• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.209-216
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• 2015

It has been about 5 years since the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, which contaminated large area with radioactive materials. It is necessary to assess radiation dose to establish evacuation areas and to set decontamination goal for the large contaminated area. In this study, we assessed temporal trend of radiation dose to the public living in the large area contaminated with radioactive materials after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident. The dose assessment was performed based on Chernobyl model and RESRAD model for two evacuation lift areas, Kawauchi and Naraha. It was reported that deposition densities in the areas were $4.3{\sim}96kBq\;m^{-2}$ for $^{134}Cs$, $1.4{\sim}300kBq\;m^{-2}$ for $^{137}Cs$, respectively. Radiation dose to the residents depended on radioactive cesium concentrations in the soil, ranging $0.11{\sim}2.4mSv\;y^{-1}$ at Kawauchi area and $0.69{\sim}1.1mSv\;y^{-1}$ at Naraha area in July 2014. The difference was less than 5% in radiation doses estimated by two different models. Radiation dose decreased with calendar time and the decreasing slope varied depending on dose assessment models. Based on the Chernobyl dosimetry model, radiation doses decreased with calendar time to about 65% level of the radiation dose in 2014 after 1 year, 11% level after 10 years, and 5.6% level after 30 years. RESRAD dosimetry model more slowly decreased radiation dose with time to about 85% level after 1 year, 40% level after 10 years, and 15% level after 30 years. The decrease of radiation dose can be mainly attributed into radioactive decays and environmental transport of the radioactive cesium. Only environmental transports of radioactive cesium without consideration of radioactive decays decreased radiation dose additionally 43% after 1 year, 72% after 3 years, 80% after 10 years, and 83% after 30 years. Radiation doses estimated with cesium concentration in the soil based on Chernobyl dosimetry model were compared with directly measured radiation doses. The estimated doses well agreed with the measurement data. This study results can be applied to radiation dose assessments at the contaminated area for radiation safety assurance or emergency preparedness.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.254-260
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• 2023

Skeletal metastases are common in patients suffering from various primary cancers. Radiopharmaceuticals are an effective option for bone pain palliation. In this work, the radiation absorbed dose of ¹⁷⁷Lu-EDTMP radiopharmaceutical was estimated for adult man based on biodistribution data in Wistar rats. The MIRD dose calculation method and the Sparks and Aydogan methodology were applied. The results shows that about 46% of injected activity is cumulated on the surface of the trabecular and cortical bones. Radiation absorbed doses of red bone marrow and osteogenic cells were estimated to about 1.1 and 6.2 mGy/MBq, respectively. The maximum administrated activity was obtained 27 MBq/kg of body weight with an effective dose of 0.23 mSv/MBq. The results were compared with other available data from literature. This study indicated that ¹⁷⁷Lu-EDTMP provides therapeutic efficacy for achieving bone pain palliation with low undesired dose to other normal organs.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.53-68
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• 2020

Background: International organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) reported public exposure doses due to radionuclides released in the Fukushima nuclear accident a few years after the event. However, the reported doses were generally overestimated due to conservative assumptions such as a longer stay in deliberate areas designated for evacuation than the actual stay. After these reports had been published, more realistic dose values were reported by Japanese scientists. Materials and Methods: The present paper reviews those reports, including the most recently published articles; and summarizes estimated effective doses (external and internal) and issues related to their estimation. Results and Discussion: External dose estimation can be categorized as taking two approaches-estimation from ambient dose rate and peoples' behavior patterns-and measurements using personal dosimeters. The former approach was useful for estimating external doses in an early stage after the accident. The first 4-month doses were less than 2 mSv for most (94%) study subjects. Later on, individual doses came to be monitored by personal dosimeter measurements. On the basis of these measurements, the estimated median annual external dose was reported to be < 1 mSv in 2011 for 22 municipalities of Fukushima Prefecture. Internal dose estimation also can be categorized as taking two approaches: estimation from whole-body counting and estimation from monitoring of environmental samples such as radioactivity concentrations in food and drinking water. According to results by the former approach, committed effective dose due to ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs could be less than 0.1 mSv for most residents including those from evacuated areas. Conclusion: Realistic doses estimated by Japanese scientists indicated that the doses reported by WHO and UNSCEAR were generally overestimated. Average values for the first-year effective doses for residents in two affected areas (Namie Town and Iitate Village) were not likely to reach 10 mSv, the lower end of the doses estimated by WHO.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.111-121
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• 2017

Verification of dose distribution is an essential part of ensuring the treatment planning system's (TPS) calculated dose will achieve the desired outcome in radiation therapy. Each measurement have uncertainty associated with it. It is desirable to reduce the measurement uncertainty. A best approach is to reduce the uncertainty associated with each step of the process to keep the total uncertainty under acceptable limits. Point dose patient specific quality assurance (QA) is recommended by American Association of Medical Physicists (AAPM) and European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) for all the complex radiation therapy treatment techniques. Relative and absolute point dose measurement methods are used to verify the TPS computed dose. Relative and absolute point dose measurement techniques have a number of steps to measure the point dose which includes chamber cross calibration, electrometer reading, chamber calibration coefficient, beam quality correction factor, reference conditions, influences quantities, machine stability, nominal calibration factor (for relative method) and absolute dose calibration of machine. Keeping these parameters in mind, the estimated relative percentage uncertainty associated with the absolute point dose measurement is 2.1% (k=1). On the other hand, the relative percentage uncertainty associated with the relative point dose verification method is estimated to 1.0% (k=1). To compare both point dose measurement methods, 13 head and neck (H&N) IMRT patients were selected. A point dose for each patient was measured with both methods. The average percentage difference between TPS computed dose and measured absolute relative point dose was 1.4% and 1% respectively. The results of this comparative study show that while choosing the relative or absolute point dose measurement technique, both techniques can produce similar results for H&N IMRT treatment plans. There is no statistically significant difference between both point dose verification methods based upon the t-test for comparing two means.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.259-279
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• 2009

Radioiodine ablation therapy has been considered to be a standard treatment for patient with differentiated thyroid cancer after total thyroidectomy. Patients may need to be hospitalized to reduce radiation exposure of other people and relatives from radioactive patients receiving radioiodine therapy. Medical staffs, nursing staffs and technologists sometimes hesitate to contact patients in radioiodine therapy ward. The purpose of this paper is to introduce radiation dosimetry, estimate radiation dose from patients and emphasize the safety of radiation exposure from patients treated with high dose radioiodine in therapy ward. The major component of radiation dose from patient is external exposure. However external radiation dose from these patients treated with typical therapeutic dose of 4 to 8 GBq have a very low risk of cancer induction compared with other various risks occurring in daily life. The typical annual radiation dose without shielding received by patient is estimated to be 5 to 10 mSv, which is comparable with 100 to 200 times effective dose received by chest PA examination. Therefore, when we should keep in mind the general principle of radiation protection, the risks of radiation exposure from patients are low and the medical personnel are considered to be safe from radiation exposure.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.106-111
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• 2021

Background: Crookes tube is utilized in junior high and high schools in Japan to study the character of electrons and current, and not for radiological education. There is no official guideline or regulation for these radiation source to the public. Therefore, most teachers have no information about the leakage of X-rays from Crookes tube. The peak energy of X-rays is approximately 20 keV, and it is impossible to measure using conventional survey meters. Materials and Methods: Each leakage dose of low energy X-rays from 38 Crookes tube in the education field, such as junior and senior high schools in Japan, was explored by the teachers in the school using radio-photoluminescence (RPL) dosimeters. Before and after the measurements, the dosimeters were sent by postal mails. Results and Discussion: At the exploration in this study, it was estimated that the 70 ㎛ dose equivalent, H_p(0.07) of X-rays from 31 Crookes tubes were smaller than 100 µSv in 10 minutes, at the distance of 1 m, where the Crookes tube was usually observed. However, the highest dose was estimated as 0.69 mSv by an equipment with the full power. Furthermore, one Crookes tube exhibited 0.62 mSv with minimum output power of the induction coil. This relatively large dose was reduced by the shorter distance of discharge electrodes of the induction coil. Conclusion: The leakage dose of low energy X-rays from 38 Crookes tube was explored using RPL dosimeters. It was estimated that the H_p(0.07) of X-rays from 31 Crookes tubes were smaller than 100 µSv in 10 minutes at the distance of 1 m, while some equipment radiated a higher dose. With this study, the provisional guideline for the safety operation of Crookes tube is established.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.243-253
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• 2021

In the dismantling process of a reactor coolant system (RCS) piping, a radiation protection plan should be established to minimize the radiation exposure doses of dismantling workers. Hence, it is necessary to estimate the individual effective dose in the RCS piping dismantling process when decommissioning a nuclear power plant. In this study, the radiation exposure doses of the dismantling workers at different positions was estimated using the MicroShield dose assessment program based on the NUREG/CR-1595 report. The individual effective dose, which is the sum of the effective dose to each tissue considering the working time, was used to estimate the radiation exposure dose. The estimations of the simulation results for all RCS piping dismantling tasks satisfied the dose limits prescribed by the ICRP-60 report. In dismantling the RCS piping of the Kori-1 or Wolsong-1 units in South Korea, the estimation and reduction method for the radiation exposure dose, and the simulated results of this study can be used to implement the radiation safety for optimal dismantling by providing information on the radiation exposure doses of the dismantling workers.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.98-105
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• 2021

Background: In recent events of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, computed tomography (CT) scans are being globally used as a complement to the reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests. It will be important to be aware of major organ dose levels, which are more relevant quantity to derive potential long-term adverse effect, for Korean pediatric and adult patients undergoing CT for COVID-19. Materials and Methods: We calculated organ dose conversion coefficients for Korean pediatric and adult CT patients directly from Korean pediatric and adult computational phantoms combined with Monte Carlo radiation transport techniques. We then estimated major organ doses delivered to the Korean child and adult patients undergoing CT for COVID-19 combining the dose conversion coefficients and the international survey data. We also compared our Korean dose conversion coefficients with those from Caucasian reference pediatric and adult phantoms. Results and Discussion: Based on the dose conversion coefficients we established in this study and the international survey data of COVID-19-related CT scans, we found that Korean 7-year-old child and adult males may receive about 4-32 mGy and 3-21 mGy of lung dose, respectively. We learned that the lung dose conversion coefficient for the Korean child phantom was up to 1.5-fold greater than that for the Korean adult phantom. We also found no substantial difference in dose conversion coefficients between Korean and Caucasian phantoms. Conclusion: We estimated radiation dose delivered to the Korean child and adult phantoms undergoing COVID-19-related CT examinations. The dose conversion coefficients derived for different CT scan types can be also used universally for other dosimetry studies concerning Korean CT scans. We also confirmed that the Caucasian-based CT organ dose calculation tools may be used for the Korean population with reasonable accuracy.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.288-300
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• 2016

Objectives: Diagnostic medical radiation workers in Korea have been officially monitored for their occupational radiation doses since 1996. The purpose of this study was to design models for reconstructing unknown individual radiation doses to which diagnostic radiation technologists were exposed before 1996. Methods: Radiation dose reconstruction models were developed by using cross-sectional survey data and the personal badge doses of 8167 radiologic technologists. The models included calendar year and age as predictors, and the participants were grouped into six categories according to their sex and facility type. The annual doses between 1971 and 1995 for those who were employed before 1996 were estimated using these models. Results: The calendar year and age were inversely related to the estimated radiation doses in the models of all six groups. The annual median estimated doses decreased from 9.45 mSv in 1971 to 1.26 mSv in 1995, and the associated dose variation also decreased with time. The estimated median badge doses from 1996 (1.22 mSv) to 2011 (0.30 mSv) were similar to the measured doses (1.68 mSv to 0.21 mSv) for the same years. Similar results were observed for all six groups. Conclusions: The reconstruction models developed in this study may be useful for estimating historical occupational radiation doses received by medical radiologic technologists in Korea.

• International Journal of Contents
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.102-108
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to estimate and analyze the potential radiation dose that the future visitors and the cleaning staff will be exposed to when the KRR-1 reactor is converted into a memorial hall. The radiation doses were estimated using the RESRAD-BUILD software, where case, building, receptor, shielding, and source parameters were applied as the input data. Also, the basic data for the assessment of the radiation doses were determined in an indirect manner using the data on the waste generated during the decommissioning process of the reactor. The assessment results indicate that the potential radiation dose to the visitors and the cleaning staff will be less than 1 mSv, the annual dose limit for the general public. However, if anyone for a significant period of time is close to the reactor, the overall dose will increase. The radiation dose for the future visitors and the cleaning staff was determined to be lower than the annual dose limit for the general public. Given such a risk, systematic measures, such as periodic monitoring or limiting hours, are imperative.