Potential health risks from postulated accidents involving the Pu-238 RTG on the Ulysses solar exploration mission
Abstract
Potential radiation impacts from launch of the Ulysses solar exploration experiment were evaluated using eight postulated accident scenarios. Lifetime individual dose estimates rarely exceeded 1 mrem. Most of the potential health effects would come from inhalation exposures immediately after an accident, rather than from ingestion of contaminated food or water, or from inhalation of resuspended plutonium from contaminated ground. For local Florida accidents (that is, during the first minute after launch), an average source term accident was estimated to cause a total added cancer risk of up to 0.2 deaths. For accidents at later times after launch, a worldwide cancer risk of up to three cases was calculated (with a four in a million probability). Upper bound estimates were calculated to be about 10 times higher.
- Authors:
-
- VM: Radiological Sciences, University of California, Davis, California 95616-8742 (USA)
- EG G Idaho, Inc., P.O. Box 1625, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83415 (USA)
- DET 1 AFISC/SNR, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico 87117-5000 (USA)
- Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute, P.O. Box 5890, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185-5890 (USA)
- Battelle/Pacific Northwest Labs, 8th Street Warehouse/K1-30, Richland, Washington 99352 (USA)
- Lawrence Livermore Laboratories, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, California 94550 (USA)
- Publication Date:
- OSTI Identifier:
- 5582169
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-910116-
Journal ID: ISSN 0094-243X; CODEN: APCPC; TRN: 91-021531
- Resource Type:
- Conference
- Journal Name:
- AIP Conference Proceedings (American Institute of Physics); (United States)
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 217:1; Conference: 8. symposium on space nuclear power systems, Albuquerque, NM (United States), 6-10 Jan 1991; Journal ID: ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 07 ISOTOPES AND RADIATION SOURCES; 30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION; PLUTONIUM 238; RISK ASSESSMENT; SPACE SHUTTLES; ACCIDENTS; DOSE RATES; ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT; PROBABILITY; RADIATION HAZARDS; RADIOISOTOPE HEAT SOURCES; THERMOELECTRIC GENERATORS; ACTINIDE ISOTOPES; ACTINIDE NUCLEI; AIRCRAFT; ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES; DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS; EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI; HAZARDS; HEALTH HAZARDS; HEAT SOURCES; HEAVY ION DECAY RADIOISOTOPES; HEAVY NUCLEI; ISOTOPES; MASS TRANSFER; NUCLEI; PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES; RADIOISOTOPES; SILICON 32 DECAY RADIOISOTOPES; SPACE VEHICLES; SPONTANEOUS FISSION RADIOISOTOPES; VEHICLES; YEARS LIVING RADIOISOT; NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems; 070500* - Isotope & Radiation Source Technology- Health & Safety- (1990-); 070300 - Isotopic Power Supplies; 300302 - Thermoelectric Generators- Performance & Testing
Citation Formats
Goldman, M, Nelson, R C, Bollinger, L, Hoover, M D, Templeton, W, and Anspaugh, L. Potential health risks from postulated accidents involving the Pu-238 RTG on the Ulysses solar exploration mission. United States: N. p., 1991.
Web. doi:10.1063/1.40028.
Goldman, M, Nelson, R C, Bollinger, L, Hoover, M D, Templeton, W, & Anspaugh, L. Potential health risks from postulated accidents involving the Pu-238 RTG on the Ulysses solar exploration mission. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.40028
Goldman, M, Nelson, R C, Bollinger, L, Hoover, M D, Templeton, W, and Anspaugh, L. 1991.
"Potential health risks from postulated accidents involving the Pu-238 RTG on the Ulysses solar exploration mission". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.40028.
@article{osti_5582169,
title = {Potential health risks from postulated accidents involving the Pu-238 RTG on the Ulysses solar exploration mission},
author = {Goldman, M and Nelson, R C and Bollinger, L and Hoover, M D and Templeton, W and Anspaugh, L},
abstractNote = {Potential radiation impacts from launch of the Ulysses solar exploration experiment were evaluated using eight postulated accident scenarios. Lifetime individual dose estimates rarely exceeded 1 mrem. Most of the potential health effects would come from inhalation exposures immediately after an accident, rather than from ingestion of contaminated food or water, or from inhalation of resuspended plutonium from contaminated ground. For local Florida accidents (that is, during the first minute after launch), an average source term accident was estimated to cause a total added cancer risk of up to 0.2 deaths. For accidents at later times after launch, a worldwide cancer risk of up to three cases was calculated (with a four in a million probability). Upper bound estimates were calculated to be about 10 times higher.},
doi = {10.1063/1.40028},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5582169},
journal = {AIP Conference Proceedings (American Institute of Physics); (United States)},
issn = {0094-243X},
number = ,
volume = 217:1,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1991},
month = {Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1991}
}