A contract worker is hired to remove debris from a destroyed nuclear powerplant.

Question

A contract worker is hired to remove debris from a destroyed nuclear powerplant. Radiation levels at the powerplant were 404uSv h-1 at the south side of the building, 43uSv h-1 at the main gate and 16uSv h-1 at the west gate of the powerplant.

He works 4 hours at the south side, 3 hours at the main gate, and 2 hours at the west gate, therefore what effective dose of radiation did the worker recieve on that day?

What biological effects would you expect such an effective dose to typically have on the contract worker?

Assuming the radiation levels and task times remain constant, how many days can the worker perform his duties until the 250 mv emergency dose limit was exceeded?

What biological effects would you expect such a cumulative dose to typically have on the contract worker?

Explanation / Answer

at south side radiation level = 404sv/hr= .000404sv/hr

at main gate radiation level=43sv/hr =.000043sv/hr

at west gate radiation level= 16sv/hr =.000016sv/hr

now according to ANS average human dose should be .71sv/hr

Using survival sheet:

at south side he received 4* .000404 = .001616sv radiation

at main gate he received 3* .000043 = .000129sv radiation

at west gate he received 2* .000016 =.000032sv radiation

Total effective radiation received =(.001616sv + .000129sv + .000032sv)/hr= .001777sv/hr on that day

the limit for a single day exposure is .0416sv/hr and received radiation is less than the said that means little biological effects like skin reactions may occur

considering task time and radiation levels as constant

250mv= .25sv ,we consider .26sv as more than emergency limit

.001777sv is recived in one day

1sv is recived in 1/.001777 day

.26sv is recived in .26/.001777 day = 146.3 = approx 146 days

In this case if the limit exceeds then biological effects are:

skin cancer risk, brain, heart, cardiovascular tissue and vessel damage, tissue damage and genetic defects etc.

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