Calculation of Organ Doses from External Radiation for Mayak Worker Dose Reconstruction

R.I. Scherpelz¹; D.O. Choe²; M. Smetanin³; R.J. Traub¹; K.F. Eckerman⁴; and E. Vasilenko³ (¹Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; ²University of Utah; ³Mayak Production Association; ⁴Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

J.J. Fix (PNNL), M. Gorelov (MPA) Researchers from Russia and the U.S.A. are collaborating on a project to reconstruct doses received by workers during the early days of operation of the Mayak Production Association. Many workers received doses that are substantially higher than encountered in the workplace today, and extensive medical records are available for these workers. Epidemiologists are interested in this data, but the data will be more useful if dose estimates can be improved beyond the capability of the original dosimetry technology. The doses to organs and tissues of the body needed by the epidemiologists must be determined by calculation, based on dosimeter results and exposure scenarios that are appropriate for the actual conditions in the workplaces. Organ doses are estimated using ICRP-74 conversion coefficients for simple exposure geometries, and using radiation transport calculations with an anthropomorphic phantom model for more complex geometries. * Work performed under U.S. Department of Energy funded collaborative study with Russian researchers under the Joint Coordinating Committee on Radiation Effects Research (JCCRER). PNNL is operated by Battelle Memorial Institute under DOE Contract DE-AC06-76RLO 1830)

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