Evaluation of the 131I thyroid-monitoring measurements performed in Ukraine during May and June of 1986.

After the Chernobyl accident in 1986, about 150,000 monitoring measurements were performed in Ukraine. From this data base, 40,000 measurements were selected for which the results of the reference-source measurements could be analyzed by statistical means. The majority of these measurements are of high quality. In this paper, the uncertainties introduced due to the variabilities of anatomic parameters and the measurement geometry are quantified by measurements using a thyroid-neck phantom. Parameters considered are the thyroid mass, the thickness of the tissue overlying the thyroid as well as the detector-neck distance, the orientation, and the horizontal and vertical position of the detector. The uncertainty introduced due to the variability of these factors corresponds to a coefficient of variation in the range of 25-40% for the measured activity.

Thyroid doses resulting from the Ukraine Chernobyl accident--Part I: Dose estimates for the population of Kiev.

In the context of the radiation exposure of the Ukrainian population resulting from the Chernobyl accident, the quantification of the thyroid doses due to iodine incorporation is of special interest. This first part of a series of planned publications deals with the dose and risk estimation for Kiev citizens. Although these doses are expected to be considerably lower than those for some other regions of Ukraine, the investigations started with this population because the quantification of the thyroid doses due to iodine incorporation is of special interest. This first part of a series of planned publications deals with the dose and risk estimation for Kiev citizens. Although these doses are expected to be considerably lower than those for some other regions of Ukraine, the investigations started with this population because of the availability of rather reliable measurements and because of the size of this population. The methods developed allowed the estimation of individual thyroid doses. The average values of individual thyroid doses for five age groups (birth years 1983-1986, 1979-1982, 1975-1978, 1971-1974, and < 1971) are 104, 62, 19, 18, and 41 mGy, respectively. The collective thyroid doses were estimated as 83 x 10(3) person-Gy for those born before 1971 and as 38 x 10(3) person-Gy for younger inhabitants. The numbers of expected thyroid cancers in the whole Kiev population are 66 and 130, respectively.

Thyroid dose assessment for the Chernigov region (Ukraine): estimation based on 131I thyroid measurements and extrapolation of the results to districts without monitoring.

Based on the results of 131I thyroid activity measurements in three districts of the Chernigov region (Ukraine), individual doses were calculated and an approach of the age dependence of the average thyroid exposure was derived. Using the relationships between the thyroid doses and the 137Cs deposition as well as the location relative to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), age-dependent average thyroid doses were extrapolated also for those settlements of this region where no monitoring measurements have been carried out. The highest doses were found in the west of the region with the lowest distance to the Chernobyl NPP. In this part, the highest mean of the thyroid dose in a settlement was 3.3 Gy for infants and 0.5 Gy for adults. The collective thyroid dose was 31,000 and 27,000 person-Gy for children and adults, respectively. Based on this assessment, 140 and 21 excess thyroid cancer cases are predicted for children and adults, respectively. In the years 1989 to 1991, in the whole contaminated territory of the Ukraine 0.4-1.2 cases per 100,000 children were observed. Although the absolute numbers are very small, this indicates the possibility of an increase in thyroid cancer morbidity among children. The same trend also seems to be indicated in the Chernigov region. A careful epidemiological study in the future is necessary to enable a final evaluation of radioinduced cancers in this region.

Ukrainian thyroid doses after the Chernobyl accident.

To estimate thyroid radioactivity in the Ukrainian population from May-June 1986, more than 150,000 individual examinations were carried out by special dosimetric teams. The results of these total measurements were approved to be a basis for assessing individual absorbed doses of infant and adult thyroid irradiation associated with the 131I exposure. The dosimetric radioiodine data bank of thyroid irradiation of the Ukrainian population was created to analyze these measurements. The analysis was performed using the data for eight Ukrainian districts and the town of Pripjat, which were all heavily contaminated due to radioiodine exposure. Results of the dose assessments are given using two models: the more conservative model of "single radioiodine intake" and a more realistic model that considers the individual duration of radioiodine intake. In accordance with the more realistic model, the predictions of late effects have shown that a collective thyro-oncogenic dose is equal to 64,000 person-Gy, stimulating the possibility of the emergence of 300 cases (30 incurable) of thyrocancers. Considering this information for the next 35 y (1991-2026), it is possible to predict a 1.4-fold increase over spontaneous thyroid cancer morbidity for children who lived in the heavily contaminated regions of the Ukraine in 1986 (spontaneous and radiogenic to spontaneous).

[Changes of the cytogenetic effectiveness of the therapeutic ray of fast neutrons in water phantoms]. / Veränderungen der zytogenetischen Effektivität des therapeutischen Strahles von schnellen Neutronen im Wasserphantom.

Changes of cytogenetic effectiveness of the therapeutic ray of fast neutrons were studied in water phantom in the Medical-Biological Complex of CyclotronU-120 at the Institute for Nuclear Research of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. Investigations were done in a culture of lymphocytes of the peripheral human blood by means of metaphase method to find out chromosomal aberrations. The neutrons were generated by firing a thick beryllium target with a 13.6 MeV-deuteron ray in the nuclear reaction 9Be (d,n) 10B. The investigated dose range was 25-220 cGy. The results of the studies demonstrate that the cytogenetic effectiveness of radiation is reduced with increasing depth of the water phantom. The maximum reduction of the effect was seen in a depth up to 6 cm, which is attached to absorption of low-energetic neutron fraction. The obtained results confirm necessity of to filter the therapeutically applicable beam of neutron radiation.