Ingestion Doses Received by the nearby Population

after the Chernobyl Accident

Azmi Banibaker, MHP

1
 Introduction

This report contains information about the ingested Doses Received by the nearby

Population after the Chernobyl reactor accident. First, the report contains analysis of the

accident that includes, summery of the events and the consequences of the accident. It

summarizes the release of the radionuclides, dispersion, and disposition of radionuclides

and behavior of the deposited radionuclides. In addition, it covers the reaction of the

authorities and their management of the crises, which includes the evaluation of the

catastrophe, evacuation and the way they measure the contamination. Second, it

introduces some universal information about the Iodine and cesium, methods of

dosimetry, unites of exposure and dose. Third, it covers the ingestion doses received by

the nearby Population after the Chernobyl accident, by dividing the population into four

categories according to their role during and after the accident and their geographic

residence. While searching for report I found different point of views, for this, in order to

provide valued information; it may contain only reasonable and documented reports.

2
Ingestion Doses Received by the nearby Population after the Chernobyl Accident

Content

Introduction

1- The reactor and the accident

2- Consequences of the accident:

The release of radionuclides, dispersion, deposition, and behavior of radionuclides

3- Reactions of authorities and management of the crises

4- Facts about Iodine 131I and Cesium

5- Methods of measuring dosimetry

6- Ingested dose

A The liquidators

B- The evacuees from the 30-km zone

C People living in the contaminated areas

D- Populations outside the former Soviet Union

7-Conclusion

8- Work cited

3
Banibaker

Ingestion Doses Received by the nearby Population after the Chernobyl Accident

1-The reactor and the accident

Reactor number 4

Reactor no. 4 of Chernobyl is RBMK-1000 design; this kind of reactor is a light-water-

cooled graphite-moderated reactor. The neutrons released by the fission of uranium-235

nuclei are moderated by graphite to maintain a chain reaction. Graphite is crystalline

carbon used in very pure form as moderator. A mixture of nitrogen and helium is

circulated between the graphite blocks to prevent oxidation of the graphite and to

improve the transmission of the heat produced by neutron interactions in the graphite

from the moderator to the fuel channel. The heat produced by the nuclear fission in this

type of reactor is used to boil water to generate the steam that drives the turbines of the

power station. Western nuclear experts have criticized this type of reactor for tow reasons

1) it lacks a containment structure and 2) it requires large quantities of graphite within its

core.

The accident

A test procedure was planned to produce sufficient energy to keep the coolant pumps

running in case of a loss of power until the emergency diesel generator was activated.

The safety systems were intentionally switched off to allow running the experiment. The

test requires the reactor to be powered down to 25 %of its capacity but for unknown

reasons, the reactor power level fell to less than 1 %. The power therefore had to be

slowly increased to reach 25%. However, within 30 seconds after the start of the test,

4
there was an unexpected power surge resulted in halting the reactor’s emergency

shutdown which, within fractions of a second, the power level and temperature rose up to

very high level and the reactor went out of control.

A violent explosion smashed the 1000-tonne sealing cap on the reactor building. The fuel

rods melted due to high temperatures of 2000°C, Then the graphite covering of the

reactor blasts into flames. The radioactive fission products released during the core

meltdown were sent up into the atmosphere.

Consequences of the accident

The release of radionuclides

There was controversy about the amount of radionuclide released. The estimate of the

released “source term” which means “accidental release of radioactive material from a

nuclear facility to the environment” was modified over the years due to different studies

and methods of measurements. The radiation released in the initial explosion Rose to an

altitude of (0.9 to 4.7) miles and went in two directions; east and southeast, whereas the

radiation released from the resulting fire stayed below 1.5 kilometers and headed

northwest (William R.) The release of radionuclide lasted for more than a week. The

composition and characteristics of the radioactive material in the cloud changed during its

passage due to many factors such as: wet and dry deposition, decay, chemical trans-

formations, and alterations in particle size.

Changes in direction and strength of wind, rainfall, altitude, and the long duration of

emission resulted in asymmetrical and irregular deposition of source term over a large

area. The release of radioactive material to the atmosphere consisted of 1) gases such as

xenon, which escaped completely, and 2) aerosols such as cesium and tellurium and light

5
fragmented fuel. Around 50 to 60% of the core inventory of iodine was released, which

was about 1760Bq, the total release of 137Cs was estimated to be 70 petabecquerel (PBq).

Low-level radiation release toke place in the following week and for up to 6 weeks after

the accident.
131
I and 137Cs are the most important radionuclides to concern about, because they are the

main source of exposure to the public.

Half-
Nuclide Activity (PBq) Percent of inventory Activity (PBq)
life
33Xe 5.3 d 6 500 100 6500
131I 8.0 d 3 200 50 - 60 ~1760
134Cs 2.0 y 180 20 - 40 ~54
137Cs 30.0 y 280 20 - 40 ~85
132Te 78.0 h 2 700 25 - 60 ~1150

Current estimate of main radionuclide releases during the Chernobyl accident

(modified From NEA)

Dispersion and deposition

Radioactive contamination of the ground was found in every country of the northern

hemisphere. Deposition of radioactive particles depended highly on the dispersion

parameters, the particle sizes, and the event of rainfall. The largest particles, which were

primarily fuel particles, were deposited within 100 km of the reactor. Smaller particle

were carried by the wind to remote distances and were deposit primarily with rainfall.
137
Cs was selected to characterize the magnitude of the ground deposition for two reasons;

(1) it is easily measurable, and (2) it was the main contributor to the radiation doses

received by the population once the short-lived 131I had decayed. However, during the

6
first weeks after the accident, most of the activity deposited on the ground consisted of

short-lived radionuclides, of which 131I was the most important radio biologically. Large

particles deposited in the near zone, contained fuel (U, Pu) refractory elements (Zr, Mo,

Ce and Np) and intermediate elements (Ru, Ba, Sr). The volatile elements (I, Te and Cs)

in the form of condensation-generated particles were more widely dispersed in the far

zone. The most highly contaminated area was the 30-km zone surrounding the reactor,

where 137Cs ground depositions generally exceeded 1 500 kBq/m2 ((Ba93). NEA)

Most countries in Europe experienced some deposition of radionuclides, -mainly 137Cs

and 134Cs-. 90Sr was mostly deposited in the near zone of the accident. The only area with

plutonium (239Pu) exceeding 4-kBq m-2 was located within the 30-km zone.

Behavior of deposited radionuclides

The ingested dose is affected by the behavior of the radionuclide, for this, it is wise to

look at the chemical and physical behavior and pathways of the radionuclide. Activities

of deposited radionuclides in the environment depend on 1) the physical and chemical

characteristics of the radionuclides and 2) on the size and shape of particles and 3) on the

environment itself. For short-lived radionuclides, such as iodine isotopes (131I), the main

pathway of exposure of humans is the direct transfer of the amount deposited on leafy

vegetables that are consumed within a few days, or by indirect way through contaminated

milk. Long-term behavior is not applicable for131I, since it has a short physical half-life

of only 8 days.
137
Cs and 90Sr radionuclides are still contained in the upper soil layers and it needs10 to 25

years to be cleared from the soil. Contamination levels in soils decrease slowly, and

mostly by transfer to plants. Most of the decrease in the coming years will be at only the

7
rate of the physical half-life of 137Cs. Forests can deliver large radiation doses through the

direct consumption of berries, mushrooms and other consumable products, and through

the industrial use of forest products. For example, migration of 137Cs in the forest

podzolic soils is prominent and the industrial use of such forest is rising. Drinking water

in the affected areas was weakly contaminated, less than 1Bq of 137Cs or 90Sr per liter

Reactions of Authorities and their management of the crises

The Chernobyl accident took authorities by surprise as regards to its size, duration, and

far-reaching and wide spread contamination. As there were no guidelines for such an

accident and there was no previous experience to deal with such accident. The social and

psychological impacts of some official decisions on the public were not expected.

Inconsistent interpretation or even misinterpretations of International Commission on

Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommendations, especially for involvement levels for

food led to inconsistent decisions and recommendations.. The extent of the tragedy was

deteriorated by the incompetence of local administration and the lack of proper

equipment. For example, most of the dosimeters in the reactor had limited sensitivity of

1mR/s.There were only two dosimeters with abilities to measure high exposure of 1000

R/s, even those tow were not ready for use, access to one of them was blocked by the

explosion, and the other one broke when turned on. Thus, the reactor crew could only

ascertain that the radiation levels in most of the reactor building were above 4000 R/h

instead of measuring the true levels, which were up to 20,000 R/h.

Measurement of the contamination

The contamination measurement depends on the deposition of Caesium-137, which has a

long half-life of 30 years. The contamination was measured by using the unit of activity

8
either in Curies (Ci) or Becquerel’s (Bq) square per kilometer. They use the Geiger

counters to measure the contamination of the territories. The authorities estimate that a

person will receive 1.millisievert per year (mSv) if the area is contaminated with 5

Ci/km2. Only when soil contamination is over 5 Ci/km2 are people likely to absorb more

than 1 to 5 mSv per year.

Evacuation

The town of Pripyat was evacuated within the first 36 hours after the accident. Then the

evacuation included all people in the 30-km zone around the reactor compound bringing

the total evacuees to about 135 000.Decontamination procedures were performed by

military personnel included the rinse of buildings, cleaning residential areas, removing

contaminated soil, cleaning roads and decontaminating water supplies. Special attention

was paid to schools, hospitals and other buildings used by large numbers of people. The

watered the streets in towns to suppress dust. The authorities distributed stable iodine in

an attempt to reduce thyroid doses to block radioactive uptake by the thyroid (Me92).

The political and social tension in the Soviet Union at that time complicates decision-

making; As a result, the Supreme Soviet did not adopt the NCRP proposal for lifetime

dose of 350-mSv intervention level for the relocation of population groups (Il87). Later, a

special Commission was established which developed new recommendations for

intervention levels.

These recommendations were based on the levels of ground contamination by the

radionuclides 137Cs, 90Sr, and 239Pu. As has been mentioned above, large areas were

9
contaminated mainly by 137Cs and a ground contamination level by this radionuclide of 1

480 kBq/m2 was used as the intervention criterion for permanent resettlement of

population, and a level of 555 to 1480 kBq/m2 for temporary relocation. (NEA)

Facts about Iodine 131I and Cesium

Normal iodine content of the body is 11.0 mg

Normal iodine content of the thyroid id 10.0 mg

Iodine is absorbed completely and rapidly from the digestive system. The thyroid takes

up 0.3 of the amount in the blood stream. The biological half-life of iodine in the thyroid

is 120 days. Then it leaves the thyroid as organic iodine, which distributed in the body

with half-life of 12 days. The body excretes 0.1 of that amount and the rest goes back to

the blood stream. 131I decays to 131Xe stable (Turner). 40-100 mCi may produce thyroid

ablation (J.ringelstein). The usual adult dose of radioiodine to treat an overactive thyroid

gland is 148 to 370 megabecquerels (4 to 10 millicurie). The usual amount of radioiodine

to treat cancer of the thyroid is much larger, 1.1 to 7.4 gigabecquerels (30 to 200

millicurie). (Micromedex)

Iodine is short-lived radionuclide, for this, its effects start in the first month of the

accident. Thyroid abnormalities become detectable about four years after the accident,

this fact stands against the previous thinking that thyroid cancer may be detectable 6-8

years after irradiation in the six most contaminated regions of the Russian Federation, the

thyroid cancer incidence increased over time in adults. The incidence was 11 per 100 000

for women compared to 4 for the Russian Federation as a whole and 1.7 and 1.1

10
respectively for men. There have been 800 cases of thyroid caner in children (WNA).

Cesium

Normal content of the body of cesium is 1.5-mg. the digestive system rapidly absorbs

Cesium compounds completely, 0.1 retained in one tissue with metabolic half-life is 2

days, and .9 retained in other tissue with metabolic half-life of 110 days. (Turner)

Cesium137 is the second volatile fission product that is biologically active. Cesium is long-

lived radionuclide with half-life of 30 years, if it gets its way to the body it stays in the

organs forever.

Methods of measuring dosimetry

1- Biological dosimetry--or Biodosimetry--measures the effects of radiation exposure on

biological organisms to quantify how an exposure is distributed within an organism when

the exposure is known or, when the exposure is not known. Biodosimetry involves

establishing a dose-response relationship or following the dose as it is distributed

throughout an organism. Dose measurements can be made directly, such as by measuring

the radiant energy emitted with a whole-body counter, or indirectly by measuring the

dose's biological effects such as survival, birth defects, chromosomal abnormalities,

chromosome breakage, and chemical changes. (William R.)

2-Physical dose estimate is a technique depends on Electron Spin resonance (ESR) for

monitoring the presence of unpaired electrons in matter; Irradiation of substances by

high-energy (ionizing) electromagnetic radiation produces these electrons, called free

radical

3-Chromosome aberration technique Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH technique):

This technique is used for the detection of target molecules with a system of coupled

11
antibodies and fluorochromes.

Exposure and dose units

To understand the relation between exposure and dose, this is a review of the units for

exposure and dose.

Dose

Dose is the energy imparted or deposited in matter from any kind of radiation in any

target. Depending on its application, it can be qualified as "absorbed dose", "equivalent

dose" and "effective dose

Absorbed dose is a quantity of energy imparted by radiation to a unit mass of matter such

as tissue. Grays (Gy) is the unit of absorbed dose, where one gray produces a different

intensity of biological effects on tissue depending on the type of radiation (alpha, beta,

gamma, neutrons).

Roentgen (R) is the unit of exposure. Roentgen is the unit to measure gamma or x

radiation. Exposure is measured in free air.

The old unit for absorbed dose was RAD, One rad= 100 erg per gram. The new unit is

Gray (Gy) =One joule per kilogram =100 rad,

or 1 rad=1centigray. One milligray (mGy) =10-3 Gy.

In air, 1 R produce a dose = 8.8(10-3) J/kg or Gy that =0.88 rad.

In soft tissue 1 R produce a dose=9.5(10-3) Gy=0.95 rad. Turner (p348-350)

Dose Equivalent (H), (H=DQ) Is defined as the product of the absorbed dose (D) and a

quality factor Q which depends on the linear energy transfer (LET), This factor, whose

value varies between 1 and 20 depending on the type of radiation. The unit of Dose

equivalent is seivert (Sv) used with Gray. The older unit REM (roentgen-equivalent-man)

12
was related to rad.

One seivert produces the same biological effect, irrespective of the type of radiation.

1 seivert=100 rem, Milliseivert (mSv) = 10-3 Sv, Microseivert (µSv) = 10-6Sv

Effective dose:

Effective dose is the Sum of the "equivalent doses" to the various organs and tissues

multiplied by weighting factors reflecting the differing sensitivities of organs and tissues

to radiation. The weighting factor for each organ or tissue expresses the fractional

contribution of the risk of death or serious genetic defect from irradiation of that organ or

tissue to the total risk from uniform irradiation of the whole body. Seivert (Sv). Is the unit

of effective dose.

Collective dose

Total dose over a population group exposed to a given source. It represents the product of

the average dose to the individuals in the group by the number of persons comprising the

group. Person-seivert (person-Sv).is used to measure collective dose. Activity is the

Spontaneous nuclear transformation or radioactive decay. Becquerel (Bq) is the unit of

activity, where 1 Bq equals one nuclear transformation or disintegration per second.

Since one Becquerel is small, unit it is helpful to know the multiples of the Becquerel

(Bq) which are

Exabecquerel (EBq) = 1018 Bq giga Becquerel (GBq) = 109 Bq

mega Becquerel (MBq) = 106 Bq Petabecquerel (PBq) = 1015

Bq tera Becquerel (TBq) 1012Bq kilo Becquerel (kBq) = 103 Bq

Ingested Dose

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Studying the Ingestion Doses Received by the nearby Population after the Chernobyl

Accident needs us to study the events lead to these doses, the effects of these doses, and

what we need to do to avoid such accidents in the future. The “nearby Population” is a

term needs to be clarified, for physical accidents, nearby means population that has direct

contact to the accidents, in contrast, in nuclear accidents; the nearby area means a large

area, which may extend far beyond the geographical location of “Chernobyl.” Nearby

population means millions of people who may ingest any quantity of radiation, for

example, the helicopter pilots who were in the sky throwing materials to cover the reactor

received some radiation.

In general, around 8,400,000 people in Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia were exposed to the

radiation. About 155,000 sq. km of territories in the three countries were contaminated.

Agricultural areas covering nearly 52,000 sq. km were contaminated with cesium-137

and strontium-90, with 30-year and 28-year half-lives respectively. The exposure of the

population because of the accident took two main pathways. The first is the radiation

dose to the thyroid because of the concentration of iodine in the gland. The second is the

whole-body dose caused largely by external irradiation mainly from cesium.

The authorities and scientists divided the contaminated areas into different categories

according to the level of contamination.

1-The first area was the nuclear complex itself; the worst and most contaminated of the

radioactive debris was accumulated inside the remaining of the reactor. The reactor itself

was covered with bags with sand, lead, and boric acid thrown off helicopters (around

5,000 tons during the week following the accident). A large concrete sarcophagus was

rapidly erected to seal off the reactor and its contents. The people who were exposed to

14
radiation in this area are the staff workers and the liquidators. This group can be divided

into two groups 1- the first group was the people who were on the site of the reactor on

the night of the accident, this group includes the workers and the first responders to

extinguish the fire. These people were exposed with doses of several grays 2-The second

group was the people who were sent to liquidate the site, they worked at the site, in

towns, forests, and agricultural areas to clean these areas from radioactivity.

1-a) About 400 workers on the night of accident were on the site of the Chernobyl power

plant. They were subjected to the combined effect of radiation from several sources: (1)

external gamma/beta radiation from the radioactive cloud, the fragments of the damaged

reactor core scattered over the site and the radioactive particles deposited on the skin, and

(2) inhalation of radioactive particles. (UN88)

All of the dosimeters worn by the workers were over-exposed and did not allow an

estimate of the doses received. Most of these were fire and rescue workers trying to bring

the accident under control, who were not fully aware of how dangerous the radiation

exposure.

However, information is available on the doses received by the 237 persons who were

hospitalized and diagnosed as suffering from acute radiation syndrome; the following

estimation was a result of the biological dosimetry:

1)140 of these patients received whole-body doses from external irradiation in the range

1-2 Sv,2) 55people received doses between 2 and 4 Sv, 3) 21people received between 4

and 6 Sv, and 4) The remaining 21 people received doses between 6 and 16 Sv.

In addition, it was estimated from thyroid measurements that the thyroid dose from

inhalation would range up to about 20 Gy, with 173 individuals in the 0-1.2 Gy range and

15
seven workers with thyroid doses greater than 11 Gy (UN88). Internal exposure of those

workers was mainly due to 131I and shorter-lived radionuclide, the median value of the

ratio of the internal thyroid dose to the external effective dose was estimated to be 0.3 Gy

per Sv. The doses resulting from intakes of other radionuclides were estimated to about

30 mSv for the early months following the accident and 85 mSv for committed dose

(UN00).

People 140 55 21 21
dose 1-2 Sv 2-4 Sv 4-6 Sv 6-16 Sv
Death results 0 1 7 20

Immediate result

Of these liquidators, 31 died (28 of them died from acute radiation exposure). Most of

these were fire and rescue workers trying to bring the accident under control, who were

not fully aware of how dangerous the radiation exposure.

Eight patients received skin dose in the range of 400-500 Gy. The eight patients had

acute radiation syndrome from beta exposure

b- The second group of liquidator was around 400,000 people. These people were

involved in clean-up operations at the reactor and within the 30-km zone surrounding the

reactor over the following years. The workers were all adults mostly males aged 20-45

years

For this group, doses were estimated from area radiation measurements, fortunately, The

registry data show that the average recorded doses in the three national registries of the

contaminated areas decreased from year to year, being about 170 mSv in 1986, 130 mSv

16
in 1987, 30 mSv in 1988 and 15 mSv in 1989 (Se95a). It is, however, difficult to assess

the validity of the results as they have been reported since these statistics indicates that

the dose is known for only 52% of workers for the period 1986-1989, and 45% for the

first year, also these doses were reported more higher in previous reports. There was

uncertainty about the doses because of the methods of estimates. for example, 1) many

persons have falsely added their names to the list, even though they were not part of

liquidation, or 2) the dosimeter was incorrectly used, the doses, however, estimated by

physical dose estimate using electron spin resonance (ESR, found to be compatible with

the Biological dosimetry, which was performed on limited number of workers.

2-Second category of the exposed population is the evacuees from the 30-km zone. The

assessment of the doses received by the evacuees was retrospectively estimated by thirty

thousand responses of the evacuees to questionnaires about the location where they

stayed, the types of houses in which they lived, the consumption of stable iodine, and

other activities (Li94). Those individuals were exposed to external irradiation from

radioactive materials transported by the cloud and deposited on the ground, as well as to

internal irradiation essentially due to the inhalation of radioactive materials in the cloud.

The average effective dose from external irradiation was estimated to be 17 mSv, with

individual values varying from 0.1 to 380 mSv (Li94). This estimate was coincide with

the absorbed dose of 20 mGy estimated by Electron Spin resonance (ESR) measurements

of sugar and exposure rate calculations (Na94). The absorbed dose for this group was

classified into: 1-Thyroid dose, the evacuees were exposed to internal irradiation arising

from 1) inhalation of contaminated air with radionuclides, especially 131I, during the first

weeks and from, 2) Consumption of contaminated foodstuffs, mainly cow's milk. After

17
about one month, the cesium’s (134Cs and 137Cs) became predominant, and, after a few

years, 137Cs became the only radionuclide of importance for practical purposes. Thyroid

doses were estimated to have been, about one Gy for small children less than 3 years of

age at the time of the accident, and about 70 mGy for adult. (NEA)

2-Whole-body doses

The whole-body doses to the evacuees were mainly due to external exposure from

deposited 132Te/132I, 134Cs and 137Cs and short-lived radionuclides in the air. Whole-body

doses received from external irradiation prior to evacuation from the 30-km zone showed

a large range of variation with an average value of 15 mGy. (Li94).

In one methodology, the ingestion doses for selected areas within the 30 km were

reconstructed by using many variables. The calculation was performed for milk and leafy

vegetables and 137Cs. the dose varies according to the distance away from the site of

accident. Doses of five selected areas are shown in this table (Conrad et al).

18
Area Distan Evacuati Total Extern Inhalation Ingestion dose

ce on day dose al dose dose

Janov 4.5 3 130 9.5 92 25
Nova Krasnitsa 18.2 8 352 23 150 180

Lelev 9.8 8 215 23 8.5 180

Chistogalovka 7.2 7 280 70 120 91

Chernobyl 15.2 7 38 6 20 12

3-Third category is those people, who were living outside the 30-km zone,

This group can be divided into two groups:

a) people who were living inside the former Soviet Union, About 270 000 people live

in contaminated areas with long half-life radionuclide 137Cs deposition levels in

excess of 555 kBq/m2. Of this group are wood industry workers and other workers

living in wood houses received the highest doses. 1- The whole-body doses of the

population in contaminated areas, was received through two pathways: the exposure

to external irradiation from deposited radio nuclides (Iv95) and through the

consumption of contaminated food with radio-cesium.2-Thyroid doses were due

mainly to the consumption of milk contaminated with 131I and in some cases due to

consumption of fresh contaminated food. Children have received the highest thyroid

doses with a range from negligible levels up to 40 Gy and an average close to one Gy

for children aged up to 7 years old. The whole-body doses for the 1986-1989-time

period were estimated to range from 5.0 to 250 mGy with an average of 40 mGy. In

utero thyroid doses were estimated through newborn in 1986and 1987. In a study in

19
 250 children, born between may 1986 and February 1987 in Belarus, thyroid doses

were estimated to range up to 4.3 Gy, with 135 children exposed to less than 0.3 Gy,

95 children between 0.3 and 1 Gy, and 20 children with doses greater than 1.Gy

(Ig99).

b) Populations who were living outside the former Soviet Union, The doses received by

populations outside the former Soviet Union were relatively low, and showed large

differences from one country to another depending mainly upon whether rainfall occurred

during the passage of the radioactive cloud. The whole-body doses received during the

first year following the accident generally ranged from 0.05 to 0.5 mGy in Europe, from

0.005 to 0.1 mGy in Asia, and of the order of 0.001 mGy in North America. (UN88).

* a small special group of 672 scientists have worked periodically inside the sarcophagus

for a number of years have initially estimated accumulated whole-body doses in the range

0.5 to 13 Gy (Se95a). Recalculation of the ingested doses for 50 workers, showed that

more than 20% of them received doses between 0.05 and 0.25 Sv and about 5% of them

received doses between 0.25 and 1.5 Sv (Sh97) Additional analysis by mean of FISH

technique for three of them resulted in doses 0.9, 2.0 and 2.7 Sv (Sh00)

20
 Conclusion

After the Chernobyl reactor accident, the population exposed to radiation from tow main

sources, first, the external sources from deposited radionuclide, inhalation, and second,

from radio-Cesium and Iodine that enters into the body through consumption of food.

The population exposed to radiation following the Chernobyl accident was categorized

into four categories:

(1) The staff of the nuclear power plant and workers who participated in clean-up

operations (referred to as "liquidators"). (2) The nearby residents who were evacuated

from the 30-km zone during the first two weeks after the accident ;( referred as

evacuees), (3) the residents of contaminated areas of the former Soviet Union, and (4) the

population in countries outside the former Soviet Union.

1- The most exposed people were the firefighters and the plant staff during the first days

of the accident. Most of the dose received by the workers resulted from external

irradiation from the fuel fragments and radioactive particles deposited on various

surfaces. Twenty-eight people of this group died from acute radiation syndrome.

2-Prior to evacuation, the evacuees were exposed to external irradiation from radioactive

materials transported by the cloud and deposited on the ground, as well as to internal

irradiation mainly due to the inhalation of radioactive materials in the air.

3-the residents of the contaminated areas, defined as those with 137Cs deposition levels

greater than 37 kBq/m2.the doses received by the populations living in contaminated

areas over the following years, have come essentially from external exposure due to

134Cs and 137Cs deposited on the soil and internal exposure due to contamination of

food stuffs by these two isotopes. T132e and Iodine131 played a major role in the first week

21
after the accident, and then after one month, the radioactive cesium (134Cs and 137Cs)

became the predominant source of radiation.

4-Populations outside the former Soviet Union received low doses and showed large

variation over several countries.

22
 Works Cited

1-(Ba93) M.I. Balonov, Overview of Doses to the Soviet Population from the Chernobyl

Accident and the Protective Actions Applied, the Chernobyl Papers, 1:23-45, Ed. S.E.

Merwin and M.I. Balonov, Research Enterprises, Richland, WA, 1993

2-(Ig99), S.A. Igumnov, The prospective investigation of a psychological development of

children exposed to ionising radiation in utero as a result of the Chernobyl accident.

Ph.D. Dissertation, 1999

3-(Iv95) N.P. Ivanova et al., Population Doses in Russia from Plutonium Fallout

Following the Chernobyl Accident, Rad. Prot. Dosim, 58(4):255-260, 1995.

4-(Il87) L.A. Ilyin and A.O. Pavlovskij, Radiological Consequences of the Chernobyl

Accident in the Soviet Union and Measures Taken to Mitigate Their Impact, IAEA

Bulletin 4, 1987.

5-(J.ringelstein) Joes Ringelstein, presentation Blackboard, IIT03-03-06

6-Konrad et al (a new approach to assess the doses to the population in the 30 km-zone

after the Chernobyl accident, www.irpa.net)

7-(Li94) Likhtarev et al., Retrospective Reconstruction of Individual and Collective

External Gamma Doses of Population Evacuated after the Chernobyl Accident, Health

Physics, 66(6): 611

8-(Me92) F.A. Mettler et al., Administration of Stable Iodine to the Population around

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