This paper analyzes the decision-making process utilized in temperate environments for building nuclear facilities and whether it was going to be applicable to nuclear facilities built in arid environments. To answer this question, the total dose to individuals from arid and temperate environments were compared using RESRAD-OFFSITE and changing the...
The environmental impact of the nuclear industry has prompted the need for innovative remediation strategies and accurate radiological assessments. This paper synthesizes three studies that collectively explore the potential of endemic plant species for phytoremediation, the development of anatomically accurate phantoms for precise dosimetry calculations, and the critical evaluation of...
Tourism to the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ), site of the 1986 Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident, has increased each year since the government began allowing tourist groups to access the CEZ. Nevertheless, little guidance is available to a tourist as to what risks they may encounter and whether their visit...
Known as the fourth industrial revolution, digitization is an ongoing trend in all fields, in which various industries are integrating information technologies to support and improve their businesses. Nuclear technology industries have also increased their interest in data-driven methods by leveraging the potential of pattern recognition to identify anomalies and...
Environmental modeling as a result of the Fukushima accident has been at the forefront for present day health physics. The accident released radionuclides in the environment and the fate and transport of these radionuclides are of interest when considering doses to non-human biota. The Pale Grass Blue Butterfly was studied...
The urban hydrology and hydraulics program, US EPA SWMM 5, has been coupled with a compartment model of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in the system dynamics software, STELLA, to simulate the radiocesium pathway from urban catchment to the wastewater treatment sludge. Two literature case studies were re-examined. Firstly, a...
Anatomically correct biota phantom creation has suffered from three primary weaknesses: the models take considerable time to make, are limited in detail by voxel size, and are created and simulated using proprietary software. Presented are trial runs of a new biota creation pipeline, FSOPhantom, that addresses these issues by creating...
Ideally, dosimetric models for pine trees will accurately reflect the doses to its critical organs. However, existing models (e.g. that in ICRP 108) for the pine tree are over simplified or solely focused on estimating doses to one specific organ, and none of the existing models attempt dosimetry to the...
Mathematical modeling plays a pivotal role in understanding the mechanism of radiation-induced cellular effects, and also in quantifying the radiation risk to the cell. However, there are still compelling challenges facing the conventional modeling in radiobiology, such as lacking a generalized theory structure of quantifying target effect and non-target effect...
A system for radiological dosimetry for nonhuman biota developed by International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) relies on calculations that utilize the Monte Carlo simulations of simple, ellipsoidal geometries with internal radioactivity distributed homogeneously throughout. In this manner it is quick and easy to estimate whole-body dose rates to biota....
Since Ranked Set Sampling (RSS) was proposed in 1952 by G.A. McIntyre, it has been the subject of many statistical investigations and a large number of field studies. Throughout these studies RSS has been proven to provide a better estimate of population the mean and variance than Simple Random Sampling...
The exposure needed for a clinically useful image requires much less precision when using digital radiography (DR) than when using screen/film (SF) radiography. The Automatic Exposure Control (AEC) device was developed for ensuring accurate and precise exposures with SF technology. This thesis evaluates the importance of the AEC device in...
The increasing use of medical procedures using ionizing radiation has increased significantly in recent years. In 1987, the National Council on Radiation Protection Report 93 (NCRP) reported that the average exposure ionizing radiation was 53mRem/year (0.53mSv/year). In their most recent study on radiation exposures NCRP Report 160 in 2009, the...
This study focuses on iodine-131 detected in milk samples from the Dairy Science Unit at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, California following events at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant in March of 2011. The samples were collected as part of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant (DCPP) Radiological Environmental...
Radiation protection has historically been from a human protection approach, therefore many studies have neglected the potential dose contribution from the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) in animal studies. The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) utilized simplified geometric shapes with Dose Conversion Factors (DCF) based on homogenized models for the trout...
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KathrynA. Higley
Radiation protection has historically been from a human protection approach
In the last decade regulatory bodies have begun to implement standards to protect populations of non-human biota (NHB) from the consequences of radiation exposure. This is a departure from previous regulatory frameworks which were concerned only with protecting man. The implementation of these new standards has started an ongoing discussion...
Concentration ratios are used to determine the transfer of nuclides from soil to biota to fauna. Some nuclides have limited associated data though, this has not prevented predictions from being performed at sites without associated data. These ratios are site specific and are not fully applicable when applied to other...
The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has modeled twelve reference animal and plant (RAP) species using simple geometric shapes in Monte–Carlo (MCNP) based simulations. The focus has now shifted to creating voxel phantoms of each RAP to advance the understanding of radiation interactions in nonhuman biota. The work contained...
The Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state was initially created
during World War II for the production of plutonium to be used in atomic bombs. A
perceived need for a large increase in the number of nuclear weapons spurred
expansions in production facilities at Hanford through the 1960's, and production...
The goal of the project was to develop a functional prototype of an environmental risk assessment parameter database on the World-Wide Web. The ability to develop a consolidated environmental database has become possible due to the phenomenal growth of the Internet and the World-Wide Web over the past few years....
Efforts are continually being made in remediation surveys to reduce the time and manpower required to perform work while maintaining the ability to detect low levels of contamination. To this end, organizations are utilizing portable instrumentation in conjunction with global positioning systems (GPS). This combination of technologies allows a surveyor...
In order to determine the physical location of contaminants in soil, two solidified soil
"thin" sections, which preserve the undisturbed structural characteristics of the original
soil, containing weapons-grade plutonium from the Rocky Flats Environmental Test Site
were prepared. Two autoradiographic methods were used in radionuclide mapping:
contact autoradiography using CR-39®...
The Teledyne Wah Chang facility is a manufacturer of the rare metal zirconium. The facility has been in constant production since 1956. In 1973 an attempt to utilize different sand ore sources from Nigeria and India in a new carbiding process, prior to chlorination, failed. The resulting byproducts of the...
The Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual (MARSSIM) requires that Final Status Surveys be performed on materials and surfaces that vary in surface smoothness and/or uniformity. To obtain accurate survey data, it may be necessary to adjust detector response for these surface variations. NUREG-1507 refers to such surface efficiency...
The objective of this research was to estimate the radiological impact on various non-human biotas by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear power plant radiation release resulting from Japan's tsunami in March 2011 consistent with the recent recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. Soil concentration data given by Japan's Ministry...
Accurate quantification of radionuclides detected during a scanning survey relies on an appropriately determined scan efficiency calibration factor (SECF). Traditionally, instrument efficiency was determined from a fixed instrument to source geometry. However, as is often the case, the instrument is used in a scanning mode where the source to instrument...
Scanning surveys of building surfaces and land areas are performed with radiation detection equipment to identify areas of elevated radioactivity. To quantify the extent and magnitude of the contamination, follow-up radiation surveys and soil sampling are usually required. The ability to accurately quantify discrete locations or "hot particles" of contamination...
Radiation film dosimetry process using the RIT 113 v.4 dosimetry software and the film digitizer VXR-l2plus was used to evaluate the accuracy of electron dose calculations of the RAHD radiation therapy treatment planning system at Samaritan Regional Cancer Center. Kodak Ready-Pack EDR-2 film is recommended for dose distribution analysis in...
A unique tumor targeted method, which may be able to deliver a molecule to the surface of a tumor cell using the pH gradient between hypoxic tumor cells and normal tissue has recently been developed. Since solid tumors have been found to have a lower extra cellular pH compared to...
Biosphere models predict the transport of radionuclides in the environment with an end goal of assessing the possible risk to humans. Little data exists to support these mathematical biosphere models. The objectives of this work were to verify foliar uptake in biosphere models using experimental data, compare existing biosphere models...
The Self-indicating Instant Radiation Alert Dosimeter, SIRAD™,
manufactured by JP Labs*, is a dosimeter that can be used by emergency response
persoimel. It is a user-friendly, inexpensive, and disposable radiation dosimeter. It
monitors high doses, 5-200 rads, of ionizing radiation. The card resembles the size of a
credit card and...
Soil that is contaminated with radioactive elements poses an exposure hazard to those whom may take up temporary or permanent residence on such a site. Of particular interest is the internal exposure from ingestion of this radioactive soil. Although most ingestion of soil is inadvertent, usually being attached to foodstuffs...
An experimental environmental uptake model was developed for the purpose
of estimating the final harvest concentration of contaminant following an acute
accidental release of radiocesium onto an eastern Oregon winter wheat crop. The
system was developed using the PATHWAY environmental uptake model as
presented by Whicker and Kirchner (1987) for...
The Self-indicating Instant Radiation Dosimeter (SIRAD) is credit card size, self reading, single use dosimeter produced by JP Laboratories. The SIRAD has a chemical strip that changes color based upon incident radiation. The color change is instantaneous and cumulative. The card was designed for first responders as a way for...
As a standard practice, the use of radioactive materials has been widely used when treating many diseases. In recent years advances in biotechnology and labeling techniques have broadened the application of these materials. Candidates selected for radiopharmaceutical therapy may be treated on an outpatient basis or hospitalized following administration to...
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KathrynHigley
As a standard practice, the use of radioactive materials has been widely
The photoneutron production from three Varian linear accelerators ranging in energies from 6 MV to 23 MV has been investigated. Photoneutrons are produced during (γ, n) interactions with materials located within the treatment head. These unwanted neutrons not only increase patient dose, but may also lead to the requirement of...
As the field of radiation therapy evolves new treatment techniques will be
established. An example of an evolving treatment technique is respiratory gated
radiation therapy (RGRT). Research and studies have shown that RGRT can be used
to account for tumor motion as a result of respiratory motion. With evolving
technology...
The use of medical diagnostic imaging involving ionizing radiation has drastically increased in recent years causing concern about possible long term consequences such as the induction of cancer. Recognizing this recent trend, the
Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the Nebraska Medical Center commissioned this study in order to determine effective...
The advances in the nuclear sciences over the past sixty years have yielded many beneficial technologies and applications, such as power generation, food irradiation, and medical diagnostic devices and techniques. However, these advances have also allowed the advent of nuclear and radiological weapons. This paper will focus on one type...
The Nevada Test Site (NTS) was the location for at least 100 above ground
Nuclear Weapons tests during the 1950's and early 1960's. Radioactive fallout
from these tests spread to many areas north and west of the NTS. According to
estimates from the NCI and DOE, Washington County, Utah was...
Decon Gel 1101, is an uncomplicated, low odor, peelable polymer hydrogel for
use with radiological decontamination, manufactured by Cellular Bioengineer Inc. The
gel allows for single or multiple material applications to contaminated surfaces. As the
gel dries it binds the contaminant by encapsulating and lifting the contaminant into the
gel....
Advancements in digital detector technology over the past decade have facilitated the transition of mammography image acquisition from film screen to full field digital applications. Nearly 90% of the mammography performed in the United States utilizes digital imaging technologies. The ability to capture the image information in an electronic format...
Purpose: Model-based dose calculation algorithms (MBDCAs) have become clinically available within the past several years in commercially available brachytherapy planning systems. This work investigates the application of a 510(k) approved MBDCA Acuros™ BV and establishes a reproducible method of validation. The research is broken into three primary research goals. The...
Two methods of radiation dose assessment were evaluated for the Cs-137 in soil ⇒ leafy vegetable ⇒ human consumption exposure pathway at three fictitious contaminated sites in California, Colorado, and Florida. An annual dose equation was developed and per USEPA risk assessment guidelines, traditional, single point annual dose estimates were...
Shallow land burial in vadose zone sediment at the Hanford Site in Washington is being considered for the disposal of Category 3 low-level waste. A series of column experiments were conducted to evaluate and model the performance of the soil surrounding the trench encasement material for iodine-129 and technetium-99 by...
In radiation therapy it is very important to accurately measure the amount of radiation delivered. The effectiveness of the treatment depends on delivering the dose with an accuracy of 5% or better. The dosimetry in different clinics must also be consistent. For these reasons national and international calibration protocols have...