Workshop Report on Atomic Bomb Dosimetry--Review of Dose Related Factors for the Evaluation of Exposures to Residual Radiation at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Groups of Japanese and American scientists, supported by international collaborators, have worked for many years to ensure the accuracy of the radiation dosimetry used in studies of health effects in the Japanese atomic bomb survivors. Reliable dosimetric models and systems are especially critical to epidemiologic studies of this population because of their importance in the development of worldwide radiation protection standards. While dosimetry systems, such as Dosimetry System 1986 (DS86) and Dosimetry System 2002 (DS02), have improved, the research groups that developed them were unable to propose or confirm an additional contribution by residual radiation to the survivor's total body dose. In recognition of the need for an up-to-date review of residual radiation exposures in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a half-day technical session was held for reports on newer studies at the 59 th Annual HPS Meeting in 2014 in Baltimore, MD. A day-and-a-half workshop was also held to provide time for detailed discussion of the newer studies and to evaluate their potential use in clarifying the residual radiation exposure to atomic bomb survivors at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The process also involved a re-examination of very early surveys of radioisotope emissions from ground surfaces at Hiroshima and Nagasaki and early reports of health effects. New insights were reported on the potential contribution to residual radiation from neutron-activated radionuclides in the airburst's dust stem and pedestal and in unlofted soil, as well as from fission products and weapon debris from the nuclear cloud. However, disparate views remain concerning the actual residual radiation doses received by the atomic bomb survivors at different distances from the hypocenter. The workshop discussion indicated that measurements made using thermal luminescence and optically stimulated luminescence, like earlier measurements, especially in very thin layers of the samples, could be expanded to detect possible radiation exposures to beta particles and to determine their significance plus the extent of the various residual radiation areas at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Other suggestions for future residual radiation studies are included in this workshop report.
*Kerr Consulting, Knoxville, TN; †Leidos Inc., San Diego, CA; ‡U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC; §Durham University, Durham, England; **U.S. Department of Energy (retired), New York, NY; ††Medical Radiological Research Center, Obninsk, Russia; ‡‡Leidos Inc., Alexandria, VA; §§Radiation Effects Research Foundation, Hiroshima, Japan; ***Oak Ridge National Laboratory (retired), Oak Ridge, TN; †††State Research Center-Burnasyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center, Moscow, Russia; ‡‡‡Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan; §§§Science Applications International Corporation (retired), Park City, UT; ****Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Ft. Belvoir, VA; ††††National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD; ‡‡‡‡Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA; §§§§Applied Research Associates, Arlington, VA; *****U.S. Department of Energy (retired), Washington, DC; †††††Leidos Inc., Albuquerque, NM; ‡‡‡‡‡Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, German Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany; §§§§§Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Tokyo, Japan; ******Defense Nuclear Agency (retired), Winter Park, FL.
George D
GD
Kerr
Stephen D
SD
Egbert
Isaf
I
Al-Nabulsi
Ian K
IK
Bailiff
Harold L
HL
Beck
Irina G
IG
Belukha
John E
JE
Cockayne
Harry M
HM
Cullings
Keith F
KF
Eckerman
Evgeniya
E
Granovskaya
Eric J
EJ
Grant
Masaharu
M
Hoshi
Dean C
DC
Kaul
Victor
V
Kryuchkov
Daniel
D
Mannis
Megu
M
Ohtaki
Keiko
K
Otani
Sergey
S
Shinkarev
Steven L
SL
Simon
Gregory D
GD
Spriggs
Valeriy F
VF
Stepanenko
Daniela
D
Stricklin
Joseph F
JF
Weiss
Ronald L
RL
Weitz
Clemens
C
Woda
Patricia R
PR
Worthington
Keiko
K
Yamamoto
Robert W
RW
Young
D001610:Beta Particles; D005720:Gamma Rays; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D009689:Nuclear Warfare; D054043:Nuclear Weapons; D000069079:Radiation Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011874:Radiometry / Q000379:methods; D012987:Soil; D017741:Survivors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D012987:Soil