Dose assessment for ingestion of a 330 kilobecquerel 60Co hot particle.

Autor: Whillans DW; Health Physics Department, Ontario Power Generation, Whitby, Ontario, Canada L1 N 9E3. david.whillans@opg.com, Chase WJ, Wolodarsky WH
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Radiation protection dosimetry [Radiat Prot Dosimetry] 2007; Vol. 127 (1-4), pp. 90-2. Date of Electronic Publication: 2007 Jun 07.
DOI: 10.1093/rpd/ncm256
Abstrakt: On leaving the irradiated fuel bay at Pickering A nuclear power station, a worker triggered a whole body monitor alarm with activity in or on his head, and despite careful decontamination techniques he subsequently swallowed a hot particle. Over the next 3 d, the radioactivity was tracked through the body. It was then excreted in a single faecal sample and recovered for physical and radiochemical analysis. This analysis demonstrated that the particle contained 330 kBq of 60Co and only traces of other radioactivity. Its dimensions were approximately 50-130 microm and its composition was consistent with that of Stellite 6. A dose assessment was carried out taking into account the residence time of the particle in the mouth and its transit through the body. The estimated committed effective dose was 1.4 mSv, and the equivalent dose to the maximally exposed 1 cm2 of skin, 81 mSv.
Databáze: MEDLINE