title: Reconstruction of two victims' posturing based on the induced radioactivities in their bones in the criticality accident in Tokai-Mura, Japan.
abstract: On 30 September 1999, three workers were severely exposed to neutrons and gamma rays in a criticality accident that occurred at a uranium conversion facility in Tokai-mura, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. Radiochemical analyses of 32P and 45Ca induced by neutrons in bone matrix were carried out after the deaths of two of the victims. It was found that more than several million becquerels of both nuclides had been produced in their body skeletons. Results showed non-homogeneous distributions of neutron fluence in the bodies, from which it could be deduced how both workers were positioned relative to the fission source during exposure, i.e., at the moment of the first nuclear excursion. For the victim who died first, the activities in the central part of his body were more than those of his extremities. Also, in the central part of his body, the right side showed more activities than the left side. As for the second man, the activities indicated rather uniform exposure to neutrons to the whole body although the geometrical distribution of the activity varied enough to assume his orientation. Such information on the geometrical distribution of neutron-induced radioactivities in the skeleton can be used to reconstruct the posturing of the victims, which is necessary to estimate their apparent absorbed doses.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba-City, Japan. kiriko@nirs.go.jp
authors.forename: Kiriko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.forename: Yoshihito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Masae
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yukawa
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Yoshikazu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: Nobuhito
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ishigure
authors.forename: Toshiyasu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hirama
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akashi
mesh_terms: D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000528:radiation effects*; D002132:Calcium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D009502:Neutrons; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D010761:Phosphorus Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D011187:Posture; D018788:Radioactive Hazard Release
chemical_list: D002132:Calcium Radioisotopes; D010761:Phosphorus Radioisotopes