skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Reconstruction of dose equivalent to the public on University of California, Davis, property from the sup 60 Co Irradiator Facility. [Contains glossary]

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5840464

The {sup 60}Co Irradiator Facility, located at the Laboratory for Energy-Related Health Research (LEHR) was an indoor-outdoor gamma irradiation facility designed to study the effects of low-level continuous whole body exposure to mammals. From 1970 to 1985 outdoor radiation exposure experiments were conducted at the facility to study the effects of continuous low-level radiation exposure on beagles. Although direct exposure to the outdoor portion of the irradiator beam was controlled to within a fenced area, environmental monitoring data show that low-level radiation exposure rates were present outside of the fence perimeter. The US Department of Energy (DOE) has tasked Environmental Management Operations (EMO) to determine the potential radiation dose equivalents received by the public in UCD-operated areas adjacent to the LEHR site and to provide estimates of the associated risks to these individuals from the outdoor irradiations. EMO has reconstructed the radiation dose equivalent rates to the off-site areas using actual environmental radiation monitoring data augmented by Monte Carlo computer modeling of the radiation dose equivalent rates where necessary. This report describes the irradiator and adjacent areas, the available environmental radiation data, the computer modeling and dose equivalent rate projections, occupancy determinations, and reconstructed dose equivalents. Also a risk factor is estimated for each of the dose equivalents calculated for the public. 5 refs., 4 figs., 6 tabs.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC06-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
5840464
Report Number(s):
EMO-1035; ON: DE91012718
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English