Reevaluation of radiation dose around the JCO site from the criticality accident in Tokai-mura.

Based on the monitoring data periodically taken during the JCO criticality accident in Tokai-mura, neutron and gamma-ray doses were evaluated at 13 points around the site boundary ranging from 73 to 540 m from the conversion building where the criticality took place. Radiation doses obtained by the present study were compared with the dose-distance curves developed through the works of the Nuclear Safety Commission Investigation Committee. The latter values are larger by 30 to 120% than the former at the 6 nearest points within 150 m from the conversion building, while they agree well at the points beyond 250 m. It is suggested that the shielding effects by the surrounding buildings around the conversion building contributed to the difference of estimated doses near the JCO boundary. To reconstruct the radiation environment realistically at the residential area near the JCO facilities, it is necessary to employ radiation transport calculations with three-dimensional models of the configuration around the conversion building. Radiation doses evaluated in the present study can be used to check the validity of such calculations based on the three-dimensional model.