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THE WALTER REED WHOLE BODY COUNTING FACILITY

MANSKEY, A A; CLAYPOOL, H A; VANHOEK, R; HARTGERING, J B; NOBLE, J J; WOODWARD, K T; RANDOLPH, C L

TBI/PBI

Location - DOE/NNSA NUCLEAR TESTING ARCHIVE Address - P.O. Box 98521 City - Las Vegas State - NV Zip - 89193-8521 Phone - (702)794-5106 Fax - (702)862-4240 Email - NTA@NV.DOE.GOV

REPORT

1960 Jul 01

Unknown

0158

NV0754592

DEFENSE NUCLEAR AGENCY, U.S.

1998 Jun 24

2003 Sep 18

THIS REPORT RELATES THE DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION OF THE WALTER REED WHOLE BODY COUNTING FACILITY FOR MEASURING GAMMA RADIOACTIVITY IN PEOPLE AND FOODSTUFFS FROM JULY 1958 TO JULY 1960. BECAUSE OF THE DIFFICULTIES IN THE LOW LEVEL ASSAYS OF LARGE NUMBERS OF BULK SAMPLES AND THE UNCERTAINTIES IN ESTIMATING TOTAL BODY BURDEN FROM EXCRETION LEVELS, A FACILITY FOR DETERMINING GAMMA-RAY ACTIVITY DIRECTLLY IN HUMANS WAS CONSTRUCTED DURING 1957 AT THE WALTER REED ARMY INSTITUTE OF RESEARCH. THIS FACILITY INCLUDES A LARGE NAI CRYSTAL GAMMA-RAY SPECTROMETER AND A 4 LIQUID SCINTILLATION COUNTER. THE REPORT INCLUDES A DESCRIPTION OF THE LIQUID SCINTILLATION COUNTER, AS WELL AS THE PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS AND THE CALIBRATION TECHNIQUES OF THE COUNTER. ALSO COVERED ARE METHODS OF CALCULATING CS-137 AND K-40 ACTIVITY IN THE HUMAN SUBJECT, A DESCRIPTION OF THE CRYSTAL GAMMA-RAY SPECTROMETER, PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CRYSTAL SCINTILLATION DECTECTOR, CALIBRATION OF CRYSTAL GAMMA-RAY SPECTROMETER, AND DATA PROCESSING AT THE FACILITY. THE REPORT CONCLUDES WITH STUDIES OF GAMMA RADIOACTIVITY IN PEOPLE AND FOODSTUFFS TO JULY 1960 AND SOME CLINICAL STUDIES USING WHOLE BODY COUNTERS. THE APPENDICES ARE AS FOLLOWS: A) SPECIFICATIONS FOR REFLECTIVE COATING OF LIQUID SCINTILLATION DETECTOR TANK. B) BONDING WINDOWED SLEEVES FOR MULTIPLIER PHOTOTUBES C) NEOPRENE GASKETS FOR LQUID SCINTILLATIION COUNTER D) DATA PROCESSING CODE FOR GEOGRAPHIC AREAS E) AVERAGE CESIUM-137 LEVELS IN PEOPLE, LISTED BY QUARTERS.