Environmental radioactivity and emergency preparedness

626 Pages·2017·120.475 MB·English

by  Isaksson, Mats, Rääf, Christopher L

Environmental Radioactivity
and Emergency Preparedness
Series in Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering
Series Editors: John G Webster, E Russell Ritenour, Slavik Tabakov,
and Kwan-Hoong Ng
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Series in Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering
Environmental Radioactivity
and Emergency Preparedness
Mats Isaksson
Department of Radiation Physics, Institute of Clinical Sciences,
The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Christopher L. Rääf
Medical Physics, Department of Translational Medicine,
Lund University, Sweden

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Contents
hapter
C 1(cid:4) Sources of Radiation 1
1.1 NATURALLYOCCURRINGRADIATION 2
1.1.1 Cosmic Radiation 2
1.1.2 Cosmogenic Radionuclides 6
1.1.2.1 Tritium 7
1.1.2.2 Beryllium-7 7
1.1.2.3 Carbon-14 8
1.1.2.4 Sodium-22 10
1.1.3 Primordial Radionuclides 10
1.1.3.1 Potassium 12
1.1.3.2 Uranium 12
1.1.3.3 Thorium 13
1.1.3.4 Radium 13
1.1.3.5 Radon 14
1.1.4 Series Decay and Equilibria 15
1.2 TECHNOLOGICALLYENHANCEDNATURALLYOCCURRING
RADIOACTIVEMATERIAL(NORMANDTENORM) 18
1.2.1 Radon and Radon Exposure Enhanced by Man 18
1.2.1.1 Potential Alpha Energy 18
1.2.1.2 Radon in the Indoor Environment 21
1.2.2 Sources Generated by Industrial and Technological Processes 22
1.2.2.1 Radioactivity Associated with Fossil Fuels 22
1.2.2.2 Radioactivity Associated with the Production and
Use of Minerals 25
1.2.2.3 Phosphate Ore and Phosphate Fertilizers 26
1.2.2.4 Manufacturing of Equipment and Household Goods 27
1.2.2.5 Water Treatment and the Provision of Running Water 28
1.2.2.6 Exemption and Clearance 29
1.3 ANTHROPOGENICRADIATION 30
1.3.1 The Nuclear Industry 30
1.3.1.1 The Nuclear Fission Process 30
1.3.1.2 Controlled Nuclear Fission 34
1.3.1.3 Nuclear Reactors 38
vii
viii (cid:4) Contents
1.3.1.4 Production of Radionuclides in a Reactor 44
1.3.2 Nuclear Weapons 50
1.3.2.1 Nuclear Weapons Tests 50
1.3.2.2 Effects of Nuclear Weapons 54
1.3.2.3 Nuclear Fission Bombs 61
1.3.2.4 Thermonuclear Weapons 62
1.3.3 Radioisotopes Used in Medicine 64
1.3.4 Radiation Sources in Industry and Research 69
1.4 REFERENCES 73
1.5 EXERCISES 76
1.6 FURTHERREADING 78
hapter
C 2(cid:4) Radiation Biology and Radiation Dosimetry 79
2.1 INTERACTIONOFRADIATIONWITHMATTER 80
2.1.1 The Interaction of Charged Particles with Matter 80
2.1.2 The Interaction of Uncharged Radiation with Matter 85
2.2 RADIATIONDOSIMETRY 92
2.2.1 Absorbed Dose and Kerma 92
2.2.2 Charged Particle Equilibrium and Cavity Theory 94
2.3 BASICRADIATIONBIOLOGY 97
2.3.1 Effects on Cells and Tissues 97
2.3.1.1 Animal Cells 97
2.3.1.2 DNA Lesions and Repair Mechanisms 100
2.3.1.3 Radiosensitivity of Cells 104
2.3.1.4 Effects on Tissue 107
2.3.1.5 Acute Radiation Syndrome, ARS 111
2.3.2 Stochastic Effects 114
2.3.2.1 Carcinogenesis 114
2.3.2.2 Hereditary Effects 117
2.4 DOSIMETRICQUANTITIESUSEDINRISKESTIMATION 118
2.5 OPERATIONALQUANTITIES 123
2.6 FLUENCERATEFROMVARIOUSSOURCEGEOMETRIES 126
2.6.1 Volume Sources 126
2.6.2 Area Sources 129
2.6.3 Spherical Sources 131
2.6.4 Line Sources 132
2.7 ABSORBED DOSE AND KERMA FROM EXTERNAL RADIATION
SOURCES 135
2.7.1 Calculations of Absorbed Dose and Kerma 135
2.7.2 Build-Up 139
2.8 ABSORBEDDOSEFROMINTERNALRADIATIONSOURCES 142
Contents (cid:4) ix
2.8.1 Modelling the Behaviour of Radionuclides in the Human Body142
2.8.1.1 The Human Respiratory Tract 145
2.8.1.2 The Human Alimentary Tract 148
2.8.1.3 Biokinetic and Metabolic Models 150
2.8.2 Dose Calculations for Internal Exposure 152
2.9 REFERENCES 156
2.10 EXERCISES 159
2.11 FURTHERREADING 160
hapter
C 3(cid:4) Environmental Exposure Pathways and Models 161
3.1 COMPARTMENTMODELSFORENVIRONMENTALMODELLING 162
3.1.1 The Basics of Compartment Models 162
3.1.2 Variance and Sensitivity of a Compartment Model 172
3.2 THEATMOSPHERE 175
3.2.1 Composition and Circulation Patterns 175
3.2.2 Atmospheric Stability 181
3.2.3 The Gaussian Plume Diffusion Model 188
3.2.4 Deposition 200
3.2.4.1 Dry Deposition 201
3.2.4.2 Wet Deposition 205
3.2.4.3 Resuspension 208
3.2.5 Dose Calculations from Atmospheric Dispersion 210
3.2.6 Past Exposure Events and Modelling of Deposition 214
3.3 THEOCEANS 219
3.3.1 Composition and Circulation Patterns 219
3.3.2 Deposition and Transport of Radionuclides 225
3.3.3 ModellingRadionuclideTransportintheOceansandTransfer
to Biota 234
3.4 FRESHWATERSYSTEMS 239

3.4.1 Lakes 239
3.4.1.1 Classification of Lakes 239
3.4.1.2 Transport Processes and Uptake in Biota 240
3.4.1.3 Modelling of Lake Systems 242
3.4.2 Rivers and Estuaries 244
3.4.2.1 Rivers 244
3.4.2.2 Estuaries 245
3.5 THETERRESTRIALENVIRONMENT 245
3.5.1 Soil Composition and Properties 245
3.5.1.1 Soil Classification 247
3.5.1.2 Chemical and Physical Properties of Soils 248
3.5.2 Transport of Radionuclides in the Ground 252
x (cid:4) Contents
3.5.3 Radionuclide Transfer in Agricultural Ecosystems 255
3.5.3.1 Transfer to Plants 255
3.5.3.2 Transfer to Animals and Animal Products 262
3.5.4 Radionuclide Transfer in Natural and Semi-Natural
Ecosystems 265
3.5.4.1 Transfer to Vegetation and Forest Products 265
3.5.4.2 Transfer to Animals and Animal Products 266
3.5.5 Radionuclide Transfer in Urban Environments 269
3.6 REFERENCES 273
3.7 EXERCISES 280
3.8 FURTHERREADING 281
hapter
C 4(cid:4) Radiometry 283
4.1 BASICSTATISTICALPRINCIPLESOFRADIOMETRY 284
4.1.1 Statistical Models 285
4.1.2 Uncertainties in Radiometry Measurements 287
4.1.3 Background Subtraction 288
4.2 VARIOUSTYPESOFDETECTORS 289
4.2.1 General Features of a Radiation Detector 289
4.2.2 Gaseous Detectors for Ionizing Radiation 289
4.2.2.1 Ionization Chambers 292
4.2.2.2 Proportional Counters 292
4.2.2.3 GM Counters 292
4.2.2.4 Role of Quenching Gas 293
4.2.3 Solid-State Detectors for Ionizing Radiation 293
4.2.4 Luminescent Detectors 299
4.2.4.1 Organic Luminescent Detectors 299
4.2.4.2 Inorganic Luminescent Detectors 302
4.2.4.3 Integrating Luminescent Detectors 305

4.2.5 Chemical Detectors 308
4.2.6 Mass Spectrometry 310
4.3 BASICCHARACTERISTICSOFARADIATIONDETECTOR 313
4.3.1 Spatial Resolution 314
4.3.2 Energy Resolution 316
4.3.3 Time Resolution 317
4.3.4 Sensitivity and Counting Efficiency 318
4.3.5 Energy Dependence 319
4.3.6 Signal-to-Noise or Signal-to-Background Ratio 320
4.3.7 Response to Various Types of Radiation Particles 321
4.3.8 Tissue Equivalence 321
4.3.9 Robustness 323