As radiation specialists, one of our primary objectives in the Navy is protecting
people and the environment from the effects of ionizing and non-ionizing radiation.
Focusing on radiological dispersal devices (RDD) will provide increased personnel
protection as well as optimize emergency response assets for the general public. An
attack involving an RDD has been of particular concern because it is intended to spread
contamination over a wide area and cause massive panic within the general population.
A rapid method of triage will be necessary to segregate the unexposed and slightly
exposed from those needing immediate medical treatment. Because of the aerosol
dispersal of the radioactive material, inhalation of the radioactive material may be the
primary exposure route. The primary radionuclides likely to be used in a RDD attack
are Co-60, Cs-137, Ir-192, Sr-90 and Am-241. Through the use of a MAX phantom
along with a few Simulink MATLAB programs, a good anthropomorphic phantom was
created for use in MCNPX simulations that would provide organ doses from internally
deposited radionuclides. Ludlum model 44-9 and 44-2 detectors were used to verify the
simulated dose from the MCNPX code. Based on the results, acute dose rate limits were
developed for emergency response personnel that would assist in patient triage.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-3025 |
Date | 15 May 2009 |
Creators | Voss, Shannon Prentice |
Contributors | Poston, John W. Sr. |
Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
Language | en_US |
Detected Language | English |
Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
Format | electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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