Radiation hazard screening strategies for persons exposed to radioactive materials

将得到支持的研究项目是辐射紧急情况的分析技术、反应工具和对策。这个项目有很多方面，包括研究(a)放射性气溶胶的风险，(b)吸入放射性损伤的快速分类和治疗，以及(c)核电站意外污染人员的暴露评估。该研究计划的重点是在发生放射性事故或其他紧急情况时保护公众和工作人员。重要的是在放射释放后迅速确定风险，以提供可能的治疗方法（例如，减压疗法），以减轻恐惧，并确保工人要么离开放射工作岗位，要么被允许恢复工作。与确定风险密切相关的是对放射性核素摄入量的评估。虽然吸入或摄入的一些放射性同位素相对容易通过生物测定法测定（例如尿液中的氚），但其他放射性同位素，如发射α的锕系元素，则不容易测定。本研究旨在通过探索三个不同的研究重点，通过液体闪烁计数产生尿中锕系元素水平的快速估计：(1)改进液体闪烁计数中的α / β辨别算法（例如通过光谱反褶积），以提高最小可探测活度；(2)设计和制造新的液体闪烁小瓶和光电倍增管，以提高光输出/探测效率，从而降低α发射放射性核素的检测限；(3)探索在LSC小瓶中产生中子生成反应的新技术，并使用中子作为锕系元素α发射反应的替代测量，即（a,n）。该研究对卫生物理界和应急反应界快速测定锕系元素摄入量具有重要意义。对于需要保护人员健康和安全的工业和政府机构来说，这将同样有意义。这项研究将增加从生物测定样品中快速测定锕系元素的知识库，并通过培训一批高素质人员（HQP）使科学界受益。

The research program to be supported is in analytical techniques, response tools and countermeasures for radiological emergencies. This program has numerous facets, including research in (a) risk from radiological aerosols, (b) rapid triage and treatment from inhalation of radiological insults, and (c) exposure assessment from accidentally contaminated personnel in nuclear power plants. The research program focus is on protection of the public and workers in the event of a radiological accident or other emergency. It is important to rapidly determine risk after a radiological release to provide possible therapeutic treatments (for example, decorporation therapy), to allay fears, and to ensure that workers are either removed from radiological duty or permitted to resume work. Germane to determination of risk is assessment of radionuclide intake. Although some radioisotopes that are inhaled or ingested are relatively easily determined from bioassay (for example, tritium in urine), others, such as alpha emitting actinides, are not. This research seeks to generate rapid estimates of actinide levels in urine through liquid scintillation counting by exploring three distinct research foci: (1) improvement of alpha/beta discrimination algorithms (through, for example, spectral deconvolution) in liquid scintillation counting to improve minimum detectable activity, (2) design and fabrication of new liquid scintillation vials and photomultipliers to improve the light output/detection efficiency, hence lower the detection limit for alpha emitting radionuclides, and (3) exploration of a novel technique to yield a neutron generating reaction in the LSC vial and use neutrons as a surrogate measurement for actinide alpha emitting reactions, i.e. (a,n). The research will have great significance to the health physics and emergency response community for rapid determination of actinide intake. It will be of equal interest to industrial and government agencies that have requirements to protect the health and security of personnel. The research will benefit the scientific community by adding to the knowledge base of rapid actinide determination from bioassay samples, and by training a number of highly qualified personnel (HQP).