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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Annual report of the United States transuranium and uranium registries, October 1, 1988--September 30, 1989

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6973568· OSTI ID:6973568

This report summarizes the primary scientific activities of the United States Transuranium and Uranium Registries for the period October 1, 1988 through September 30, 1989. The Registries are parallel human tissue research programs devoted to the study of the actinide elements in man. The emphasis of the Transuranium Registry was directed toward evaluation of six whole body donations. In the five cases whose exposure was through inhalation, approximately half of the total body content of Pu-239 + 240 and a third of the Am-241 was found in the respiratory tract, suggesting that these nuclides are more avidly retained than predicted by the current model of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. A significant fraction of these nuclides is found in soft tissues other than liver, and an uptake fraction of 0.2 is proposed for muscle, with a residence half-time of 10 years. Studies of these and routine autopsy cases indicate that more than 90% of the total respiratory tract plutonium or americium is in the lungs, with the remainder in the lymph nodes, and that a greater fraction is found in the lungs of smokers relative to the lymph nodes. Primary activities of the Uranium Registry centered around the acquisition of a whole body donation from a woman who had received an injection of colloidal thorium dioxide some 38 years prior to death.

Research Organization:
Hanford Environmental Health Foundation, Richland, WA (USA)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE/ER
DOE Contract Number:
AC06-65RL01837
OSTI ID:
6973568
Report Number(s):
HEHF-54-89; ON: DE90011619
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English