective of providing values of cumulative dose that could be used to reconstruct the kerma free in air dose at a reference location within the riverbank zone during the period 1949-1956 for comparison with the predictions of the Techa River Dosimetry System (TRDS; Degteva et al, 2000. The TRDS was developed to support a long-standing epidemiological study of the affected populations of the Techa River region and included a cohort of 30,000 individuals.…”

Studies on the Techa river populations: dosimetry

“…The basis of the past dose-reconstruction efforts for the Techa River Cohort has been summarized in several [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. The absorbed doses due to external exposure were estimated on the basis of systematic measurements of gamma-exposure rates along the banks of the river and the typical life-style patterns of the inhabitants of the riverside villages.…”

“…q Use of the model and other data to compute individual body-burden histories and resulting internal doses [5] from all radionuclides, including short-lived radionuclides that had not been included in TRDS-96. q A major revision [4] in the computation of external dose based upon the upgraded TRDS approach, the river model, a re-evaluation of all measurements of external gamma-exposure rates near the shoreline and in the living areas, and a re-examination of data pertaining to the amounts of time spent near the river and in other locations. q Evaluation for the first time of the uncertainty in the calculated doses for members of the ETRC [10].…”