Direct total body Bi measurements and their implications for radon dose assessment.

Direct Bi bioassays may elucidate some of the uncertainties related to the relationship between the ambient concentration of radon and its short-lived decay products and the corresponding radiation burdens of individual human subjects. Sequential total body Bi activity measurements were carried out on a group of 67 healthy adult volunteers living in a region with moderate airborne radioactivity and conducting similar daily activities using a whole-body counter equipped with sixteen NaI(Tl) detectors. The total body Bi activity in the studied subjects was related to gender, fat-free mass and the season of the year.

Samarium-153 EDTMP for metastatic bone pain palliation: the impact of europium impurities.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact on the radiation protection policies of the radiocontaminants in Samarium-153 ethylenediamine tetramethylene phosphonate ((153)Sm-EDTMP).

Methods: The internal contamination of patients treated with (153)Sm-EDMTP for palliation of painful disseminated multiple bone metastases due to long-lived impurities was assessed by direct measurements. These measurements were coupled with dose-rate measurements close to their bodies and spectroscopic analysis of the residual activity in post-treatment radiopharmaceutical vials.

Measurement uncertainties in whole body counting and radon progeny.

Measurement uncertainty is an important quality index in gamma spectrometry related to the level of bias and precision involved in the measuring procedure. Quality control measurements during the commissioning of a 16-input whole body counter showed substantial deviations between the experimentally determined precision and the theoretical estimation, indicating either equipment malfunction or lack of reproducibility of the experimental setup. In this study, the role of the magnitude and variability of airborne background radiation present in the counting room and the human body in the deterioration of the precision of counters employing NaI(Tl) detectors was investigated.

A high-sensitivity multidetector whole-body counter.

A prototype multidetector shadow-shield whole-body counter is presented to be used as a monitor of internal contamination and as a tool in clinical research. The counter is equipped with 16 NaI(Tl) detectors located in the central region of a shielded tunnel surrounding the subject to be measured. The accuracy of the counting efficacy predictions was tested in a group of adults with various body shapes and sizes using X-ray absorptiometry.

Occupational radiation exposure during removal of radioactive reactor components from GRR-1 pool.

The aim of the study was to control occupational exposure during the removal of radioactive reactor components from a Greek research reactor pool. The method comprised the prediction of the radiation levels, the design of special shielding structures and the occupational dose assessment. Activation calculations were performed using the FISPACT code to predict the source term.