Health Physics

Cloutier, Roger J.

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All health physicists are familiar with the radium dial painter episode of the early 1900s and how one of today's primary radiation limits was set after studying the health effects of these workers. The social history of this event is not as well known to health physicists. This paper tells of the efforts by Florence Kelley of the National Consumers League and others on behalf of the dial painters and of the events that led to Kelley's interest in the problem. Known as the “Impatient Crusader”, Florence Kelley worked to have legislation passed that would eliminate the radiation hazards of dial painting and to obtain compensation for those who were injured.

Bhattacharyya, A. K.

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The increasing amount of

Newcombe, Howard B.

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Centralization of radiation dose records into national registers of occupational exposures is an increasingly common practice. As a result, additional uses of the data have become possible, based on the improved accessibility of lifetime personal dose histories. So far, greatest attention has been paid to the potential for epidemiological follow-up; but there are other emerging needs for computerized life-history data which are readily retrievable in quantity, as implied for example by the ICRP recommendation to limit the average doses to groups of workers, on the basis of cost-benefit analyses involving estimates of harm commitments accumulated over periods longer than a year. Only if the computerized dose data are collated into one lifetime dose history record for each individual will these purposes be readily served. Major difficulties are forseen, however, if the year-by-year computerized dose data for each individual are fragmented into two or more blocks requiring multiple access to multiple file locations. Where the machine-redable lifetime histories also contain adequate personal identifying information, epidemiological follow-up should become an inexpensive byproduct of good record keeping. Such design features have not figured prominently in published discussions, bur are important for registers of occupational exposures to any agents with delayed harmful effects, such as asbestos, products from petroleum and coal tar and oxides of various heavy metals. Design options are considered in the present account, with a view to providing, for all such registers, reliable retrieval of personal exposure histories, in quantity, at modest cost.

Takagi, Shinji

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This report describes a calculation equation for radioactivity determination, and sample pretreatment based on the fundamental design mentioned in previous report (Na79), which satisfied the guide for dose assessment objectives for a light-water-cooled nuclear power reactor (AECJ75). The effect of the sample pretreatment on the determination of half the level of needed determination limit (NDL} (Na79) was evaluated using a commercially available Ge(Li) detector system. It was clarified that pretreatment should be carried out for environmental samples up to 8301. of the initial sample amount. The most suitable radioactivity determination method with a commercially available Ge(Li) detector system far dose assessment is presented herein.

Morgan, Karl Z.

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Electrochemical etching of 250-micro m-thick polycarbonate foils was performed to determine if this system can be utilized to register alfa-particles. Experiments to examine the detection efficiency for alfa-particles, track diameter as a function of etching time, sensitivity as a function of waiting time, sensitivity as a function of etching time, and reproducibility were undertaken once the ability to detect alfa-particles was recognized. The efficiency of detection was somewhat low, namely I × 10

Lau, L. D.

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To ensure the maintenance of a safe working environment, and provide data of interest to operations personnel, a fixed air sampling system (FASS) has been installed at the Hot Fuel Examination Facility/North at Argonne National Laboratory's Idaho site. A design requirement is that the system be operated with a minimum number of personhours. Sixty-six sampling stations are located throughout the facility to gather data from areas where personnel are normally present without respiratory protection. The effectiveness of in-cell contamination-control programs and materials-handling procedures can be evaluated. Long-term trends are valuable guides to improving radiological controls while airborne activities are still well below operational guidelines. Since the beginning of operation in August 1976, the concentrations have averaged between 1 × 10

Little, Craig A.

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Air concentration measurements made at Hanford, WA, for short-term surfacelevel release of flourescein particles are compared with predicted values derived from curves in Turner's Workbook of Atmospheric Dispersion Estimates. Predictions were determined from these curves based on three different sets of criteria to classify atmospheric stability; namely, two different sets of vertical temperature gradient measurements, deltaT/deltaZ, and the standard deviation of the wind direction, sigma

Droullard, Robert F.

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The Bureau of Mines has made a study of the magnitude of measured variations of radon daughter mixtures, with the objective of determining whether these variations reflect the existing physical conditions in uranium mine atmospheres or if they are merely random or systematic errors. To accomplish this, many data have been plotted using a triangular graphing technique which shows that plateout depletes RaA more than RaB or RaC, and that it is impossible to find simple correlations between working level ratios, radon daughter mixtures, and age of air.