Publicly available database of measurements with the silicon spectrometer Liulin onboard aircraft

Aircrew members are exposed to ionizing radiation due to their work onboard aircraft. ICRP recommended the monitoring of their effective doses because they regularly exceed the limit of 1 mSv per year for the public exposure. The effective doses are routinely calculated by computer codes that take into account flight parameters like altitude, geographic position, and solar activity. This approach was preferred against personal dosimeters method because the effective dose cannot be evaluated experimentally. However, it is generally accepted, that these calculations should be periodically verified by measurements of H*(10) which is frequently used as a surrogate for effective dose. This report refers about the database (available online http://hroch.ujf.cas.cz/∼aircraft/) of long-term measurements with the silicon spectrometer Liulin onboard aircraft. The measurements have been performed since March 2001; so up to date, the database covers a period of 11-years (with a few interruptions) which is usually the duration of the whole solar cycle. The database comprises more than 10⁵ individual records of energy deposition spectra, absorbed dose rates, and ambient dose equivalent rates. Each record contains also the information on all flight parameters needed for calculation of dosimetric quantities by the computer codes, and thus the database represent an useful tool for verification of the routine dosimetry of aircraft crews.     

Determination of the health hazards due to background radiation sources in the city of Adapazari, Northwestern Turkey

Human body is exposed to ionising radiations both internally and externally by mainly high-energy cosmic ray particles incident on the earth's atmosphere and radioactive nuclides that originated in the earth's crust. The main objective of this study is to assess the health hazards due to environmental radiation sources in the city of Adapazari, one of the most important industrial cities of the country, Northwestern Turkey. For this purpose, natural radiation sources, external terrestrial radiations, cosmic radiations, and inhalation exposures have been investigated. The annual average external terrestrial radiation doses were determined as 0.08 and 0.35 mSv at outdoor and indoor atmospheres, respectively. The annual average cosmic radiation doses were found to be 0.08 and 0.05 mSv for directly ionising photon components and neutron components, respectively. The annual average inhalation exposure doses due to radon and thoron were obtained as 1.42 and 0.19 mSv, respectively, in the region. The annual average effective dose due to natural radiation sources was determined as a total of 2.35 mSv with the predetermined ingestion radiation dose. The lifetime cancer risk due to the background ionising radiations has been determined as 0.9×10(-2) for the residents of the Adapazari city, with the average lifespan of 70 years. The results of the effective doses due to background radiation sources in the region and the worldwide averages were discussed.     

Determination of the health hazards due to background radiation sources in the city of Adapazari,Northwestern Turkey

Human body is exposed to ionising radiations both internally and externally by mainly high-energy cosmic ray particles incident on the earth's atmosphere and radioactive nuclides that originated in the earth's crust. The main objective of this study is to assess the health hazards due to environmental radiation sources in the city of Adapazari, one of the most important industrial cities of the country, Northwestern Turkey. For this purpose, natural radiation sources, external terrestrial radiations, cosmic radiations, and inhalation exposures have been investigated. The annual average external terrestrial radiation doses were determined as 0.08 and 0.35 mSv at outdoor and indoor atmospheres, respectively. The annual average cosmic radiation doses were found to be 0.08 and 0.05 mSv for directly ionising photon components and neutron components, respectively. The annual average inhalation exposure doses due to radon and thoron were obtained as 1.42 and 0.19 mSv, respectively, in the region. The annual average effective dose due to natural radiation sources was determined as a total of 2.35 mSv with the predetermined ingestion radiation dose. The lifetime cancer risk due to the background ionising radiations has been determined as 0.9×10^?2 for the residents of the Adapazari city, with the average lifespan of 70 years. The results of the effective doses due to background radiation sources in the region and the worldwide averages were discussed.     

Natural radiation sources,including some lessons for nuclear waste management

The average effective dose at the global level is, according to UNSCEAR, estimated to be 2.4 mSv from naturally occurring sources. This average value can be divided as follows: 1.3 mSv associated with radon, 0.39 mSv from cosmic radiation, 0.46 mSv from terrestrial radiation, and 0.23 mSv from internal radiation, radon excluded. These values can vary quite significantly depending on the place of habitation. Despite this large variation, no sound epidemiological study has yet shown the health effects on the most exposed populations, apart from a few studies concerning radon, but in which the predominant role of tobacco is difficult to determine. To cite this article: H. Métivier, C. R. Physique 3 (2002) 1035–1048.     

Radiological impacts of natural radioactivity from phosphogypsum piles in Huelva (Spain)

The activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K have been measured by gamma spectroscopy in samples of soil collected from the different zones of around Huelva (Spain). The average activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra (Bq kg^?1) in the active phosphogypsum (PG) stacks, unrestored and restored zones were 647, 573 and 83 respectively. The corresponding values for ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K (Bq kg^?1) were 8, 10 and 25 and 33, 47 and 225 respectively. As a measure of radiation hazard to the occupational workers and public, the Ra equivalent activities, representative level index and dose rates due to natural radionuclides at 1 m above the ground surface were estimated. The average of absorbed dose rates due to ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K (nGy/h) from active PG stacks, unrestored and restored zones are 284, 255 and 55.The calculated external γ-radiation average dose (mSv/y) received by the workers of the phosphogypsum piles are estimated to be 0.293, 0.262 and 0.057 which is far below the international agreed dose limit of 20 mSv/y (ICRP-60, 1990) for workers. Also, the radiation dose to a member of the public resulting from the use of PG is negligible compared to the average annual effective dose from natural sources (2.4 mSv/y).     

Measurement of doses to the extremities of nuclear medicine staff

Medical uses of ionizing radiation now represent>95% of all man-made radiation exposure, and is the largest single radiation source after natural background radiation. Therefore, it is important to quantify the amount of radiation received by occupational individuals to optimize the working conditions for staff, and further, to compare doses in different departments to ensure compatibility with the recommended standards. For some groups working with unsealed sources in nuclear medicine units, the hands are more heavily exposed to ionizing radiation than the rest of the body. A personal dosimetry service runs extensively in Egypt. But doses to extremities have not been measured to a wide extent. The purpose of this study was to investigate the equivalent radiation doses to the fingers for five different nuclear medicine staff occupational groups for which heavy irradiation of the hands was suspected. Finger doses were measured for (1) nuclear medicine physicians, (2) technologists, (3) nurses and (4) physicists. The fifth group contains three technicians handling ¹³¹I, while the others handled ^99mTc. Each staff member working with the radioactive material wore two thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) during the whole testing period, which lasted from 1 to 4 weeks. Staff performed their work on a regular basis throughout the month, and mean annual doses were calculated for these groups. Results showed that the mean equivalent doses to the fingers of technologist, nurse and physicist groups were 30.24±14.5, 30.37±17.5 and 16.3±7.7 μSv/GBq, respectively. Equivalent doses for the physicians could not be calculated per unit of activity because they did not handle the radiopharmaceuticals directly. Their doses were reported in millisieverts (mSv) that accumulated in one week. Similarly, the dose to the fingers of individuals in Group 5 was estimated to be 126.13±38.2 μSv/GBq. The maximum average finger dose, in this study, was noted in the technologists who handled therapeutic ¹³¹I (2.5 mSv). In conclusion, the maximum expected annual dose to extremities is less than the annual limit (500 mSv/y).     

A study of the dose distribution in the region of the eye lens and extremities for staff working in interventional cardiology

The dose distributions at the region of eye lens and extremities of staff working in interventional cardiology were analyzed. The doses to physicians and nurses from three hospitals in Poland were measured with TL dosimeters (MCP-N) located on various places near eyebrows, on both fingers, wrists, knees and on the ankle. The procedures under investigation were coronary angiography (CA) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), peacemaker and defibrillator implantations (PM/ICDs), cardiac resynchronization therapy with or without defibrillator implantations (CRT-D or CRT) and radiofrequency ablations (RFA). The study aimed at analyzing the distribution of radiation in selected anatomic regions, determining the typical locations of highest doses and estimating the dose ranges for selected types of procedures.The maximum registered doses per procedure to eye lens and ankle were 1.21 mSv and 1.46 mSv for CA PCI procedures, 0.02 mSv and 0.05 mSv for RFA and 0.13 mSv and 0.51 mSv for PM/ICDs, respectively. The maximum doses to fingers, wrists and knees were, accordingly, 2.11 mSv, 1.07 mSv and 0.77 mSv for CA PCI procedures, 0.38 mSv, 0.20 mSv and 0.04 mSv for RFA ones, 0.50 mSv, 0.25 mSv and 0.01 mSv for PM/ICDs procedures and 2.25 mSv, 1.12 mSv and 0.58 mSv for CRT and CRT-D ones. The factors which might influence the dose like utilized radiation, availability of additional protective equipment and position of the staff with respect to X-ray source were also analyzed.The annual doses for eye lens and extremities were estimated on the basis of individual annual workloads of the physicians participating in the study. The highest annual doses were revealed for physicians performing CA PCI procedures. Annual eye lens doses range up to 247 mSv indicating that the occupational limit for eye lens 150 mSv has been surpassed. In case of extremities the maximal estimated annual doses were 355 mSv, 136 mSv, 55 mSv and 328 mSv, for fingers, wrists, knees and for ankle, respectively. Moreover, in the light of ICRP new Statement on Tissue Reactions raising the possibility of lowering the annual limit for the lens of the eye the annual doses estimated in our paper indicate that for some procedures the monitoring of eye lens doses should be considered. On the other hand, it is important to note that most of high occupational doses can be easily avoided if radiation protection tools are used and, moreover, used properly.The present survey is a part of ORAMED project concerning the determination of doses to extremities (fingers, wrists and knees) and eye lens during interventional procedures and includes the detailed analyses of results of Polish partner. They are, however, presented in wider context. The study is additionally extended by the investigation of the dose distribution at the eyebrows and ankle level.     

Uranium analysis in some food samples collected from Bathinda area of Punjab, India

To strengthen the radiation protection infrastructure in Bathinda, the uranium concentration in daily diet of the residents has been measured and its associated radiation risks were estimated for the adult population. Food samples were collected from major cancer prone areas of the district, from which daily diets were prepared. These diet samples were analyzed using fission track technique. The measured values of the uranium content were found to vary from 0.38 mBq/g in mustard seeds to 4.60 mBq/g in wheat. In case of milk the uranium content is found to vary from 28.57–213.36 mBq/ℓ with mean concentration of 61.35 mBq/ℓ. This leads to a daily dietary intake of 0.90 Bq/day. The measured value of 0.90 Bq d⁻¹, contributes to 1.12 mSv to the cumulative effective dose to the population. This dose is much large than the International Commission for Radiological Protection (ICRP) annual effective dose limit of 1 mSv for the general public [1]. Therefore, it would pose significant health hazard.      

无损检测用15MeV电子直线加速器主束内光中子剂量的测量与MC模拟计算

通过实验和模拟计算研究了无损检测用15MeV电子直线加速器X射线主束内的中子剂量. 加速器采用了铜复合靶和钨加含硼聚乙烯的屏蔽结构, 能够有效地减少光中子的产生, 中子产额在1/1000n/γ以下. 但由于主束内光子剂量很大, 中子的绝对强度也不容忽视. 针对加速器周围强X射线脉冲辐射场的特点, 采用了被 动型的中子剂量测量方法, 加速器正常工作情况下, 使用CR-39片和双电离室测量了等中心处中子对X射线的剂量当量比率, 分别为0.19mSv/Gy X-ray和0.060mSv/Gy X-ray. 利用MCNP5模拟计算了实验相应点的中子对X射线的剂量当量比率, 为0.092mSv/Gy X-ray, 与实验测量结果在数量级上一致. 加速器主射束上D_n/D_γ<1/1000,小于辐射防护标准对中子泄漏剂量的规定值, 从而验证了屏蔽结构的安全性.     

Bradley aberration proposed to measure absolute velocity of closed laboratory

Bradley aberration, which uses the yearly angular displacement of starlight to measure the velocity of the Earth about the sun, can be used in the closed laboratory to measure the absolute velocity of the laboratory. Lasers replace starlight. Comparing the aberration for two oppositely directed light beams as a function of direction, the absolute velocity of the laboratory may be deduced. A special telescope to be used to detect small angular changes is described.     

Cancer risk estimation caused by radiation exposure during endovascular procedure

The objective of this study was to identify the radiation exposure dose of patients, as well as staff caused by fluoroscopy for C-arm-assisted vascular surgical operation and to estimate carcinogenic risk due to such exposure dose. The study was conducted in 71 patients (53 men and 18 women) who had undergone vascular surgical intervention at the division of vascular surgery in the University Hospital from November of 2011 to April of 2012. It had used a mobile C-arm device and calculated the radiation exposure dose of patient (dose–area product, DAP). Effective dose was measured by attaching optically stimulated luminescence on the radiation protectors of staff who participates in the surgery to measure the radiation exposure dose of staff during the vascular surgical operation. From the study results, DAP value of patients was 308.7 Gy cm² in average, and the maximum value was 3085 Gy cm². When converted to the effective dose, the resulted mean was 6.2 m Gy and the maximum effective dose was 61.7 milliSievert (mSv). The effective dose of staff was 3.85 mSv; while the radiation technician was 1.04 mSv, the nurse was 1.31 mSv. All cancer incidences of operator are corresponding to 2355 persons per 100,000 persons, which deemed 1 of 42 persons is likely to have all cancer incidences. In conclusion, the vascular surgeons should keep the radiation protection for patient, staff, and all participants in the intervention in mind as supervisor of fluoroscopy while trying to understand the effects by radiation by themselves to prevent invisible danger during the intervention and to minimize the harm.     

Five-year follow-up study on individual doses of Korean radiation workers based on ICRP 103 (2006–2010)

This study examined individual doses of Korean radiation workers divided into deep and surface doses based on the dose limits recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) or ICRP 103 (approved on March 2007) for 5 years from 2006 to 2010. In addition, the exposure doses were compared according to occupation, departments and scale of the medical institutions (primary, secondary and tertiary) as well as between dental hospitals and hospitals, which is currently an issue, using 116,220 sets of data on the quarterly and yearly exposure doses of 5811 Korean radiation workers measured over a 5-year period (January 2006 to December 2010). For the mean exposure doses according to occupation, both deep and surface doses were higher in radiological technicians than in the other occupations and there was a significant difference between radiological technicians and others (researchers and assistants) (p<0.05). The results showed that none of the Korean radiation workers were exposed to radiation doses exceeding the maximum tolerant dose or 20 mSv/year recommended by the ICRP. When the mean exposure doses were compared according to the departments, both deep and surface doses were significantly higher (p<0.05) in the department of nuclear medicine than in the other departments (the department of biomedical engineering and the management team). For the mean exposure doses according to the scale of the medical institutions, the doses were highest in tertiary medical institutions followed in order by secondary and primary medical institutions (p<0.05). A comparison of the mean exposure doses in dental hospitals and hospitals revealed both deep and surface doses to be higher in hospitals than in dental hospitals (p<0.05). This study is considered to be used as basic data to establish a system for exposure dose management of radiation workers and more accurate studies on the radiation exposure are necessary in the future.     

Use of CR-39 solid state nuclear track detector in neutron personnel monitoring

Neutron sources like ²⁴¹Am–Be, ²³⁹Pu–Be, ²⁵²Cf and 14.6 MeV neutron generator are being used in oil exploration industries as well as in research institutions. While handling these neutron sources, personnel may be exposed to neutrons. Also personnel working in reactors, accelerators may receive dose from neutrons. These exposed individuals need to be monitored regularly for measurement of neutron doses. The individual neutron doses can be estimated by using Kodak NTA films and CR-39 Solid State Nuclear Track Detector with a polyethylene radiator to increase sensitivity in front in holder. Nearly 1450 personnel are being monitored regularly throughout the country on a quarterly basis. In India, the monitoring system adopted for individual neutron dose estimation having energy from 100 keV and above is described in this paper. Background counts of 0.20 mSv could be measured with CR-39 SSNTD foil system and it has been successfully introduced for Fast Neutron Personnel Monitoring for the country.     

Static thermal properties of broad-contact double-heterostructure laser diodes

The thermal properties of broad-contact double-heterostructure GaAs-(AlGa)As laser diodes under steady-state conditions are presented in this paper. The nonhomogeneous, layered structure of the laser diode has been reduced to the thermally equivalent, homogeneous GaAs structure. The active layer heating due to nonradiative recombination and reabsorption of radiation, the radiative transfer of spontaneous radiation through the wide-gap passive layers, and Joule heating have been taken into consideration. The temperature dependence of the GaAs thermal conductivity(T) has been also taken into account. The relative influence on the temperature distributions of the individual heat sources, the internal quantum efficiency of the spontaneous emission, and the thickness and the resistivities of the individual layers have been discussed. The model may be used for all broad-contact laser diodes including the high-power large-optical-cavity laser diodes.     

Program for Experimental Investigations of the Mechanisms for the Emission of Coherent Radiation by Relativistic Electrons with Energies of 10–500 MeV in Oriented Crystals

A program of experimental investigations of the mechanisms for the emission of coherent radiation by electrons in periodic structures is proposed. The program is aimed at developing sources of energy-tunable quasimonochromatic x radiation and radiation.     

On the Possible Mechanisms of Activation Changes of Enzymes under Pulsed Irradiation

Classical radiation biology, radiation treatment of patients, and pulsed radiation chemistry usually deal with weak beams of radiation and operate in terms of dose (D). In this case, only the absolute number of ionizing particles or photons interacting with the object independently of one another is important. In this work, we resume our previous investigations of enzyme activation/inactivation produced by pulsed ionizing radiation from a dense plasma focus (DPF) device at a very short and intense irradiation process, when the concentrations of spurs and blobs are sufficiently dense to allow the micro-volumes to overlap each other. The time interval is small compared with the corresponding biochemical process. It is shown that the irradiation of biological objects for a few nanoseconds by beams of x-ray photons with a low dose (D 10^-6–10^-3 Gy) but at a high dose power (D/10³–10⁵ Gy/s) may be of a collective nature and result in synergetic effects. In particular, it was found that a remarkable activation/inactivation of enzymes (horseradish peroxidase, angiotensin-converting-enzyme) takes place at low doses in these regimes. The results of irradiating the above-mentioned enzymes in vitro with x-rays of nanosecond pulse duration coming from a dense plasma focus are presented here. Neutrons (2.5 MeV, 10³–10⁵ n/cm² and x-ray photons of different energy ranges (7–9 keV and 20–200 keV) together with dose power factors are analyzed as possible reasons for the activation/inactivation of enzymes in various dose ranges. Our results are compared to those of the same experiments conducted with continuous x-ray sources based on a classical x-ray tube and on a ¹³⁷Cs-isotope source (D10^-3–10² Gy).     

Neutron dose measurement in carbon ion radiation therapy at HIRFL （IMP）

For radiation protection purposes, the neutron dose in carbon ion radiation therapy at the HIRFL （Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou） was investigated. The neutron dose from primary ^12C ions with a specific energy of 100 MeV/u delivered from SSC was roughly measured with a standard Anderson-Broun rem-meter using a polyethylene target at various distances. The result shows that a maximum neutron dose contribution of 19 mSv in a typically surface tumor treatment was obtained, which is less than 1% of the planed heavy ion dose and is in reasonable agreement with other reports. Also the T-ray dose was measured in this experiment using a thermo luminescent detector.     

核科学百年讲座第九讲电离辐射与人类生活及环境

文章介绍了在人类生存环境中与一般公众生活密切相关的各种电离辐射的来源、影响因素、变化规律、对公众所产生的照射剂量以及有可能导致的生物效应，特别是对天然辐射照射做了详细和系统的叙述分析，同时对人类实践活动产生的人工辐射和医学照射也进行了介绍和评述．文章旨在引导人们正确认识放射性这一自然现象，在消除核恐怖心理的同时，对其在应用中的安全性予以足够的重视。     

Technique and Instrumentation for Precision Measurements of the Intensities of Extraterrestrial Radio Sources

We consider methods for decreasing the measurement error of the intensities of radio sources. The design of a two-temperature standard of noise radiation for calibrating antennas in the case of absolute measurements of the radiation flux densities of radio sources by the method of a black disk is described. We consider a method for taking into account the nonuniformity of the intensity distribution around the studied cosmic source, which facilitates choosing reference regions.