Biokinetics of inhaled plutonium-239 and americium-241 present in contaminated dusts at maralinga

G. N. Stradling, J. W. Stather, S. A. Gray, J. C. Moody, C. C. Collier, M. Ellender

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

The biokinetics of239Pu and241Am present in three dust samples obtained from the former nuclear weapons test site were investigated after their deposition in the rat lung. For the different dusts the rates of transfer of the actinides to blood varied up to 100-fold. The most transportable dust had 25% class W and 75% class Y characteristics as denned by ICRP. The corresponding doses per unit intake for adults, children and infants for an aerosol of 5 μm AMAD were calculated to be 0.059, 0.076 and 0.140 mSv Bq−1. The predicted biokinetics of the actinides in humans suggested that measurement of241Am in the chest would be of value for assessing doses to workers involved in further decontamination of the site.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)257-263
Number of pages7
JournalAnnals of Occupational Hygiene
Volume38
Issue numberinhaled_particles_VII
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 1994

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgement—This work was carried out under contract with the U.K. Secretary of State for Defence, in support of the Technical Assessment Group of the Maralinga Rehabilitation Programme under the aegis of H.M. Government of the Commonwealth of Australia.

Copyright:
Copyright 2016 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

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