Operational Testing of a Combined Hardware-Software Strategy for Triage of Radiologically-Contaminated Persons.

After a radiological dispersal device (RDD) event, it is possible for radionuclides to enter the human body through inhalation, ingestion, and skin and wound absorption. The dominant pathway will be through inhalation. From a health physics perspective, it is important to know the magnitude of the intake to perform dosimetric assessments.

The role of the health physicist in nuclear security.

Health physics is a recognized safety function in the holistic context of the protection of workers, members of the public, and the environment against the hazardous effects of ionizing radiation, often generically designated as radiation protection. The role of the health physicist as protector dates back to the Manhattan Project. Nuclear security is the prevention and detection of, and response to, criminal or intentional unauthorized acts involving or directed at nuclear material, other radioactive material, associated facilities, or associated activities.

Canadian Cardiovascular Society position statement on radiation exposure from cardiac imaging and interventional procedures.

Exposure to ionizing radiation is a consequence of many diagnostic and interventional cardiac procedures. Radiation exposure can result in detrimental health effects because of deterministic (eg, skin reaction) and stochastic effects (eg, cancer). However, with the levels experienced during cardiac procedures these risks can be difficult to quantify.

Combined hardware--software considerations for triage of internally contaminated personnel.

Medical response to a radiological emergency involves first assessing, triaging and treating trauma, followed by determining potential hazard from radiological intake. A combined hardware-software strategy is required for this mission. The hardware strategy should consist of a dedicated detector suite capable of alpha, beta and gamma radiation detection, identification and quantification suitable for order of magnitude dose assessment.

First response considerations for children exposed to a radiological dispersal device.

Children are considered a vulnerable population during an accidental or deliberate release of radioactive material to the environment due to the fact that they have more active cell division compared with the adult population and therefore detrimental effects promulgate very quickly. Additionally, physical and social characteristics of children make them more prone to internalise a toxin (for example, children are closer to the ground where heavy aerosols can collect; children also have more relaxed sanitary habits compared with the adult population, which aids in hand-to-mouth transfer of contaminants). To confound matters, many emergency protocols are based upon a reference as opposed to a child.

Radiological hazard estimates from contaminated C7 canisters on the C4 protective mask.

This study compares the external hazard posed by radioactive material trapped in the C7 filter canister of the Canadian C4 full-face mask to the internal hazard from the portion of the material that bypasses the mask and is inhaled. Published measured protection factors (PFs) are used to define the ratio of radioisotope concentration outside of the mask to that inside the mask. The hazards for a variety of radioisotopes are quantified using a Monte Carlo model for the external hazard from the contaminated canister and International Commission on Radiological Protection Publication 68 internal dose coefficients for 1 micron internalized particulate material.

Radiation protection issues related to Canadian museum operations.

Museums in Canada have been found to possess radioactive items. The origin of the radiation can be broadly categorized as either natural (generally, radioactive ores) or anthropogenic (generally, luminous gauges). Radioluminescent gauges, especially bearing radium (226Ra), can also generate significant radiation fields.

Release limits and decontamination efficacy for tritium: lessons learned outside nuclear power operations.

Various pieces of equipment in use by the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) contain radiation-emitting components. One such piece is a sight knob used on light artillery. At the request of the DND's Director General Nuclear Safety (DGNS-DND's internal nuclear regulatory agency), the authors were contacted to remove the luminous tritium-impregnated paint strip from over 300 sight knobs.

Neutron production associated with radiotherapy linear accelerators using intensity modulated radiation therapy mode.

A number of experiments were conducted on a Clinac 21EX radiotherapy accelerator using an IMRT treatment plan to determine neutron dose equivalent as a function of both patient dose delivered and machine workload. It was determined that IMRT mode is more neutron dose intensive as a function of patient dose when compared to a similar standard non-IMRT treatment. It was found that when the neutron production is normalized to workload, the measured neutron dose equivalents are similar.