Editors · 4 SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE Simon Boufﬂer, United Kingdom, MELODI, chair-president Ivica Prlic, Croatia, IMROH – host, vice chair MELODI Sisko Salomaa, Finland

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Editors

Marija Surić Mihić and Ivica Prlić

Edited and printed by

Institute for medical research and occupational health

Ksaverska 2, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Tel: +385 1 46 82 500, fax: +385 1 46 73 303

e-mail: [email protected]

web: https://erpw2018.com/

This Book of abstracts is available at

https://erpw2018.com/

Abstracts presented in this book are peer reviewed by Erpw2018 international scientific committe.

Dizajn i grafička priprema

Vesna Horvat, Vess Studio, [email protected], m: 095 915 6605

Editorial note

The views expressed in the papers, the statements made and the general styles adopted are the responsibility of the named authors.

Authors are themselves responsible for linguistic editing and obtaining the necessary permission to reproduce copyright material from other sources.

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3rd EUROPEAN RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION RESEARCH WEEK

October 1-5, 2018, Rovinj-Rovigno, Croatia

BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

Conference organized by

Institute for medical research and occupational health

in cooperation with research platform

and supported by research platforms

and Project.

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SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

Simon Bouffler, United Kingdom, MELODI, chair-president Ivica Prlic, Croatia, IMROH – host, vice chair

MELODI

Sisko Salomaa, Finland Michaela Kreuzer, Germany

EURADOS

Filip Vanhavere, Belgium Željka Knežević, Croatia Maria Antonia Lopez, Spain

SHH

Catrinel Turcanu, Belgium Tanja Perko, Belgium

NERIS

Mélanie Maitre, France Tatiana Duranova, Slovakia

ALLIANCE

Pedro Miguel Agostinho, Germany Catherine Berthomieu, France Rodolphe Gilbin, France

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EURAMED

Christoph Hoeschen, Germany John Damilakis, Greece Paulo Graciano, Portugal

ERPW2019

Andrzej Wojcik, Sweden

IMROH – host

Davor Želježić, Croatia Marija Surić Mihić, Croatia Benjamin Zorko, Slovenia Želimir Veinović, Croatia Branko Petrinec, Croatia

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Ivica Prlic, Croatia, IMROH – host, chair-president Jean-Rene Jourdain, France, MELODI, Vice chair Marija Surić Mihić, Croatia, IMROH – host Jacques Repussard, France, Advisor to chair Andrzej Wojcik, Sweden, ERPW2019

IMROH – host

Silvija Kobešćak Helena Jauk Luka Pavelić Makso Herman Mihaela Justić Ana Mostečak

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WELCOME MESSAGE

As the integration of European research progresses with the implementation of new EURATOM in-struments such as Joint Programming calls supported by the research roadmaps and strate-gic agendas developed by the European Research Platforms, the second European Radiation Protection Research Week (ERPW, Paris 2017) and connected ICRP symposium attracted a re-cord number of participants to take part in discussions and establish the state of the art in this field. The third ERPW will take place in Croatia at a time when discussions on the profile and objec-tives of the next EURATOM framework program, to follow Horizon 2020, will already be well engaged. Do not miss this opportunity to contribute to the development of this unique collective enterprise, to develop your interpersonal networks with the research community and its stakeholders, and to access prime information.

Jacques Repussard

Special advisor to the Director of IMROH

for the organization of the 3rd ERPW2018

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PLENARY TOPICS

MELODIPL-1 Laure Sabatier

INTRODUCTION TO OUTCOMES OF THE MELODI-CONCERT 2018 WORKSHOP ON INDIVIDUAL RADIOSENSITIVITY AND RADIOSUSCEPTIBILITY

PL-2 Penny Jeggo

ESTABLISHING THE MECHANISMS AFFECTING THE INDIVIDUAL RESPONSE TO I ONISING RADIATION, INCLUDING THE CONTRIBUTION OF ANY GENETIC COMPONENT

PL-3 Petra Seibold, Sisko Salomaa

CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS ON INDIVIDUAL RADIOSENSITIVITY AND RADIOSUSCEPTIBILITY – A MELODI POSITION PAPER FOLLOWING THE MALTA 2018 WORKSHOP

PL-4 Anssi Auvinen

UNCERTAINTIES IN HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT

EURAMEDPL-5 Jonas Teuwen

BASICS OF AI FOR MEDICAL APPLICATIONS

PL-6 Christoph Hoeschen

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR TECHNICAL RADIATION PROTECTION IN MEDICAL IMAGING

PL-7 Ralph Leijenaar

RADIOMICS

SSH

PL-8 Catrinel Turcanu, Michiel Van Oudheusden, Bieke Abelshausen

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT IN RADIATION PROTECTION –COMPARING AND CONTRASTING THREE EXPOSURE CONTEXTS

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NERIS/ALLIANCEPL-9 Deborah Oughton

SOCIETAL AND ETHICAL CHALLENGES OF HEALTH MONITORING STRATEGIES

PL-10 Geert Olyslaegers

ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING IN NUCLEAR EMERGENCIES: EXPERIENCE FROM EXERCISES, DRILLS AND SMALL INCIDENTS

EURADOSPL-11 Thomas Otto

THE ICRU / ICRP PROPOSAL FOR NEW OPERATIONAL QUANTITIES FOR EXTERNAL RADIATION

PL-12 Rick Tanner

PRACTICAL ISSUES THAT WILL ARISE IF THE PROPOSED OPERATIONAL QUANTITIES ARE ADOPTED

ENAPL-13 Ivica Prlić

INTRODUCING ENA – THE EUROPEAN NORM ASSOCIATION

ALLIANCEPL-14 Jorke Kamstra

EPIGENETIC EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS

EMNPL-15 Hans Rabus

INITIATIVE FOR A EUROPEAN METROLOGY NETWORK ON BIOLOGICAL RADIATION EFFECTS

MELODIPL-16 Alexander Nitzsche

UNEASY BEDFELLOWS: MEDIA, THE NUCLEAR SECTOR AND THE CHALLENGES OF RISK COMMUNICATION

PL-17 Andrea Borghini – MELODI award

MEDICAL RADIATION EXPOSURE AND BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS: INSIGHTS FROM A MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY APPROACH

PL-18 Jacques Repussard

INTEGRATION OF RP RESEARCH IN EUROPE

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RESEARCH PLATFORM TOPICS – PARALLEL SESSIONS

10th MELODI workshop

MELODI sessions

MS1 Shape of the dose response relationship for radiation-induced health effects

MS1-1 Ben Spycher

NATURAL BACKGROUND RADIATION AND CANCER RISKS IN CHILDREN

MS1-2 Markus Eidemüller

INCREASED RADIATION-INDUCED BREAST CANCER RISK FOR WOMEN WITH FAMILIAL BREAST CANCER IN THE SWEDISH HEMANGIOMA COHORT

MS1-3 Nora Fenske, Michaela Kreuzer

DOES RADON CAUSE CANCERS OTHER THAN LUNG CANCER? – RESULTS FROM THE GERMAN URANIUM MINER COHORT STUDY, 1946-2013

MS2 Understanding the health effects of inhomogeneous dose distributions, radiation quality and internal emitters

MS2-1 Anna Saran

BACKGROUND AND STATE OF THE ART IN THE FIELD OF ABSCOPAL RADIATION EFFECTS: DEVELOPING THE “SEPARATE” PROJECT

MS2-2 Janice L. Huff

NASA SPACE RADIATION HEALTH RISKS: MAJOR QUESTIONS AND MITIGATION STRATEGIES

MS2-3 Lei Cheng

GENE EXPRESSION IN LYMPHOCYTES EXPOSED TO MIXED BEAMS OF ALPHA AND X-RADIATION

MS2-4 Estelle Davesne

NEW SOFTWARE TO INTEGRATE UNCERTAINTY IN THE OPTIMISATION OF MONITORING FOR INTERNAL CONTAMINATION

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MS2-5 Péter Füri

THE EFFECT OF MUCOCILIARY CLEARANCE ON RADIATION BURDEN OF THE BRONCHIAL AIRWAYS AT RADON INHALATION

MS3 New findings in biological and health effects at low doses

MS3-1 Ausrele Kesminiene, Graham Byrnes

EPI-CT STUDY FINDINGS

MS3-2 Stephen Barnard

DNA DAMAGE IN THE LENS EPITHELIUM AND RADIATION-INDUCED CATARACT: INITIAL RESULTS FROM THE LDLENSRAD PROJECT

MS3-3 Claudia Dalke

LIFETIME STUDIES IN MICE ASSESSING RADIATION-INDUCED LENS OPACITIES AND OTHER BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS

MS3-4 Yulia Malova

WHY THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE REHABILITATION IS DIFFERENT? LONGITUDINAL COMPLEX NEUROPSYCOLOGICAL AND PSYCHO-SOCIAL STUDY IN LIQUIDATORS OF THE CHERNOBYL DISASTER

MS4 Exploration and definition of the role of genetic and epigenetic modifications in radiation-induced health effects

MS4-1 Maria Antonella Tabocchini

NEW INSIGHT IN LOW-RADIATION BACKGROUND BIOLOGY AT THE INFN UNDERGROUND GRAN SASSO NATIONAL LABORATORY (LNGS)

MS4-2 Alex Moorhouse

A GENETIC AND CYTOGENETIC STUDY OF BRITISH NUCLEAR TEST VETERANS AND THEIR CHILDREN

MS4-3 Pamela Akuwudike

LONG-TERM PROLIFERATION OF NORMAL HUMAN FIBROBLAST EXPOSED TO LOW DOSE RADIATION AT LOW DOSE RATES

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MS4-4 Catherine Berthomieu

PROTEIN-URANIUM INTERACTIONS: STUDY OF URANIUM TARGETS AND ENGINEERING OF SELECTIVE AND AFFINE SITES FOR BIOSENSORS OR EXTRACTANTS

MS5 Identification, development and validation of biomarkers for exposure, early and late effects for cancer or/and none-cancer diseases

MS5-1 Lovisa Lindholm

RADIATION-INDUCED MIRNAS AS BIOMARKERS OF EXPOSURE IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD LEUKOCYTES OF BREAST CANCER PATIENTS

MS5-2 Eric Rutten

ANALYSIS OF BONE MARROW AND LEUKAEMIA CELL EXTRACELLULAR VESICLE miRNA CARGOS

MS6 Malta 2018 Radiation Sensitivity workshop findings

MS6-1 Maria Gomolka

POTENTIAL SCREENING ASSAYS FOR INDIVIDUAL RADIATION SENSITIVITY AND SUSCEPTIBILITY AND THEIR CURRENT VALIDATION STATE

EURAMED sessions

ES1 Radionuclide therapy and uncertainty in internal dosimetry

ES1-1 Ana M. Denis Bacelar

DEVELOPMENT OF PRIMARY STANDARDS FOR RADIONUCLIDE THERAPY

ES1-2 Jonathan Gear

UNCERTAINTIES IN QUANTITATIVE IMAGING

ES1-3 Wei Bo Li

UNCERTAINTY ANALYSIS IN RADIONUCLIDE RADIOTHERAPY

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ES1-4 Vera Höllriegl

BIODISTRIBUTION MODELLING AND DOSE ASSESSMENTS OF RADIUM-223 USED FOR TREATMENT OF PROSTATE CANCER

ES1-5 David Broggio

RADIO-IODINE THERAPY OF GRAVES’ DISEASE: EXTRACTING THE DOSE-EFFECT RELATIONSHIP FROM OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES

ES2 Breast radiotherapy and secondary cardiovascular risks

ES2-1 Sophie Jacob

CLINICAL STUDIES ON CARDIAC COMPLICATIONS AFTER BREAST RADIOTHERAPY

ES2-2 Rob P. Coppes

MECHANISTIC APPROACH AND MEASUREMENT OF RELEVANT RADIOBIOLOGICAL MARKERS FOR CARDIOVASCULAR RISKS AFTER BREAST RADIOTHERAPY

ES2-3 Jan Christian Kaiser

DEVELOPING A BIOLOGICALLY-BASED RISK MODEL FOR ATHEROSCLEROTIC DISEASES AFTER RADIATION THERAPY

ES2-4 Valentin Walker

STRESSING THE IMPORTANCE OF CONSIDERING RADIATION DOSES TO CARDIAC SUBSTRUCTURES AND CORONARY ARTERIES IN BREAST CANCER RADIOTHERAPY-INDUCED CARDIOTOXICITY STUDIES: AN EXAMPLE (BACCARAT STUDY)

ES3 Optimisation in fluoroscopically-guided interventional procedures and CT

ES3-1 Jérémie Dabin

VERIDIC: Validation and Estimation of Radiation skIn Dose in Interventional Cardiology

ES3-2 Gabriela Piernik

EVALUATION OF EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF STAFF RP TOOLS FOR INTERVENTIONAL PROCEDURES

ES3-3 Zahra Passand

AUTOMATIC ASSESSMENT OF MEDICAL X-RAY IMAGE QUALITY USING THE MODULATION TRANSFER FUNCTION

ES3-4 Marie-Pierre Revel

SUBJECTIVE QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF THORACIC CT IMAGES

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ES4 EURAMED - Radiation induced risks of CT scans

ES4-1 John Damilakis

CT DOSES AND RADIOGENIC RISKS

ES4-2 Virginia Tsapaki

CT DOSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

ES4-3 Ahmad Hassan

THE INFLUENCE OF TUBE CURRENT MODULATION ON ORGAN DOSE CONVERSION COEFFICIENTS

ES5 EURADOS – Space dosimetry and various dosimetric and risk calculations and modelling

ES5-1 Francois Trompier

RADIATION MONITORING OF GLE ON BOARD COMMERCIAL FLIGHT

ES5-2 Ondrej Ploc

RADIATION DOSE ONBOARD AIRCRAFT INDUCED BY HIGH-ENERGY ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA DURING THUNDERSTORMS

ES5-3 Zarana S. Patel

CARDIOVASCULAR DECREMENTS FROM SPACE RADIATION EXPOSURE: RISK CHARACTERIZATION, MODELING, AND MITIGATION

ES5-4 Carmine Zicari

A NEW SHIELDING CALCULATION SOFTWARE FOR DIAGNOSTICX-RAY FACILITIES

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ALLIANCE sessions

AS1 NORM (TENORM) issues for dose assessment / remediation strategies

AS1-1 Arnold Thuro

RADIOECOLOGICAL RESEARCH OF WG NORM WITHIN THE ALLIANCE

AS1-2 Jelena Mrdaković Popić

A REGULATORY PERSPECTIVE ON THE RADIOLOGICAL IMPACT OF NORM IN INDUSTRIES, WASTE AND LEGACY SITES

AS1-3 Mohammad R. Tanha

RADON MEASUREMENTS USING THE NEWLY DEVELOPED PROTOTYPE DEVICES

AS1-4 Gilles Montavon

THE ROPHIN SITE IN FRANCE - A PLACE TO CONDUCT INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH ON NORM/ TeNORM-RELATED ISSUES

AS1-5 José Corisco

TRANSFER AND RELATED DOSE ASSESSMENT OF NATURAL RADIONUCLIDES IN PLANTS AND MOSSES GROWING ON A PHOSPHOGYPSUM STOCKPILE IN PORTUGAL

AS1-6 Wirginia Tomczak

FRESHWATER KD DISTRIBUTIONS IN FUNCTION OF M/V RATIO, DOC AND pH

AS1-7 Sheldon Landsberger

RADIATION PROTECTION IN THE OIL EXPLORATION SECTOR

AS1-8 Želimir Veinović

NORM IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY: ERICA TOOL ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF IONISING RADIATION ON TERRESTRIAL BIOTA

AS1-9 Rimon Thomas

ELEMENTARY AND NORM CONCENTRATION PROFILES IN THREE SWEDISH PIT LAKES

AS1-10 Iván Sánchez-Castro

MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH CHARACTERIZATION OF U/MICROBIAL INTERACTIONS FOR BIOREMEDIATION PURPOSES

AS1-11 Virginie Chapon

INSIGHTS INTO URANIUM TOLERANCE OF MICROBACTERIUM OLEIVORANS A9 BY PROTEOGENOMIC ANALYSES

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AS1-12 Jana Darmovzalova

SIMULTANEOUS MEASUREMENT OF DIFFUSION AND REACTION IN SOIL

AS2 Nuclear decommissioning and radioecology

AS2-1 Pedram Masoudi

OPTIMIZING FLIGHT-LINE DISTANCE FOR SOIL DECONTAMINATION, APPLICATION TO CONTAMINATED FUKUSHIMA TERRITORIES

AS2-2 Liudmila Liutsko

TRANSLATION AND APPLICATION OF THE SHAMISEN RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PREPAREDNESS AND REMEDIATION AFTER NUCLEAR ACCIDENTS TO OTHER DISASTERS TYPES (CHEMICAL, NATURAL, ETC.)

AS2-3 Natalya Larionova

ARTIFICIAL RADIONUCLIDES IN VEGETATIVE COVER AT THE SEMIPALATINSK TEST SITE AND IN PLACES ADJACENT TO ITS TERRITORY

AS2-4 Miguel Vidal

FROM 241Am TO LANTHANIDE STABLE ISOTOPES: CHECKING CHEMICAL ANALOGY IN THE QUANTIFICATION OF SOLID-LIQUID DISTRIBUTION COEFFICIENTS

AS2-5 Uroš Čotar

UNRESOLVED RADIOACTIVE WASTE AT THE INSTITUTE OF ONCOLOGY, LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA

AS3 Challenges for environmental monitoring strategies – improving radiological assessment and management

AS3-1 Nicholas Beresford

QUANTIFYING EXPOSURE OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS TO RADIATION: A NEW METHODOLOGY

AS3-2 Giorgia Iurlaro

ENVIRONMENTAL MEASUREMENTS OF RADIOACTIVITY AND RADIATION PROTECTION QUANTITY AVAILABLE IN NON-GOVERNMENTAL NETWORKS WEB SITES

AS3-3 Stefan Neumaier

MOBILE DETECTION OF IONISING RADIATION FOLLOWING A NUCLEAR OR RADIOLOGICAL INCIDENT - THE EMPIR PROJECT “PREPAREDNESS”

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AS3-4 Francisco Piñero-García 210Po IN SWEDISH DIET

AS3-5 Pedro Nogueira

MONTE CARLO SIMULATION OF DOSE CONVERSION COEFFICIENTS FOR MONOENERGETIC ELECTRONS INCIDENT ON A FISH EYE LENS MODEL

AS3-6 Paola Fattibene

A REVIEW ON EXISTING APPS FOR CITIZEN BASED DOSE MEASUREMENTS

AS4 Effects of ionising radiation at low doses, low dose rates

AS4-1 Rodolphe Gilbin

IMPACT OF MULTIPLE TOXIC PRESSURES ON AQUATIC SYSTEMS IN THE RHONE RIVER BASIN

AS4-2 Nick Beresford

HUMAN FOODCHAIN MODELLING – REDUCING UNCERTAINTIES

AS4-3 Tsubasa Ogawa

RADIATION DOSE OF WORKERS ENGAGED IN DECONTAMINATION OF ENVIRONMENT AFTER FUKUSHIMA-DAIICHI ACCIDENT

AS4-4 Nele Horemans

INFLUENCE OF LONG TERM EXPOSURE TO ENHANCED GAMMA RADIATION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANISMS: A CASE STUDY COMPARING A PLANT AND AN INSECT

AS5 Atmospheric release

AS5-1 Neil Crout

PREDICTING RADIONUCLIDES TRANSFER IN THE AGRICULTURAL FOOD CHAIN

AS5-2 O.N. Lyakhova

PECULIARITIES OF AIR CONTAMINATION WITH TRITIUM AT THE TERRITORY OF SEMIPALATINSK TEST SITE: SOURCES AND FORMATION MECHANISMS

AS5-3 Olivier Masson

INVESTIGATIONS ON AMBIENT 129I (GAS AND AEROSOL) AT SHORT DISTANCE FROM THE LA HAGUE REPROCESSING PLANT

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AS5-4 Jochen Tschiersch

RESUSPENSION DUE TO REMEDIATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FUKUSHIMA EXCLUSION ZONE AND IMPLICATION TO DOSE

AS5-5 Ewa Nalichowska

LONG-TERM MEASUREMENTS AND ANALYSIS OF RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION WITH NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL RADIONUCLIDES IN THE ATMOSPHERE IN THE SOUTH OF POLAND

NERIS and IMROH sessions

N-1 Pascal Crouail

INVOLVEMENT OF RESIDENTS LIVING IN THE VICINITY OF THE CHERNOBYL EXCLUSION ZONE IN MONITORING AND INTERPRETING MEASUREMENT RESULTS AND THE INFLUENCE OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOURS

N-2 Stefan Neumaier

NOVEL SPECTROMETRY SYSTEMS FOR RADIOLOGICAL EARLY WARNING NETWORKS IN EUROPE - A SUMMARY OF METROERM RESULTS

N-3 Branko Petrinec

CHALLENGES OF RADIOLOGICAL/NUCLEAR ON-SITE MEASUREMENTS

N-4 Benjamin Zorko

THE IMPORTANCE OF MOBILE UNITS IN EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE

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Education & Training sessions

ET-1 Andrzej Wojcik

EDUCATING ABOUT RADIATION RISKS IN HIGH SCHOOLS: TOWARDS IMPROVED PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE COMPLEXITY OF LOW DOSE RADIATION HEALTH EFFECTS

ET-2 Gaston Meskens

THINKING BEYOND THE ETHICS OF GOOD INTENTIONS: AN ETHICS OF CARE FOR RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION

ET-3 Tom Clarijs

CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR RADIATION PROTECTION PROFESSIONALS: BRINGING NEW SCIENTIFIC INSIGHTS IN PRACTICE

ET-4 Maria Panagiotopoulou

ACCESS TO INFRASTRUCTURES: AIR2AND AIR2D2

Personal, patient and environmental OSL dosimetry news

OSL-1 Vedran Bandalo

THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN EYE-LENS DOSIMETER FOR INTEGRATION INTO RADIATION PROTECTION SPECTACLES

20

CONCERT PROJECTS

CONFIDENCE

Wolfgang Raskob

THE CONFIDENCE PROJECT

LDLensRad

ELISABETH A. AINSBURY

LDLENSRAD: TOWARDS A FULL MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF LOW DOSE RADIATION INDUCED CATARACTS

TERRITORIES

ALMUDENA REAL

TERRITORIES WORKSHOP ON COMMUNICATION OF UNCERTAINTIES OF RADIOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENTS TO STAKEHOLDERS

MARIE SIMON-CORNU

TERRITORIES: TO ENHANCE UNCERTAINTIES REDUCTION AND STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVEMENT TOWARDS INTEGRATED AND GRADED RISK MANAGEMENT OF HUMANS AND WILDLIFE IN LONG-LASTING RADIOLOGICAL EXPOSURE SITUATIONS

BIEKE ABELHAUSEN

MAPPING THE COMPLEXITY OF SOCIETAL UNCERTAINTIES IN LONG-TERM EXPOSURE SITUATIONS: TWO CASE STUDIES

ENGAGE

BIEKE ABELHAUSEN

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT IN EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE: STATE OF THE ART

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LEU-TRACK

Katalin Lumniczky

THE ROLE OF EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES IN MODULATING THE RISK OF LOW DOSE RADIATION- INDUCED LEUKAEMIA (LEU-TRACK)

PODIUM

Filip Vanhavere

PODIUM: PERSONAL ONLINE DOSIMETRY USING COMPUTATIONAL METHODS

VERIDIC

Jeremie Dabin


SEPARATE

Anna Saran

BACKGROUND AND STATE OF THE ART IN THE FIELD OF ABSCOPAL RADIATION EFFECTS: DEVELOPING THE “SEPARATE” PROJECT

SHAMISEN-SINGS

Liudmila Liutsko

SHAMISEN SINGS PROJECT– STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVEMENT IN GENERATING SCIENCE (RADIATION PROTECTION)

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YOUNG SCIENTIST DAY

YS-1 Luka Pavelić

DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPACT SiPM-BASED GAMMA AND X-RAY DETECTOR FOR DOSE RATE MEASUREMENTS

YS-2 Erica Maremonti

CHRONIC EXPOSURE TO GAMMA RADIATION INDUCES REPROTOXIC EFFECTS IN COMBINATION WITH ENHANCED GERM CELL APOPTOSIS AND DNA DAMAGE IN CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANS EMBRYONIC CELLS

YS-3 Katherine Raines

PARASITISM MEDIATES NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF RADIATION TO BUMBLEBEES AS DEMONSTRATED BY LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS AND FIELD STUDIES IN CHERNOBYL

YS-4 Tiffany Beaumont

PERSONALIZED RADIOIODINE UPTAKE MEASUREMENT WITH GAMMA-CAMERA USING 3D REALISTIC THYROID PHANTOMS

YS-5 Francisco M. Gómez Polo

TRANSFER PARAMETERS VALUES FOR 90Sr AND 137Cs ISOTOPES IN MEDITERRANEAN ECOSYSTEM

YS-6 Blanca Garcia-Puerta

ENHANCE THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS TO MINIMIZE THE IMPACT IN AGRICULTURAL AREAS DERIVED FROM A NUCLEAR ACCIDENT

YS-7 Nicole Virgili

VERIFYING THE PERFORMANCE OF THE ARGON-41 MONITORING SYSTEM FROM FLUORIDE-18 PRODUCTION FOR MEDICAL APPLICATIONS

YS-8 Mihaela Justić

CONSTRUCTION OF THE MAMMOGRAPHY PHANTOM FOR 2D AND 3D X-RAY IMAGING

YS-9 Nikolett Sándor

THE EFFECT OF IONIZING RADIATION ON AMOUNT AND PHENOTYPE OF BONE MARROW-DERIVED EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES

YS-10 Prabal Subedi

PROTEOMIC ANALYSES OF EXOSOMES DERIVED FROM BONE MARROW AND BLOOD PLASMA IN IRRADIATED MICE

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YS-11 Dávid Kis

EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES FROM IRRADIATED MICE INDUCED APOPTOSIS IN MOUSE BONE MARROW

YS-12 Zohaib Nisar Khan

“SEPARATE”: SYSTEMIC EFFECTS OF PARTIAL-BODY EXPOSURE TO LOW RADIATION DOSES

YS-13 Alessia Mafodda

EXTERNAL DOSE-RATE MEASUREMENTS BASED ON SMARTPHONE CMOS SENSORS

YS-14 Tobias Dressel

NANODOSIMETRIC ESTIMATION OF DNA DAMAGE IN A GOLD NANOPARTICLE LOADED CELL AFTER PHOTON IRRADIATION

POSTERS

P-1 Gabrielle Babini

EXPLORING THE DEPENDENCE OF THE MOUSE LENS microRNA-SIGNATURE ON GENETIC BACKGROUND, RADIATION DOSE AND DOSE RATES

P-2 Tanja Perko

EVALUATING WEBSITES RELATED TO RADON FROM A STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE

P-3 Davit Nadareishvili

ELABORATION OF COMPLEX, NONSPECIFIC PHYSIOLOGICAL CRITERIA FOR ESTIMATION OF INDIVIDUAL RADIOSENSITIVITY

P-4 Sara Della Monaca, Valentina Dini, Sveva Grande, Alessandra Palma

THE PUBLIC FACING SURVEY SET UP WITHIN THE EJP CONCERT TO GAUGE THE PERCEPTION OF RADIATION RISK: PRELIMINARY RESULTS

P-5 Catherine Barnett

RECOVERY OF THE RED FOREST FROM A FIRE EVENT

P-6 Jina Park

RADIATION EXPOSURE AT LOW DOSES INCREASED THE FECUNDITY OF FEMALE FLIES

P-7 Antonella Cristina

INTERCEPTION, RETENTION AND TRANSLOCATION OF 137-Cs IN SPINACH PLANT AT DIFFERENT GROWTH STAGES FOR ACUTE CONTAMINATION SCENARIO AND SPRINKLING IRRIGATION

P-8 Jong Hwa Kim

ANALYSIS OF RADIATION EXPOSURE RESULTING FROM MAMMOGRAPHY IN KOREA

24

P-9 Woo Jin Kim

CALCULATION OF EFFECTIVE DOSES FOR GENERAL RADIOGRAPHY EXAMINATIONS IN KOREA

P-10 Min Young Lee

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF EXPOSOURE SETTINGS OF GENERAL RADIOGRAPHIC EXAMINATIONS IN KOREA

P-11 Marija Majer

DOSIMETRY OF STRAY RADIATION IN PHOTON RADIOTHERAPY AND PHANTOM DOSIMETRY STUDIES – RESULTS OF EURADOS WORKING GROUP 9

P-12 Sheldon Landsberger

RADIATION PROTECTION IN A NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANAYSIS LABORATORY

P-13 Ki-Man Lee

CALCULATION OF THE AMBIENT DOSE EQUIVALENT DURING NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS PROCEDURE

P-14 Mariateresa Mancuso

RADIATION-INDUCED LENS OPACITIES IN THE RADIOSENSTITIVE PTCH1+/- MICE: INITIAL RESULTS FROM THE LDLENSRAD PROJECT

P-15 Ilaria De Stefano

AGE, GENETIC BACKGROUND AND DOSE MEDIATE RATES OF RADIATION-INDUCED CATARACT IN PTCH1+/- MICE

P-16 Ghassan Al Massarani

RADIOPROTECTION OF ENDOTHELIAL CELLS BY RESVERATROL

P-17 Ki Tek Han

EVALUATION OF ALANINE RESPONSE TO GAMMA-RAYS USING ESR SPECTROSCOPY

P-18 Radu A. Vasilache

μBq, ACCELERATOR AND ELI-NP EXPERIMENTS THAT COULD SHED A CLEARER LIGHT ON THE BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF IONISING RADIATION

P-19 Martha Habibi

THE USE OF -H2AX AND CYTOGENETIC ENDPOINTS AS BIOMARKERS OF LOW DOSE EXPOSURE IN INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY

P-20 Werner Friedland

RADIATION EFFECTS OF THERAPEUTIC HADRON BEAMS: PARTRAC SIMULATIONS LINKED WITH PHITS RADIATION TRANSPORT CALCULATIONS

25

P-21 Jaeryong Yoo

ESTIMATION OF THE 131I EXCRETION RATE IN A THYROID CARCINOMA PATIENT

P-22 Inmaculada Sierra

INDIRECT MONITORING OF SPANISH WORKERS EXPOSED TO INTAKES OF ENRICHED URANIUM APPLYING BIOASSAY AND ALPHA SPECTROMETRY TECHNIQUE

P-23 Marija Surić Mihić

EXTREMITY DOSIMETRY IN NUCLEAR MEDICINE AND LABORATORY DIAGNOSTICS DEPARTMENTS

P-24 Christopher L. Rääf

SETTING UP A SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMME REGARDING INTERNAL DOSE ASSESSMENTS FOR ACCELERATOR FACILITIES – CHALLENGES TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE WITH DOSE CONSTRAINTS

P-25 Marina Filimonova

THE NEW PERSPECTIVES IN THE COMBINATION OF RADIOPROTECTOR AND NOS INHIBITOR IN THE NUCLEAR MEDICINE

P-26 Song Jae Yoo

THE STUDY ON THE RELEASE LIMIT IMPROVEMENT FOR GASEOUS AND LIQIUD RADIOACTIVE WASTES

P-27 Tae Gwan Do

PILOT STUDY OF RADIATION DOSE TO THE MAXIMUM INDIVIDUAL DUE TO AIRBORNE RADIONUCLIDES DURING DECOMMISSIONING ACTIVITIES OF A NUCLEAR FACILITY

P-28 Ji Young Song

DEVELOPMENT OF TRACKING PROGRAM FOR RADIOACTIVE WASTE FROM DECOMMISSIONING OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES

P-29 Jung Hwan Jang

OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO WORKERS AT NORM INDUSTRIES

P-30 Viktoriya Makarchuk

POSSIBILITY OF NOS-INHIBITOR TO ATTENUATE BONE MARROW SYNDROME OF ACUTE RADIATION SICKNESS

P-31 Hiroshige Furuta

SIMULATION OF SURVIVAL BIAS IN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SURVEY BY REANALYZING J-EPISODE AND HANFORD WORKERS

P-32 Jae Kwon

A PILOT STUDY OF RADIOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCE RESULTING FROM MULTI-UNIT ACCIDENT

26

P-33 Pavel E. Krivitskiy

DEVELOPMENT OF REMEDIATION ACTIVITIES FOR RADIOACTIVELY CONTAMINATED SITES AT THE “SARY-UZEN” TESTING GROUND

P-34 Zhanna Ye. Zhapasheva

SPECIATION OF TECHNOGENIC RADIONUCLIDES IN WATER BODIES OF SEMIPALATINSK TEST SITE

P-35 Zarina B. Serzhanova

CONFIDENCE ESTIMATION FOR THE METHODS OF TRITIUM DETERMINING IN SOILS OF SEMIPALATINSK TEST SITE

P-36 Almira Aidarkhanova

CHARACTER OF RADIONUCLIDE CONTAMINATION OF NATURAL LAKES AT THE TERRITORY OF SEMIPALATINSK TEST SITE

P-37 Rimon Thomas

PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM AN OIL SHALE DEPOSIT IN SWEDEN REMAINS FROM 2nd WORLD WAR

P-38 Nina Chobanova

RESIDENTIAL RADON EXPOSURE AND LUNG CANCER RATE IN BLAGOEVGRAD DISTRICT OF BULGARIA

P-39 Kim Sukhoon

MODEL DEVELOPMENT AND CALCULATION FOR THE KOREAN-SPECIFIC RADIATION-INDUCED CANCER RISK

P-40 Hisanori Fukunaga

PERSONALISED EFFECTIVE DOSIMETRY FOR RADIATION RISK ASSESSMENT AND CLINICAL APPLICATION

P-41 Ulrike Kulka

THE STORE PLATFORM FOR DATA AND RESOURCE SHARING IN RADIATION BIOLOGY, RADIOECOLOGY AND EPIDEMIOLOGY

27

PLENARY TOPICS

28

INTRODUCTION TO OUTCOMES OF THE MELODI-CONCERT 2018 WORKSHOP ON INDIVIDUAL RADIOSENSITIVITY

AND RADIOSUSCEPTIBILITY

Laure Sabatier1, Michaela Kreuzer2, Sisko Salomaa3, Jean-Michel Dolo1, Petra Seibold4, Penny Jeggo5, Maria Gomolka2, Dietrich Averbeck1

1Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), DRF, Fontenay-aux-Roses Cedex, France,

2Federal Office for Radiation Protection, Oberschleissheim, Germany, 3 University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland, Helsinki, Finland, 4German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany,

5University of Sussex, UK.


MELODI is a European platform dedicated to low dose radiation health risk research. CONCERT is the ongoing European Joint Programme (2015-2020) for the integration of Radiation Protection Research under H2020. Improvement of radiation protection is one of the long-term goals of MELODI. So far, radiation protection standards are based on the assumption that all members of the population are equally sensitive to ionizing radiation (IR). However, recent findings have shown a strong variability among individuals in radiation-related adverse health effects. Differences have been observed in relation to gender, age at exposure, health status, genetic and epigenetic make-up, lifestyle, and age attained. Well-integrated multidisciplinary research (including mechanistic studies) is required to elucidate the origin and extent of variation of radiation-related individual short and long term responses in the population, the factors contributing to this variation, as well as their importance for quantitative evaluation of health risks. This topic is one of the six priorities of the MELODI Strategic Research Agenda. The aim of the MELODI-CONCERT WorkShop (WS) in Malta in March 2018 was to further promote and reinforce this line of research at the European level. The WS examined the most urgent needs for research, such as, mechanistic studies on genetic factors, the involvement of epigenetic regulation, immune sta-tus, radiation quality, robustness of new biomarkers …), the availability of suitable cohorts for the detec-tion of hyper-radiosensitive and radiosusceptible sub-populations within the human population including patients and radiation exposed workers (MELODI), the design of new promising clinical trials (EURAMED), experiences from mammals and other species that show striking differences in IR defence mechanisms (ALLIANCE), and also ethical and social implications and recommendations for the way forward. From the WS, position papers on the present state of the art and research priorities are prepared and will be highlighted during this 3rd ERPW.

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ESTABLISHING THE MECHANISMS AFFECTING THE INDIVIDUAL RESPONSE TO IONISING RADIATION, INCLUDING

THE CONTRIBUTION OF ANY GENETIC COMPONENTDietrich Averbeck1, Serge Candéias2, Sudhir Chandna3, Nicolas Foray4, Anna Friedl5,

Siamak Haghdoost6, Penny Jeggo7, Katalin Lumniczky8, Francois Paris9, LaureSabatier10, Roel Quintens11

1CEA, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France. [email protected], Grenoble, France. [email protected]. 3Institute of Nuclear Medicine & Allied Sciences, Delhi, India. [email protected]. 4Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Lyon, France.

[email protected]. 5University Hospital, LMU, Munich, [email protected]. 6University of Caen Normandy, France. [email protected]. 7University of Sussex, UK.

[email protected]. 8Katalin Lumniczky, OKI, Budapest, Hungary [email protected]. 9CRCIA, INSERM, CNRS, Université de Nantes, France. [email protected]. 10CEA,

Univ Paris-Saclay, France. [email protected]. 11SCK-CEN, Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, Belgium, [email protected]

Humans are increasingly exposed to radiation (IR), predominantly due to the rising usage of medical radiodiagnostic pro-

cedures and radiotherapy (RT) for cancer treatment. The doses received can range from very low (e.g. following diagnostic X-rays) to greater than 100 mGy for normal tissue during RT. Low dose exposure can cause stochastic effects, such as cancer whilst exposure to higher doses can result in tissue or cell damage, causing simple discomfort to, at the extreme, patient death. Following RT, 5-10 % of patients (termed radiosensitive patients) display an enhanced tissue or cell reaction, a re-

sponse termed radiosensitivity. It is likely that some patients will display sensitivity to the stochastic effects of radiation. Such patients are termed Radiosusceptible and the response radiosusceptibility.

The mechanistic basis underlying radiosensitivity and radiosusceptibility in humans is currently unknown. To optimise radiation protection we need to understand the range of individual variability and the mechanisms conferring sensitivity/susceptibility. We aim here to review current evidence for potential mechanisms conferring radiosensitivity/susceptibil-ity, consider additional potentially impacting mechanisms and to present recommendations for the optimal way to gain mechanistic insight. A significant focus is on seeking the basis underlying radiosensitivity following RT, predominantly because such patients can be identified and their tissues/cells studied. However, we extend our review to consider ra-

diosusceptibility. An important additional question is whether sensitivity/susceptibility is genetically determined, and we evaluate this important issue throughout our work. As a recommendation, we propose the establishment of a prospective

study to assess radiosensitivity following RT. The study should encompass sensitive and resistant patients with clear de-

tails of the tumour site and degree of the response. To achieve this, a defined classification of response should be estab-

lished. Assays that have been reported to be predictive of the response (of which we consider three) should be validated by independent laboratories. Detailed analysis of the inflammatory response, mitochondrial function, the stress response,

the immune response, any premature aging and life style factors, such as smoking, exercise and alcohol consumption should be included. It would also be helpful to include analysis of epigenetic markers. Existing cohorts are also important,

and we consider how these can be optimally exploited.

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CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS ON INDIVIDUAL RADIOSENSITIVITY AND RADIOSUSCEPTIBILITY – A MELODI POSITION PAPER

FOLLOWING THE MALTA 2018 WORKSHOP

Petra Seibold1, Dietrich Averbeck2, Anssi Auvinen3, Maria Blettner4, Michel Bourguignon5, Jaana M. Hartikainen6, Christoph Hoeschen7, Michaela Kreuzer8, Olivier Laurent5, Georges Noel9,

Laure Sabatier2, Christopher J. Talbot10, Sisko Salomaa11

1German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Division of Cancer Epidemiology, Im Neuenheimer Feld 581, 69120 Heidel-berg, Germany 2Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), DRF, Fontenay-aux-Roses 18 route du Panorama, 92265, Fontenay-aux-Roses Cedex, France 3University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland and STUK – Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, Helsinki, Finland 4Institute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and In-

formatics, University of Mainz, Obere Zahlbacher Str. 69, 55131 Mainz 5Institut de Radioprotection et Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), BP17, 92260 Fontenay aux Roses, France 6University of Eastern Finland, School of Medicine, Institute of Clinical

Medicine, Pathology and Forensic Medicine, Yliopistonranta 1 C, FI-70210 Kuopio, Finland, and Biobank of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 100, FI-70029 KUH, Finland 7Otto-von-Guericke University, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and In-formation Technology, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany 8Federal Office for Radiation Protection, In-golstaedter Landstrasse 1, 85764 Oberschleissheim, Germany 9Département Universitaire de Radiothérapie, Centre Paul-Strauss, Unicancer, 3, rue de la Porte-de-l’Hôpital, 67065 Strasbourg cedex, France 10Leicester Cancer Research

Centre, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, Leicester, UK 11University of Eastern Finland, De-partment of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Yliopistonranta 1, FI-70210 Kuopio, Finland

e-mail (presenting author): [email protected]

In March 12-14, 2018, the MELODI association together with CONCERT organized a workshop on “Individual Radiosensitivity and Radiosusceptibility” in Saint Julians, Malta. Around 40 experts from more than 10 countries reviewed the present state of research, determined social and scientific needs and discussed recommendations for future research on differences in individual radiation sensitivity (= tissue reactions induced by ionizing radiation, IR) and radiation susceptibility (=cancer risk from IR). The workshop covered three topics: (1) Clinical and epidemiological observations, (2) Mechanisms involved in radiation sensitivity, and (3) Tests for individual radiosensitivity/susceptibility to identify sensitive and susceptible subgroups.

The authors of this abstract are working on a position paper to provide an overview on clinical observa-tions and epidemiological studies on radiation sensitivity and susceptibility in the area of radiotherapy, di-agnostic procedures, environmental and occupational exposures. We will review studies reporting criteria for defining radiation sensitivity, the occurrence of variations in radiation sensitivity and susceptibility as well as influencing factors. In addition, the clinical relevance and consequences of individual differences in radiation sensitivity will be explored. We will also identify existing suitable cohorts and biobanks for research questions and illustrate methodological considerations such as statistical power. Finally, we will discuss ethical considerations, research opportunities and challenges and conclude with recommenda-tions for the way forward. The paper will be published together with the other position papers resulting from the Malta workshop.

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UNCERTAINTIES IN HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT Anssi Auvinen

STUK – Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, Helsinki, Finland and

University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland


Health risks, whether from radiation or other factors, are inherently uncertain, as a risk is defined as a probability, and is stochastic in nature. Any observations of increased or excess risks are based on comparisons of rates of probabilities of events, typically disease incidence or mortality. These observations involve uncertainty of statis-tical nature that can be characterised as ‘random error’ due to variability, with the main types including sampling error (inclusion of only a finite subset of potential observations) and measurement error (assigning values to observed quantities such as radiation dose). In addition, comparison required for inferring anything about the effect of radiation invokes the possibility of systematic error or bias, including information bias, selection bias and confounding. Finally, epistemic uncertainty reflects our incomplete knowledge in the fundamental aspects, such as conceptual, structural or model uncertainty. These are not captured by the uncertainty estimates derived from observations (construed under guidance of the model presumed valid).

United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) has the mandate to assess the effects of ionizing radiation. UNSCEAR evaluate exposures to the human population worldwide from all nat-ural and man-made sources of ionizing radiation. It also reviews and reports on the current understanding of the effects of exposure to ionizing radiation at the molecular, cellular and tissue levels, on diseases and health risks among the human population, and on the natural environment. Quantification of the uncertainty is central for risk estimation and UNSCEAR has developed guidance for evaluating uncertainty in epidemiological studies on hu-man health effects of ionising radiation in Annex A of the Committee’s 2017 Report to the UN General Assembly. The criteria proposed follow the developments in study quality and risk of bias assessment methods developed for systematic reviews during the past two decades.

Of the major determinants of uncertainty, dosimetry is often a key concern. Typically, epidemiological studies have to rely on retrospectively reconstructed dose estimates with sparse data. Studies with individual-level dose estimates are generally most informative. Studies relying solely on aggregate level data (ecological studies) in-volve substantial additional uncertainty compared with individual-level studies (such as cohort or case-control studies). Outcome data (case ascertainment) is another source of uncertainty, as is comparability of the exposed and reference populations (confounding and selection bias). Appropriate data analysis is also required, as e.g. studies that do not report quantitative dose-response estimates are rarely informative for risk assessment. Fre-quently, low statistical power or precision of the estimates increases uncertainty in the results and limits the conclusions that can be drawn.

32

The approach developed for UNSCEAR will be discussed in the session.

BASICS OF AI FOR MEDICAL APPLICATIONS

Jonas Teuwen1

1Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands


Artificial intelligence has recently attracted much interest from the medical community, mainly due the successful application to problems which were previously considered to be purely within the human realm. The current list is long: applications such as the detection of breast cancer on mammograms, the detection of lung cancer in CT scans and the detection and localization of metastasis in histopathology slices either is on par or exceeds human performance. The increasing availability of curated datasets of medical images together with affordable computation resources will only see the applications grow in the foreseeable future.

In this talk we will cover what modern artificial intelligence and machine learning is able to do. Next, we will discuss deep learning, its different flavors and a few recent state-of-the-art results in medical im-aging. In particular, we will zoom into convolutional neural networks which is one of the most important deep learning methodologies.

After discussing segmentation, detection and image reconstruction using such models we will discuss the possible applications to radiation safety.

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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR TECHNICAL RADIATION PROTECTION IN MEDICAL IMAGING

Christoph Hoeschen1

1Otto-von-Guericke-university Magdeburg, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany


Artificial intelligence is providing many different options for optimizing medical applications of ionizing radiation. Most of this optimization is related to protect patients from ionizing radiation or to improve the diagnostic or therapeutic outcome of the procedures. In this talk, some important aspects of such patient related radiation protection possibilities in medical imaging will be described. It will be focused on technical solutions allowing to reduce the ionizing radiation applied in diagnostic procedures. The technical solutions that will be summarized based on publications of different groups and authors as well as own work will cover scatter reduction tech-niques, noise reduction techniques and reconstruction methodologies. It will be reflecting applications especially for computed tomography and nuclear medical imaging. Possible future directions will be discussed.

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RADIOMICSRalph Leijenaar

Oncoradiomics, Oncoradiomics SA, Clos Chanmurly, 13, 4000 Liège, Belgium


Radiomics can be described as the high throughput mining of quantitative image features from standard-of-care medical imaging that enables data to be extracted and applied within clinical decision support sys-tems to improve diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive accuracy. Radiomics is a rapidly emerging field, ant its potential for clinical applications is increasingly recognized in research. However, the field lacks stan-dardized evaluation of both the scientific integrity and the clinical significance of the numerous published radiomics investigations resulting from this growth. With the prospect of multicenter clinical applications, it has become clear that variation in, for example, software implementations, feature nomenclature, math-ematical definitions and methodology, makes reproducibility and validation of studies in radiomics a ma-jor challenge. For radiomics to mature as a discipline, there is a clear need for rigorous evaluation criteria, reporting guidelines and tools to facilitate standardization, interoperability and advancement of the field.

35

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT IN RADIATION PROTECTION –COMPARING AND CONTRASTING THREE EXPOSURE CONTEXTS

Catrinel Turcanu1, Michiel Van Oudheusden1, Bieke Abelshausen1, Tanja Perko1, Gaston Meskens1, Christiane Pölzl-Viol2, Nadja Zeleznik3, Caroline Schieber4, Tatiana Duranova5, Liudmila Liutsko6,

Marie-Claire Cantone7, Diana Savu8, Catherine Fallon9, Sylvie Charron10, Sotiris Economides11, Regine Gschwind12

1SCK•CEN, Belgium; 2BfS; Germany; 3EIMV, Slovenia; 4CEPN, France; 5VUJE, Slovakia; 6ISGlobal, Spain; 7University of Milan, Italy; 8NIPNE, Romania; 9University of Liège, Belgium; 10IRSN, France; 11EEAE, Greece;

12Université Franche Comté, France


In parallel with growing expectations of the public to participate in decision making on environmental and health issues, the lessons learned from past incidents and accidents and the ensuing concerns for safety and security, there has been increasing recognition and demand for stakeholder engagement (SE) in radiation protection deci-sion-making, from policy-makers, experts, civil society organisations and potentially affected publics. Alongside legal requirements, generic guidelines for SE have been elaborated for specific exposure situations. However, research studies and assessments by civil society organisations argue there are still gaps between intent and practice. Involvement of citizens and other stakeholders is often limited to provision of information or collection of citizen or stakeholder opinions. While this can be useful for certain problems and actors, it ignores the mutual learning resulting from engagement. The ENGAGE project (“ENhancinG stAkeholder participation in the Gover-nancE of radiological risks for improved radiation protection and informed decision-making“) therefore reviews why, when and how stakeholders –including wider publics- are engaged in radiation protection. The three con-texts addressed (medical exposure to ionising radiation, post-accident exposures and exposure to indoor radon) differ in terms of risk characteristics (e.g. deliberate/voluntary vs. involuntary exposure, natural vs. artificial radio-activity) and the justification criteria for exposure to ionising radiation. ENGAGE investigates how participation draws boundaries on who should/can be involved, what the issues at stake are, and how the outcomes and processes of participation are crafted. It takes into account that invited participation by institutional actors is only one part of a more complex “ecology of participation,” alongside cit-izen-led initiatives. The research questions addressed are: What mandates, demands, expectations commend the engagement of stakeholders in radiation protection? What forms of real or potential SE can be observed in practice? What is the role and potential benefit of radiation protection culture in facilitating SE and informed decision-making?

This contribution discusses preliminary results, based on an analysis of international guidelines and requirements, their implementation at national level and the practical experience and lessons learned from case studies, in ra-diation protection and other relevant fields.

ENGAGE (2017-2019) is part of the CONCERT project. This project has received funding from the EURATOM research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 662287.

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SOCIETAL AND ETHICAL CHALLENGES OF HEALTH MONITORING STRATEGIES

Deborah Oughton

Center for Environmental Radioactivity (CERAD), Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway


Public concerns about the potential health consequences of radiation exposures rank high after an acci-dent. However, strategies for health monitoring of populations are often at odds with the actual needs and concerns of the affected populations and, if not carried out properly, can cause more harm than good. A striking example is thyroid screening carried out after Fukushima, which has been claimed to have exacer-bated rather than alleviated anxiety in the participants and their families.

Health monitoring and surveillance strategies need to address, not only radiation effects, but should also aim to identify and alleviate psychosocial impacts. The use of health AAPs and social media have great po-tential for communicating about public health risks and fostering citizen empowerment, but there are also ethical challenges. These include issues of confidentiality, use (or misuse) of big data in surveillance and changing notions of privacy]. Sharing of health and dosimetry data on social media raises issues of privacy, consent, and the potential for stigma and discrimination of affected populations. While stakeholder en-gagement and citizen science has the potential to empower populations in decision making, researchers have challenged the legitimacy of some of the procedures and called for a more critical assessment of the benefits and pitfalls of public participation. With respect to communication, data on doses needs to be translated into meaningful and relevant information on the health implications. Drawing on values identi-fied in the recent ICRP report on the ethical foundations of radiological protection, and recommendations by the Shamisen project, this paper uses the development of dosimetry and health surveillance APPs as a case to explore some of these challenges.

37

ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING IN NUCLEAR EMERGENCIES: EXPERIENCE FROM EXERCISES, DRILLS AND SMALL INCIDENTS

Geert Olyslaegers

Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, SCK•CEN (Belgium)


In a severe nuclear or radiological event, prompt and long term radiological monitoring of a large area may be needed. Being prepared for responding to this need is of utmost importance and include the availability of an adequate number of monitoring techniques and instrumentation, standard operation procedures, trained staff and the integration of monitoring in full emergency exercises to guarantee that the environmental measurement program supports in the best way the emergency decision process and emergency communication. In this pre-sentation we focus on environmental monitoring by mobile teams which, in general, is complemented by the information available from early warning networks.

In a first part, an overview is given of methods and techniques which are, in general, developed in this context, including direct (in-situ) measurements, sampling followed by laboratory analyses, car-borne and aerial surveys and advancements and further needs in this field are discussed.

Furthermore, the role of drills and exercises, including full emergency exercises in setting-up an environmental monitoring plan for nuclear and radiological emergencies are presented. This is mainly done, based on the experi-ence gained from the organization of measurement drills, including measurement inter-comparisons, and federal emergency exercises, in which environmental monitoring was an integral part of the exercise, in Belgium.

Finally, the importance of and the experience from environmental monitoring in two cases in which the Belgian nuclear emergency plan was activated is discussed. Although, both cases are small events and even one of them a non-event, lessons could be identified which can strengthen the preparedness for monitoring in case of larger scale nuclear or radiological events.

38

THE ICRU / ICRP PROPOSAL FOR NEW OPERATIONAL QUANTITIES FOR EXTERNAL RADIATION

Thomas Otto1, Nolan. E. Hertel2, David. T. Bartlett3, Rolf. Behrens4, Jean-Marc Bordy5, Guenther Dietze†4, Akira Endo6, Gianfranco Gualdrini7, Maurizio Pelliccioni8

1European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva, Switzerland 2Georgia Institute of Technology, USA 3Abingdon, UK,

4Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, Germany 5Laboratoire National Henri Becquerel (LNE-LNHB), Gif-sur-Yvette, France

6Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Japan 7Ente per le Nuove Tecnologie, L’Energia e L’Ambiente, Bologna, Italy

8Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Frascati, Italy


The control of radiation risk by limitation and optimization of exposure is based on the quantity effective dose for the whole body, and equivalent dose, for single organs, summing the effects from external and internal exposure. To complement these protection quantities defined by the ICRP, the ICRU defines op-erational quantities for external radiation in which area monitoring instruments and personal dosimeters can be calibrated. These quantities give reasonable estimates of the protection quantities in broad ener-gy spectra of photons or neutrons, but they are not well-suited to high-energy radiation fields in excess of a few MeV. Furthermore, their relation to the protection quantities is complex, and conversion coeffi-cients for dosimeter calibration are published only for photons, neutrons and electrons.

Report Committee (RC) 26 of the ICRU proposes a set of operational quantities, with a definition directly related to effective dose and absorbed dose by means of the conversion coefficients. Conversion coeffi-cients for the proposed quantities are made available for an extended range of particles and for a range of energies extending from a few keV up to 50 MeV, and in some cases, to 200 GeV. The proposal has been submitted to public consultation by ICRP and is presently, in revised form, under review by the main commissions of ICRU and ICRP.

The presentation details the technical and conceptual shortcomings of the present operational quanti-ties. It then introduces the proposed operational quantities. The conceptual simplification and metro-logical improvements with respect to the present quantities are highlighted. Finally, I will illustrate the necessary changes to dosimeter design and calibration for personal dosimeters and survey instruments for photon radiation.

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PRACITICAL ISSUES WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROPOSED NEW OPERATIONAL DOSE QUANTITIES

Richard Tanner,

Public Health England, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon OX11 0RQ, United Kingdom


The proposed revision to the operational quantities will be the biggest change in operational radiation protection since the 1980s. The impacts will be felt across a wide range of areas of health physics, with changes to practice perhaps following from required changes to dosemeter and instrument design. The introduction of the new quan-tities will require new legislation in the EU, since the current EU Basic Safety Standards explicitly refer to the oper-ational quantities as defined in existing ICRU Reports, though interpretation in member states may vary. However, if the new quantities are to be introduced, a lot of preparatory work will be required, with consequential costs.

It is not intended that this presentation makes the case for or against the new quantities, but merely looks at what the impacts might be. In reviewing the impacts, EURADOS have seen positives and negatives across the full range of radiation protection fields. Sometimes the same impact is viewed positively by some and negatively by others.

The impacts may be felt most significantly in personal dosimetry in health physics surveying, but there will also need to be changes in calibration laboratories and in the accompanying specifications of reference fields and performance in those fields. The ability of dosemeters and instruments to respond in terms of the new quantities will be discussed, though scope for discussing how designs can be amended to provide acceptable response is largely beyond the scope of this presentation.

The impacts considered span workplace dosimetry, environmental dosimetry, radiotherapy, medical imaging, cosmic radiation and accelerator dosimetry. As former chair of EURADOS Working Group 6, Computational Do-simetry, I will focus on the ease of computation of the new quantities and whether there are conflicts with the EURADOS Strategic Research Agenda views the development of dose quantities, and the way in which the ICRP are developing phantoms for use in radiation protection.

Acknowledgements:

• EURADOS for the invitation to speak on this topic

• Colleagues at PHE, in particular Jon Eakins and Jan Jansen for input on the definitions and interpretation for instrument and dosemeter responses.

• EURADOS working group chairs, Phil Gilvin (WG2) and Marco Carasena (WG11) in particular, but also Arturo Vargas (WG3), Roger Harrison (WG9) and Željka Knežević (WG12)

40

INTRODUCING ENA – THE EUROPEAN NORM ASSOCIATION

Christian Kunze1, Rob Wiegers2, Ivica Prlic3

1IAF-Radioökologie GmbH, Wilhelm-Rönsch-Str. 9, D-01454 Radeberg, Germany 2IBR Consult BV. De Giesel 14, NL-6081PH Haalen, NL

3Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Ksaverska cesta 2, Zagreb, Croatia


The European NORM Association (ENA) has been formed by merging the European NORM networks EAN_NORM and EU NORM and also incorporates the NORM4Building consortium. ENA was founded in 2017 and aims to be a European platform of experts from industry, government, service providers and academia. The presentation will provide the audience with the objectives and structure of ENA and will focus on the working groups that have been established up to now:

• NORM in building materials

• NORM in industries

• NORM in the environment

An overview of the 1st ENA workshop, which will take place in Katowice (Poland) from 19 to 23 November 2018 and is a continuation of a series of 8 successful EAN-NORM workshops in the last years will also be given, also highlighting the collaboration with the IAEA ENVIRONET NORM Project. Opportunities of ENA and benefits of joining the association will be presented.

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EPIGENETIC EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS

Jorke Kamstra

Norwegian University of Life Sciences, BasAm, CoE CERAD, PO Box 8146 Dep., 0033 Oslo


Toxicological effects of anthropogenic stressors present in the environment are studied extensively, and evi-dence is accumulating that these effects are inherited by multiple generations. Recent data suggest that such transgenerational effects are partly or in whole mediated by epigenetic mechanisms. It has been shown that some stressors are able to change the epigenetic state in germ cells causing effects on histones modifications, DNA methylation and miRNA expression, which are apparent in subsequent generations, leading to transgener-ational disease phenotypes. At our laboratory we study the effects of different stressors at all epigenetic layers using the zebrafish model. This presentation will encompass a general background in environmental epigenetics and an overview of multigenerational studies performed at our lab with ionizing radiation. We employed state-of-the-art epigenetic techniques to assess effects in multiple generations, most extensively on DNA methylation. In embryonic offspring from irradiated parents, many changes of DNA methylation were observed. These changes could be linked to effects that were found in the offspring, such as DNA damage. Follow up analysis in the second and the third generation, revealed persistent effects of DNA methylation in a number of regions. Additionally, miRNA analysis in the offspring revealed a number of differentially expressed miRNA linked to similar pathways as observed in the DNA methylation dataset. Finally, changes at histone modifications were found at specific loci in offspring of exposed parents, but these changes were not observed in the second generation. Our results reveal considerable effects on DNA methylation following exposures to ionizing radiation, as well as a role for miRNAs and histone post translational modifications. By linking the DNA methylation data to genes, results indicate a functional role for DNA methylation in zebrafish. Persistent effects of DNA methylation in subsequent genera-tions implies that DNA methylation changes can be inherited by multiple generations.

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INITIATIVE FOR A EUROPEAN METROLOGY NETWORK

ON BIOLOGICAL RADIATION EFFECTS H. Rabus1, G. Schettino2, V. Blideanu3, G. Magnificat4, F. Vanhavere5

1 Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig, Germany 2 National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Teddington, UK

3 Laboratoire National Henri Becquerel (LNHB), Gif-sur-Yvette, France 4 Institut de Radioprotection et Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), Fontenay aux Roses, France

5 Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK•CEN), Mol, Belgium


The European Association of National Metrology Institutes (EURAMET) is a legal entity comprising National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) and Designated Institutes (DIs) of 37 European countries. Within its mission of creating an integrated and globally competitive measurement infrastructure for Europe, EURAMET has started establishing European Metrology Networks (EMNs) as permanent sub-structures addressing spe-cific fields of metrology of strategic importance at the European level that need capabilities or tools be-yond the state of the art or beyond the capacities of single players.

Within the field of ionizing radiation metrology, an initiative has formed to promote the establishment of an EMN on ionizing radiation effects. The underlying rationale is that while metrology of ionizing radiation has reached a mature state in areas such as measurement of activity or particle fluence of sources or the absorbed dose to a material, areas like biological dosimetry are only indirectly linked to the international system of units via dose-response relationships. In these dose-response curves the underlying data often have large uncertainties on the ‘effect’ axis where uncertainty assessment of biological dose effects is still under development [1]. Furthermore, it is well established that absorbed dose alone is not the most ap-propriate quantity to be used to report radiation responses as demonstrated by the variety of additional (often ad-hoc) parameters which need to be employed (e.g. LET, RBE, Radiation Weighting Factors) With the envisioned future use biological dosimetry in the context of radiation therapy based on biologically opti-mized treatment planning [2], revision of dosimetric quantities, uncertainty assessment of the relevant methodologies and their metrological underpinning for significantly reduced uncertainties on the percent level has become an important challenge for the development of ionizing radiation metrology. Addressing this challenge requires resources and skills beyond those presently available at NMIs/DIs and a close col-laboration with already existing networks in biological dosimetry such as RENEB, EURADOS and others.

Presenting and discussion this initiative in a session and/or a satellite workshop at the ERPW is intended to stimulate discussion with stakeholders from the European radiation protection community to prompt their support for the establishment of such an EMN.

[1] E. A. Ainsbury et al. “Uncertainty on radiation doses estimated by biological and retrospective physical methods”, Radiat. Prot. Dosim. 178(4), 382–404 (2018).

[2] IAEA, “Application of Biomarkers of Radiation Exposure in Radiological Clinical Practice“. Human Health Series, Inter-national Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, in preparation.

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UNEASY BEDFELLOWS: MEDIA, THE NUCLEAR SECTOR AND THE CHALLENGES OF RISK COMMUNICATION

Alexander Nitzsche

Atomic Reporters, Badgasse 56, 2352 Gumpoldskirchen, Austria


In 1979, after the Three Mile Island reactor accident in Pennsylvania, a senior energy utility executive lost his nerves at a press conference and famously told the journalists: „I don’t know why we need to tell you each and every thing we do.“ His statement largely reflects the distrust that persists between the nuclear community and the media to this day.

Institutions in the nuclear sector find it difficult to share sensitive and usually complex scientific and technical in-formation with the media, which are often accused of being biased and of reporting inaccurately, driven by tight editorial deadlines that do not allow extensive background research and a deeper understanding of complicated realities. A new Knight Foundation and Gallup poll, which reports another downswing of public trust in the media, provides an additional argument: why go through journalists to reach the public?

Journalists, on the other hand, often lack the tools to conduct proper research into nuclear issues. Journalism schools today rarely offer training on nuclear technology, their applications and dangers. And once working on a story, reporters find it hard to identify sources in the nuclear community willing to share inside information. Add to this the usual time pressures of the news desk and an increasingly fractured media landscape, with outlets having to cut costs at every corner, then the result is clear: quality journalism becomes a rare commodity.

UNEP states in a recent report: “we know more about the sources and effects of exposure to radiation than to almost any other hazardous agent.” However, this “we” is not the wider public; rather, it is the nuclear sector that works with ionising radiation every day. The dysfunctional relationship between this community and the media has largely ensured that the public knows less and less about ionizing radiation, or its beneficial and harmful ef-fects.

However, two arguments can be made for an improved relationship between media and nuclear sector. First of all, given today’s information landscape, furrowed by “fake news” and “alternate news”, their interests are starting to align with each other: both find it difficult to reach out to the public. What then more natural than to build bridges and strengthen mutual trust? And secondly, and more urgently: both sides must work together to improve risk communication in case of radiation-related accidents. As Rudy Giuliani once famously said: “95 percent of all crisis communication work should be done in advance.”

In 2016, an important step was made toward this goal: at a workshop organized by Atomic Reporters and the Stanley Foundation, international journalists and members of the nuclear community adopted the Rotterdam Recommendations for Improving Communication with Journalists to Enhance Public Safety in the Event of a Nu-clear or Radiological Emergency. The document sets out a number of actions that should be taken to strengthen radiological emergency preparedness and response, and to keep the public informed and enhance public safety.

44

MELODI AWARD

MEDICAL RADIATION EXPOSURE AND BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS: INSIGHTS FROM A MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY APPROACH

Andrea Borghini

Institute of Clinical Physiology (CNR), Via Giuseppe Moruzzi, 1, Pisa, Italy


Medical procedures using ionizing radiation (IR) represent the largest source of man-made radiation expo-sure in most developed countries, especially for the growing use of computed tomography and interven-tional cardiology. Interventional cardiology implies a significant radiation exposure for both patients and physicians. In particular, radiation exposure represents a great concern for patients with congenital heart disease (CHD), who undergo cardiac catheterization procedures in the paediatric age. Concerning the phy-sicians, interventional cardiologists are daily exposed to IR in the course of their professional activities and, thus, may reach important lifetime cumulative doses.

Although concern about potential deleterious effects from radiation has increased tremendously in recent years, the characterization of health risks (cancer and non-cancer) of chronic low-dose IR is still incom-plete and difficult. To date, the identification of potential cancer and non-cancer risks remains difficult through the traditional epidemiological studies. The detection and analysis of “early warning” signs, which are easy to measure and are capable to identify long term risk for subsequent clinically overt disease, may represent an innovative and more attractive approach.

By using this approach, over the past years our research showed long-term chromosomal damage and telomere shortening (predictors of health risks) in peripheral blood lymphocytes of both children with CHD and interventional cardiologists. Additionally, we revealed the dysregulation of specific non-coding RNAs, such as microRNAs, which are important regulators of gene expression in a wide range of biological pro-cess. A better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying radiation-induced cellular damage is fundamental to improve the evaluation of potential long term health risks.

45

Research context

The evaluation of health effects of ionizing radiation (IR) exposure has always been a focus of debate and investi-gation within the scientific community. Health effects include not only cancer, but also other common diseases (including cardiovascular diseases and neurocognitive impairment) and heritable mutations that can be trans-mitted to offspring, increasing the risk of diseases in future generations.

Recent epidemiological evidence also suggests also an increased risk of non-cancer disease, not only at high doses, but possibly at low doses. It is, therefore, clear that intensive and continued research is needed to better improve our understanding of the biological and, consequently, health effects of low levels of IR.

The potential long term non-cancer risks induced by low dose IR represent a concern of particular significance in medical and occupational field. In particular, interventional fluoroscopy represents an important source of radia-tion exposure for both patients and physicians. Indeed, interventional cardiologists represent today a unique hu-man model to assess the potential effects of exposure to low-dose IR. Each operator of the catheterization labo-ratory (Cath Lab) staff, including physicians, nurses and technicians makes hundreds or thousands of procedures each year, and the cumulative dose in a professional lifetime is not negligible. It is estimated that cumulative doses after 30 years of work are in the range of 100-200 mSv, corresponding to a whole-body dose equivalent of 5000-10000 chest X-rays.

To date, the identification of potential cancer and non-cancer effects remains, however, difficult through the tra-ditional epidemiological approach. The detection and analysis of “early warning” signs, which evaluate an initial damage through surrogate endpoints, represent undoubtedly an innovative and more attractive approach.

Contextually, the main goal of my research work, strictly related to the MELODI strategic research agenda (SRA), is to evaluate the potential effects of low-dose IR exposure in Cath Lab staff through the analysis of early biomark-ers of disease, which are easy to measure, non-invasive, and are capable to identify long term risk for consequent clinically overt disease. My scientific activity in this field has led me to publish in several important journals as first author in Circulation (Borghini A et al, 2017), Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis (Borghini et al, 2014) and Atherosclerosis (Borghini A et al, 2013) and as coauthor in International Journal of Cardiology (Vecoli et al, 2016) and JACC Cardiovascular Interventions (Andreassi MG et al, 2015).

My ongoing research interest includes the study of the potential role of non-coding RNAs, such as circular RNAs, as key players in radiobiological response. In fact, circular RNAs might represent crucial and attractive biological markers for elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying the onset of IR-induced disease.

46

PARALLEL SESSIONS

47

SESSION

48

NATURAL BACKGROUND RADIATION AND CANCER RISKS IN CHILDREN

Ben Spycher1

1University of Bern, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM), Mittelstrasse 43, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland


Extrapolations using standard risk models derived from atomic bomb survivors suggest that radiation of natural origin could account for up to 20% of childhood leukaemia cases in the UK and France. Epidemio-logical investigations of natural background radiation and childhood cancer risk could thus potentially add to the evidence base concerning health effects of low-level ionising radiation. Results from early ecologic and case-control studies were inconsistent and the latter were usually small and susceptible to selection bias.

In the last decade, several nationwide record-studies in European countries have investigated the possible association of natural background radiation and childhood cancers. To maximize sample size, these stud-ies identified cancer cases from national childhood cancer registries and obtained representative samples of healthy controls from national routine datasets. Exposure assessment was based on geographic expo-sure models, thus avoiding the requirement of active participation by study members, which can easily result in poor participation rates and selection bias.

The first of these studies, which was carried out in Denmark, found an increased risk of leukaemia in people exposed to high levels of residential radon. Later, a larger UK study found that the risk of childhood leukae-mia increased by 12% (95% CI: 3-22%) per mSv cumulative equivalent dose to the red bone marrow from terrestrial gamma radiation, but no evidence of an association for other cancers or for residential radon. Similarly, a census-based cohort study from Switzerland found no evidence of associations between child-hood cancers and radon, but evidence of associations for leukaemia and brain tumours with total radiation dose from terrestrial gamma and cosmic radiation. For both these diagnostic groups a risk increase of 4% (95% CI: 0-8%) per mSv cumulative effective dose to the whole body was estimated. Although uncertain-ties are large, the risk estimates from the UK and Swiss studies for childhood leukaemia in relation to gam-ma radiation are in broad agreement with those from atomic bomb survivors. In contrast, a more recent large record-based cases control study from France found no evidence for an association between child-hood leukaemia and background radiation, neither for radon nor for terrestrial gamma radiation. A record based case-control study in Finland reported weak evidence for increased risks of childhood leukaemia with exposure to terrestrial gamma radiation, but only in young children aged 2-6 years (corresponding to the period of peak incidence). A recent German ecologic study did not find evidence of an association be-tween childhood leukaemia and ambient gamma dose rate, but did find an association for brain tumours.

The reasons for this discrepancy in results are unclear but it is likely to include study design aspects such as quality and resolution of exposure modelling and timing of exposure assessment. More research is needed to understand the extent to which on natural background radiation contributes to the risk of cancer in children.

49

INCREASED RADIATION-INDUCED BREAST CANCER RISK FOR WOMEN WITH FAMILIAL BREAST CANCER

IN THE SWEDISH HEMANGIOMA COHORT

Markus Eidemüller1, Erik Holmberg2, Marie Lundell3, Per Karlsson2

1Helmholtz Zentrum München, Institute of Radiation Protection, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany 2Department of Oncology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, SE-413 45 Göteborg, Sweden

3Department of Medical Physics and Oncology, Karolinska University Hospital and Karolinska Institute, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden


From population studies it is known that women with breast cancer among first-degree family members are at higher risk to develop breast cancer. However, it is not known whether radiation-induced breast cancer risk is increased as well. The Swedish hemangioma cohort offers unique possibilities to analyse breast cancer radiation risk including familial breast cancer history. The cohort of 17,200 female Swedish hemangioma patients, who had been exposed to ionizing radiation because of skin hemangioma, was linked to first-degree relatives with the Swedish Multi-Generation and Population registers. The follow-up includes persons until December 2013 with 1079 breast cancer cases. Cancer data of the relatives were retrieved from national cancer register. The cohort was analysed for breast cancer incidence risk with particular focus on the separate contributions of familial breast cancer history on background and radiation-induced risk.

Without knowledge on familial breast cancer history, a significant relative and absolute excess risk at age 50 was found with ERR=0.51 (95% CI: 0.32; 0.70) Gy-1, and EAR(50)=10.8 (95% CI: 6.8; 14.8) (104 PYR Gy)-1, consistent with previous analyses of this cohort. For women with familial breast cancer, background risk was increased by 75% relative to women without familial breast cancer. Correcting for familial background risk, radiation-induced ex-cess rates were higher by a factor of 2.7 if cancer among a first degree relative has been observed. The result was significant at the 95% level (p=0.05). The analysis for cancer among mothers, sisters and daughters separately demonstrated a remarkable consistency with an increase in radiation risk between a factor of 2.3 and 3.0. Thus the study provides strong evidence that women with familial breast cancer history are at higher risk to devel-op radiation-induced breast cancer. This should be taken into consideration for medical radiation applications. Lifetime risk estimates for breast cancer therapy and mammography screening are presented. It is likely that this individual susceptibility for radiation-induced breast cancer has a genetic component. Molecular studies are necessary for a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms.

50

DOES RADON CAUSE CANCERS OTHER THAN LUNG CANCER? – RESULTS FROM THE GERMAN

URANIUM MINER COHORT STUDY, 1946-2013

Nora Fenske1, Maria Schnelzer1, Michaela Kreuzer1

1Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), Neuherberg, Germany


Radon is an established risk factor for lung cancer. Less clear is whether radon can cause cancers other than lung cancer. To further investigate the risk of extra-pulmonary cancers, mortality data from the Ger-man uranium miner cohort study were analysed.

The cohort includes 58,974 men who were employed for at least 6 months between 1946 and 1989 at the former Wismut uranium mining company in Eastern Germany. Exposure to radon and its progeny and exter-nal gamma radiation was estimated through a comprehensive job-exposure matrix. In this analysis, statis-tical modelling was performed by internal Poisson regression for grouped data with baseline stratification by age and calendar year. Excess relative risks (ERR) per 100 WLM (Working Level Month) and 95% confi-dence intervals (CI) were estimated for cumulative 5-year lagged exposure to radon (mean=280, max=3224 WLM). Additive adjustment for cumulative exposure to external gamma radiation was performed.

The results of this analysis were as follows. Within the follow-up period 1946-2013, a total of 5,122 ex-tra-pulmonary cancer deaths occurred. In this group, a statistically significant relationship with radon was found (ERR/100 WLM=0.014; 95% CI: 0.006, 0.021), which did not change after adjustment for external gamma radiation. With respect to individual cancer sites, the majority of risk estimates were positive (14 out of 18), and two of them reached borderline significance (colon and liver cancer), even after adjustment for external gamma radiation. The largest ERR/WLM was estimated for pharynx cancer (n=71; ERR/100 WLM=0.077; 95% CI: -0.037; 0.190).

Our findings suggest some evidence for a relationship between exposure to radon and mortality from can-cers other than lung cancer. Chance, confounding by unconsidered risk factors and uncertainty in exposure assessment cannot be completely ruled out. If present at all, the radon-related risk for extra-pulmonary cancers is substantially lower than that for lung cancer.

51

BACKGROUND AND STATE OF THE ART IN THE FIELD OF ABSCOPAL RADIATION EFFECTS: DEVELOPING

THE “SEPARATE” PROJECT

Anna Saran1, Paola Giardullo1,2, Barbara Tanno1, Gabriele Babini3, Francesca Antonelli1, Arianna Casciati1, Mirella Tanori1, Simona Leonardi1, Emanuela Pasquali1, Ilaria De Stefano1,2, Soile Tapio4,5, Munira Kadhim6,

Fiona Lyng7, Simonetta Pazzaglia1, Mariateresa Mancuso1

1 Agenzia Nazionale per le Nuove Tecnologie, l’Energia e lo Sviluppo Economico Sostenibile, Laboratory of Biomedical Technologies, Rome, Italy. 2 Guglielmo Marconi University, Department of Radiation Physics, Rome, Italy. 3 Università degli Studi di Pavia, Dipartimento di Fisica, Via Bassi, 6, 27100 Pavia, Italy. 4, 5 Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research

Centre for Environmental Health, Institute of Radiation Biology, Munich, and German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Technical University Munich, Germany. 6 Oxford Brookes University, Department of Biological and Medical

Sciences - Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford, United Kingdom. 7 Dublin Institute Of Technology, Centre for Radiation and Environmental Science, Focas Research Institute, Dublin, Ireland.

e-mail: [email protected] and [email protected]

In the last three decades, the concept that radiation generates long-range signalling responses has been de-scribed in a wide variety of experimental systems (in vitro, cultured artificial 3-D human tissue systems, ex vivo models). However, there is a general lack of in vivo data relevant for human exposures and only limited data are available that allow understanding of their generality in tissues/systems in vivo and underlying mechanistic bas-es.

Using a mouse model of radiation sensitivity, we showed that non-targeted abscopal effects are factual in vivo events with carcinogenic potential in different tissues (i.e., central nervous system and skin). We also established that interplay between radiation dose and exposed tissue volume plays a critical role in non-targeted effects, including carcinogenesis, occurring in off-target tissues. Finally, recent data have identified the involvement of non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) in the resolution of abscopal DNA damage and tumor induction in non-tar-geted cerebellum.

The CONCERT funded SEPARATE project is designed to extend these studies with focus on the analysis of the effects on brain, heart, and liver following exposures of the lower third of the body, whilst the target organs are shielded. Changes in these important organs at the transcriptome, non-coding RNAs, protein, and metabolic lev-els will be analyzed. We will also investigate exosomes from exposed tissues, and their specific bioactive cargo - particularly RNA content – for their role in mediating out-of-target effects in vitro and in vivo. By combining cel-lular, molecular and bioinformatic data we will be able to identify the response pathways in the different tissues, and by inference, suggest the candidate signalling molecules involved. A second major outcome of the project will be the identification of candidate biomarker molecules of both whole- and partial-body irradiation responses. The aims and objectives of the project will be presented together with preliminary results.

The SEPARATE project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 in the framework of CONCERT under grant agreement No 662287.

52

NASA SPACE RADIATION HEALTH RISKS: MAJOR QUESTIONS AND MITIGATION STRATEGIES

Janice L. Huff1,2, Zarana S. Patel1,3, Gregory A. Nelson1, Jason Weeks1, Lisa C. Simonsen4

1NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058 2MEI Technologies, Houston, TX 77058

3KBRwyle, Houston, TX 77058 4NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23666


Outside of the Earth’s protective magnetosphere, interplanetary crews will be at higher risk for radiation exposure from both intermittent solar particle events as well as from higher levels of chronic galactic cosmic rays (GCR). GCR consists of high mass and energy (HZE) ions, high energy protons, and second-ary protons, neutrons, and fragments produced as a result of interactions with spacecraft shielding and human tissues. Heavy ions differ from terrestrial forms of radiation, such as x-rays or gamma-rays, and impart unique biological damage as they traverse through tissue and cells. The Space Radiation Element (SRE), within NASA’s Human Research Program, is focused on ensuring that crewmembers can live and work safely in space with acceptable health risks from space radiation exposure. Mission risks include central nervous system effects that could result in cognitive or behavioral impairments with associated impacts on crew performance and mission operations, as well as degenerative tissues changes, such as potential immune system decrements, that may impact multiple aspects of crew health. Post-mission health risks include epithelial carcinogenesis (particularly cancers of the lung, breast, stomach, colon, and bladder), leukemias, and degenerative tissue effects including cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative conditions, accelerated aging, and chronic immune dysfunction. The risk of acute radiation syndromes in the event of an unshielded exposure to a large solar particle event during flight is also of concern. Research involves risk characterization and mitigation, with a major focus on understanding the quantitative as well as qualitative differences in biological responses produced by GCR compared to terrestrial radiation expo-sures. Additionally, work is required to understand how these risks interact with other space environment stressors such as microgravity, isolation and confinement, and distance from Earth.. Given the technical challenges of studying radiation in the true space environment, ground-based research is performed at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory located at the Brookhaven National Laboratory where NASA has a beamline dedicated to the study of the radiobiology of heavy ions. A major ongoing effort is the GCR Sim-ulator Project, which is focused on the development of the facility, hardware, and software tools needed for delivery of a GCR primary and secondary environment with a mixed field, high-energy capability that accurately simulates the radiation environment astronauts will experience during interplanetary travel to Mars. This research capability is essential to address high priority research areas required for risk modeling and medical countermeasure testing and validation, for both deep space and Mars missions. This presen-tation will provide an overview of NASA’s space radiation program and mitigation strategies for the major radiation health risks that crews will encounter during travel in deep space.

53

GENE EXPRESSION IN LYMPHOCYTES EXPOSED TO MIXED BEAMS OF ALPHA AND X-RADIATION

Lei Cheng1, Lovisa Lundholm1, Andrzej Wojcik1

1Centre for Radiation Protection Research, Department of Molecular Biosciences - The Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, Sweden


In many situations, people are exposed to mixture of high and low linear energy transfer (LET) ionizing radiation (IR), such as IR in the environment from the bedrock and space, or radiotherapy with protons or with boron neu-ron capture therapy. It is important for human radiation protection to estimate the biological effect of exposure to mixed beams. Previous studies showed both additive and synergistic effects of combined IR of different LET and the outcome seemed to be dependent on the experimental setup. Previous studies from our lab indicated a synergistic effect in cells exposed to mixed beams of alpha particles (high LET) and X-rays (low LET) by micro-nuclei assay, comet assay and gamma H2AX assay. The mechanism of synergism is suggested to be increased initial DNA damage and decreased rate of DNA repair due to more complex damage induced by mixed beams. The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of mixed beams on the expression of selected genes involved in DNA damage response in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) isolated from 4 donors.

A dedicated mixed-beam exposure facility used in the experiments is installed and characterized at the Stock-holm University, which allows exposure of cells to 241Am alpha particles and X-rays simultaneously or in single manner. Experiments were done with human PBL collected from four donors. qPCR was used to measure the rel-ative expression levels of the genes FDXR, GADD45a, BBC3, MDM2, CDKN1A and XPC 24 hours following exposure to 1) alpha particles, 2) X-ray and 3) mixed beam (1:1 of alpha particles and X-ray) in the range of 0-2 Gy.

All genes showed a positive dose response to the three tested radiation types. Generally, alpha particles and mixed beams were stronger inducers of gene expression compared to X-rays and this difference was largest at low doses. Alpha particles and mixed beams showed similar dose response curves, which were characterized by a sharp increase at low doses and a saturation at high doses. X-rays were a weaker inducer of gene expression showing a more linear dose response curve. Gene expression levels of three out of four donors showed a sig-nificant synergistic effect of mixed beams. The mRNA levels of the FDXR showed the highest level of induction and largest expression level difference between X-rays and alpha particles or X-rays and mixed beam, but also a strong individual variability. The results suggest individual variability in the response to mixed beams.

Work supported by the Swedish Radiation Protection Authority.

54

NEW SOFTWARE TO INTEGRATE UNCERTAINTY IN THE OPTIMISATION OF MONITORING

FOR INTERNAL CONTAMINATION

DAVESNE Estelle1, LAROCHE Pierre2, BLANCHARDON Eric1

1IRSN, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France 2ORANO, Paris, France


In case of risk of occupational intakes of radionuclides, the potential internal contamination of workers must be monitored. This monitoring is carried out by measuring the activity retained in the body or present in excreta. The results of these measurements can be interpreted in terms of committed effective dose using biokinetic and dosimetric models adapted to exposure circumstances.

However, the measurement variability and the incomplete knowledge of exposure conditions introduce uncertainty in the dose assessment. Statistical methods were developed to evaluate this uncertainty as a criterion to optimize individual monitoring programs. The objective is to guarantee compliance with dose limits or dose constraints within a defined level of confidence and using reasonable operational means. These statistical methods were implemented in MIODOSE software developed in collaboration between IRSN and ORANO.

This software allows, by integrating uncertainty:

§estimating the minimum dose detectable by a routine monitoring program from available informa-tion on physico-chemical forms of the handled material, on the level of activity at the workplace, and on the detection limits of the techniques available to measure incorporated radionuclides;

§assessing the committed effective dose following an intake incident, along with its associated uncertainty, from measured retained and/or excreted activities;

§helping the person in charge to choose the monitoring program best adapted to the potential or ascertain exposure conditions.

The developed methods will be explained and applied to real cases in order to demonstrate their practical interest.

55

THE EFFECT OF MUCOCILIARY CLEARANCE ON RADIATION BURDEN OF THE BRONCHIAL AIRWAYS AT RADON INHALATION

Péter Füri1, Árpád Farkas1, Balázs G. Madas1, Imre Balásházy1, Werner Hofmann2

1Centre for Energy Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-1525 Budapest, P.O. Box 49, Hungary 2Department of Chemistry and Physics of Materials, University of Salzburg,

5020 Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstr. 34, Austria


Based on several reference studies (BEIR VI, UNSCEAR 2009) there is a strong correlation between high radon activity concentrations in the inhaled air and the increased probability of lung cancer. The prediction of health ef-fects associated with the inhalation of radon is one of the most important challenges of current radiation biology and radiation protection. The first step of this process is the determination of the airway deposition distribution of the inhaled short-lived radon progenies. Lung models have a spatial resolution superior to that of experimental methods (e.g. gamma camera images). The most frequently used lung model for radiation protection purposes is the ICRP HRTM (human respiratory tract model), a regional model with two bronchial and one acinar compart-ments. This model is not able to determine the inhomogeneous activity and dose distribution within the two bronchial compartments, namely in BB (airway generations 1-8) and bb (airway generations 8-15). In order to char-acterize the bronchial radiation burden of the inhaled radon progenies at higher resolution, airway generation lev-el deposition and clearance distributions, activity density rate distributions, and absorbed cell nucleus dose rate distributions were computed for unattached 218Po, attached 218Po and attached 214Po isotopes by Radact, which is a recently developed version of the Stochastic Lung Model. The results show that while mucociliary clearance does not play an important role in the bronchial dosimetry of 218Po, it can be associated with the major part of the resulting dose rates originating from the decay of 214Po. Since the burden of the 214Po is predominant, clearance seems to play a key role in bronchial radon dosimetry. The distribution of radiation burden is very inhomogeneous in the BB and bb regions of the airways with a sharp peak in the central airways. Based on histo-pathological studies (e.g. Cross 1987), most of the carcinomas of the population highly exposed to radon were developed in this section of the lung. This study has demonstrated that, unlike the widely used current models, the recently developed Radact model can be an appropriate tool for the description of the burden of radon progeny at the level of airway generations.

References

Cross, F.T., 1987: Health effects, in: Cothren, C.R., Smith, J.E. (Eds.), Environmental Radon, Environmental Science Research. Plenum Press, New York, NY, pp. 215–248.

ICRP Publication 66, 1994: Human Respiratory Tract Model for Radiological Protection, Annals of the ICRP 24, Pergamon Press, Oxford, UK.

BEIR VI REPORT, 1999: Health effects of exposure to radon. N. A. Press, Washington, D.C.

UNSCEAR REPORT, 2000: Sources and effects of ionizing radiation. Report to the General Assembly, with scientific annexes, New-York.

AcknowledgementThis work has been supported by the VKSZ_14-1-2015-0021 project of the Hungarian Research, Development and Innovation Fund.

56

EPI-CT STUDY FINDINGS

Ausrele Kesminiene1, Graham Byrnes1, Elisabeth Cardis2 and Michael Hauptmann3 on behalf of the EPI-CT study group

1International Agency for Research on Cancer, 150 Cours Albert Thomas, 69003 Lyon, France 2Barcelona Institute for Global Health ISGlobal, ISGlobal, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)

and Barcelona, Spain and CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain 3Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands


There is no doubt that the use of computed tomography (CT) imaging is beneficial for millions of patients. However, the potential adverse health effects, particularly cancer, related to exposure to ionizing radiation from CT early in life, are of concern in the radiological protection, medical and public health communities.

EPI-CT, a European collaborative epidemiological study, was set-up to quantify risks of cancer, primarily leukae-mia and brain, from computerized tomography and to provide a basis for optimization of pediatric diagnostic protocols. The study was designed as a multinational cohort study of children and young adults who underwent CT scanning before the age of 22 years. It combined data from participating radiology departments in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

We observed a positive association with cumulative radiation dose to the brain (lagged by 5 years) for all malignant brain tumors and for gliomas separately. We also observed positive association with cumulative bone marrow dose (lagged by 2 years) and leukaemia, excluding chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and myel-odysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms. There was weak evidence for association with all other cancers combined, but not for any individual site.

Acknowledgements: all the national cohorts (except the Norwegian cohort) were partially funded by the EU 7th Program for research, technological development and demonstration under GA No 269912—EPI-CT.

The UK study was partially supported by US National Cancer Institute (NO2-CP-75501), Radiation Research Programme of the UK Department of Health (RRX119), Cancer Research UK (C22891/A16015) and NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Chemical and Radiation Threats and Hazards (no Grant No.).

The French study received funding from the French national Cancer Institute (Grant No 2011-1-PLSHS-01-IRSN-1) and from “la Ligue contre le cancer” (Grant No PRE09/MOB)

The Dutch study was partially supported by Worldwide Cancer Research (grant 12-1155).

The German study was partially funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research under grant numbers 02NUK016A, 02NUK016B and 02NUK016CX.

The Norwegian cohort was funded by the Research Council of Norway.

The Spanish study was partially supported by a grant from the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear).

57

DNA DAMAGE IN THE LENS EPITHELIUM AND RADIATION-INDUCED CATARACT:

INITIAL RESULTS FROM THE LDLENSRAD PROJECT

Stephen Barnard1,2, Roisin McCarron1, Claudia Dalke3, Daniel Pawliczek3, Joachim Graw3, Ilaria DeStefano4, Simonetta Pazzaglia4, Mariateresa Mancuso4, Liz Ainsbury1, LDLensRad Consortium

1Public Health England, Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Oxford OX11 0RQ, UK 2Durham University, School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Durham, UK

3Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, 1Institute of Developmental Genetics, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany

4Agenzia Nazionale per le Nuove Tecnologie, l’Energia e lo Sviluppo Economico Sostenibile (ENEA), Laboratory of Biomedical Technologies, Rome, Italy

email: [email protected]

The lens of the eye has been reported as being a radiosensitive tissue. The epidemiological data for radiation-in-duced cataract would support this suggestion. However, the exact mechanism(s) between initial radiation ex-posures and cataract development remain unclear. The LDLensRad project investigates the effects of radiation on a large number of pathways and processes in an attempt to identify which are affected. Here, we discuss the potential role of DNA damage and repair specifically in the lens epithelial cells in ‘radio-resistant’ C57BL/6 mice as well as Ercc2+/- (involved in DNA repair) and Ptch1+/- (involved in cell specialisation and function) genetically modified mice following 0, 0.5, 1 and 2 Gy Co-60 exposures at 0.3 and 0.063 Gy/min, 4 and 24 hours post-expo-sure. Initial results of dose response, repair efficiency and interestingly dose rate are presented here. The role of DNA damage may not be the exclusive mechanism of radiation-induced cataract, but a contributor alongside other pathway(s) resulting in an accumulation of damage to lens function.

The LDLensRad project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 in the framework of the CONCERT [grant agreement No 662287]

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LIFETIME STUDIES IN MICE ASSESSING RADIATION-INDUCED LENS OPACITIES AND OTHER BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS

Claudia Dalke1, Sarah Kunze1, Daniel Pawliczek1, Frauke Neff2, Ute Rößler9, Marie-Claire Ung1, Lillian Garrett1, Sabine M. Hölter1, Daniela Hladik3,8, Sabine Hornhardt9, Maria Gomolka9, Ivan Kondofersky4, Christoph Ogris4, Alexander Cecil5, Helmut Schlattl6, Kristian Unger7, Soile Tapio3,8, Michael Atkinson3,8, Ulrike Kulka9, Horst Zit-

zelsberger7, Elizabeth A. Ainsbury10, Jochen Graw1, LDLensRad Consortium

Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, 1Institute of Developmental Genetics, 2Institute of Pathology, 3Institute of Radiation Biology,

4Institute of Computational Biology, 5Genome Analysis Center, 6Research Unit Medical Radiation Physics and Diagnostics, 7Research Unit of Radiation Cytogenetics, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany;

8Technical University Munich, Germany; 9Federal Office for Radiation Protection, Department of Radiation Protection and Health, Oberschleißheim, Germany; 10Public Health England, Centre

for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Oxford OX11 0RQ, UK


The INSTRA and LDLensRad projects are lifetime studies in mice irradiated with low and moderate dose of γ-rays (60Co) to analyse radiation effects on the eye and other organs, with a focus on the mechanisms involved in radiation-induced lens opacification.

Young adult mice (10 weeks) of different genetic constitution (wild-type B6C3F1 and Ercc2+/- ) were acutely whole body irradiated (0, 0.063, 0.125 and 0.5 Gy at 0.063 Gy/min; 0.5, 1 and 2 Gy at 0.3 Gy/min). During the lifespan of the mice lens opacification was analysed monthly by Scheimpflug imaging; retinal fundus and thickness was examined by OCT (optical coherence tomography). Behaviour tests were performed 4, 12 and 18 months post irradiation (p.i.). Eyes and other organs are collected at different time points p. i. (4 and 24 hours, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months) and embedded for histology and immunohistochemistry.

In the INSTRA study with irradiation doses up to 0.5 Gy the lens opacification showed a subtle but sta-tistically significant dose-dependent increase (≈1%) over the follow-up period of 24 month p. i., while the age-dependent increase of lens density was about 2% (Dalke et al. 2018, Radiat Environ Biophys 57:99-113). Histological analyses confirmed the absence of clinically relevant lens opacities. Using immunohisto-chemistry, we observed no altered ROS (reactive oxygen species) levels and no changes in differentiation or proliferation of lens fibre cells after irradiation. The same tendency was observed in the metabolomics analyses of snap frozen lenses; age-dependent changes, but no radiation-induced changes were detected. However, plasma samples of the same mice showed a radiation effect 24 h after 0.5 Gy irradiation. Radia-tion-dependent behaviour effects could be shown. A significantly altered survival rate and a dose-depen-dent increase for several types of tumours were indicated.

Preliminary results from the ongoing LDLensRad study showed no radiation-induced cataracts in wild-type B6C3F1 and Ercc2+/- mice up to 7 months after acute 2 Gy irradiation of the mice. Updated results from INSTRA and LDLensRad will be presented.

The INSTRA consortium is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (02NUK045A, B and C). The LDLensRad project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 in the framework of CONCERT under grant agreement No 662287.

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WHY THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE REHABILITATION IS DIFFERENT? LONGITUDINAL COMPLEX

NEUROPSYCOLOGICAL AND PSYCHO-SOCIAL STUDY IN LIQUIDATORS OF THE CHERNOBYL DISASTER

Yulia Malova1,2; Liudmila Liutsko3-5

1MSLU, 119034, 38, Ostozsenka str., Moscow, Russia 2FBM of Lomonosov MSU, 119991, 27, Lomonosovskiy pr., Moscow, Russia

3ISGlobal, Dr. Aiguader, 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain 4UPF, Pl. de la Mercè, 10, 08002 Barcelona, Spain

5CIBERESP, C/ Monforte de Lemos 3-5, Pab. 11, 28029 Madrid, Spain


Background. In accordance with some scientific studies results there is an evidence of impact of the Chernobyl accident on mental of the Liquidators of the consequences of Chernobyl Accident (ChNPP). However, the role of the time for the beginning of the provision of the psychological assistance to the Liqudators in their psychological well-being was not examined. The results of longitudinal study of different mental functions was not reported for the Liquidators also. In this work we present the results of the longitudinal study of multifactorial impact of the ChNPP in various higher brain functions of Liquidators.

Material and method. The investigation of higher cortical functions was performed in 89 Liquidators with early (N= 40) and late (N= 49) time of the beginning of psychological assistance (as a component of the program of in-tegrated medical, social and psychological assistance in Russian Rehabilitation Centre for the participants of the liquidation of the ChNPP of RNCRR (Russian Scientific Center of Radiology, Moscow) in 1991-2010.

The most significant effects were identified with help of Luria complex neuropsychological study. The compara-tive neuropsychological study was also conducted in two subgroups: Professionals (physics, radiologists, nuclear power specialists etc.) (P) (N = 21) and Non-professionals (NP) (N= 68). They differed not only by their educational and professional background, but also in the degree of the awareness of the accident.

Results. Significant differences were found between groups P and NP based on the results of neuropsycholog-ical examination. In group of P the decrease of verbal memory functioning and dynamic component of higher cortical functions damage were less evident in longitudinal examination. Also psycho-social well-being and the performance of higher brain functioning in testing of both subgroups in 2009-2010 was better in group with the beginning of psychological assistance in 1991-1992. The Liquidators, who lost their jobs in 1990s showed the worst state of higher cortical functions.

Conclusions. The results demonstrate the role of psychosocial factors in development of the neuropsychological syndromes and complex well-being in victims of radiation accidents .and the importance of the earliest possible start of psychological care as an integral part of the complex of medical, social and psychological rehabilitation in survivors of nuclear disaster.

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NEW INSIGHT IN LOW-RADIATION BACKGROUND BIOLOGY AT THE INFN UNDERGROUND GRAN SASSO

NATIONAL LABORATORY (LNGS)

Giuseppe Esposito1, Patrizia Morciano2, Francesca Cipressa3, Antonella Porrazzo2, Giovanni Cenci2,3, Maria Antonella Tabocchini,1,3

1Istituto Superiore di Sanita (ISS) and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Sezione, Roma 1, Rome, Italy

2Dipartimento Biologia e Biotecnologie “C. Darwin”, SAPIENZA Università di Roma, Rome, Italy 3Museo storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche „Enrico Fermi“


Deep underground laboratories (DULs), originally created for fundamental physics experiments requiring a low-background environment with vastly reduced levels of cosmic-ray particle interference, are now truly multidisciplinary science sites that host important studies in several fields, including geology, geophysics, climate and environmental sciences, technology/instrumentation development and biology. So far, under-ground biology experiments are ongoing or planned in a few of the currently operating DULs.

The majority of radiobiological data have been collected at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS). Recent results from our studies of Drosophila melanogaster, provide the first evidence of the influence of the radiation environment at the organism level. Our study has shown that the permanence in a strongly reduced radiation environment can indeed affect Drosophila development and, depending on the genetic profile, may affect viability for several generations even when flies are moved back to the reference radi-ation environment. Moreover, a further relevant information was that changes in Drosophila growth and development are observed as soon as after 2 weeks of permanence underground, giving suggestion for possible mechanisms involved (Morciano et al. J Cell Phys 2018).

Given the increasing interest in this field and the establishment of new projects, such as those carried out at WIPP and the recent REPAIR Project at SNOLAB, it is possible that in the near future more DULs will serve as sites of radiobiology experiments, thus providing further relevant biological information at extremely low-dose-rate radiation.

Underground experiments can be nicely complemented with above-ground studies at increasing dose rate. A systematic study performed in different exposure scenarios provides a potential opportunity to address important radiation protection questions, such as the dose/dose-rate relationship for cancer and non-cancer risk, the possible existence of dose/dose-rate threshold(s) for different biological systems and/or end points and the possible role of radiation quality in triggering the biological response.

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A GENETIC AND CYTOGENETIC STUDY OF BRITISH NUCLEAR TEST VETERANS AND THEIR CHILDREN

Alex Moorhouse1,2, Laurette Bukassa3, Frances Daley1, Yuri Dubrova2, Clare Gilham3, Julia Michalek1, Julian Peto3, Christine Rake3, Martin Scholze1 and Rhona Anderson1

1Centre for Health Effects of Radiological Agents, Institute for Environment, Health and Societies, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, London UB8 3PH, UK

2 Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK 3 Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene

and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK


The question of adverse health effects in the offspring of radiation-exposed parents remains outstanding. The consensus from epidemiology is that presently no conclusive evidence exists, yet this is tempered by some evi-dence from cellular and animal studies that support the presence of detrimental outcomes as a result of parental exposure to radiation. The aim of this study is to ask whether a heritable genetic legacy could exist due to histori-cal participation in various military operations during the British nuclear testing programme in the 1950s and 60s. For this, we are recruiting 50 nuclear test veteran family trios (veteran, child, child’s mother) according to their potential for being exposed to radiation and matching (on age, service and rank) with veterans who served in the tropics at the same time but who were not present at any tests. After consent, whole blood is sampled from each family and processed for cytogenetic and whole genome sequence analyses to ask (i) if there is any cytogenetic evidence of historical exposure of the test veterans and (ii) if there are any differences in the frequency and spec-tra of DNA mutations and chromosomal aberrations in 1st generation children of test veterans, when compared to the control family group. This study is underway and will report its findings once complete. The permissions, recruitment and methodological processes involved in all aspects of this study will be described.

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LONG-TERM PROLIFERATION OF NORMAL HUMAN FIBROBLAST EXPOSED TO LOW DOSE RADIATION AT LOW DOSE RATES

Pamela Akuwudike1, Milagrosa López Riego 1, Fabian Brückner1 Lovisa Lundholm1, Andrzej Wojcik1

1 Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University.


Understanding the biological effects of exposure to low doses of ionizing radiation ( £100 mGy) has be-come highly imperative, in order to properly quantify and qualify the potential dangers of diagnostic, oc-cupational and environmental exposure. Over the years, numerous studies have shown that low dose ra-diation (LDR) induces cell proliferation in normal human cells such as human aortic endothelial cells 1, lung fibroblasts2, and even in mesenchymal stem cells3, however, these studies were carried out at high dose rates (> 6mGy/h), and only short-term effects (24 h -72 h) were monitored. In this study, the long-term ef-fects of exposure to low doses of ionizing radiation at lower dose rates was investigated.

Cell growth, cellular senescence as well as changes in gene expression were monitored over the period of 10 weeks (70 days) after irradiation. Long-term cell growth experiments were carried out by irradiating ac-tively dividing VH10 fibroblasts at doses 25mGy, 50mGy, and 100mGy, delivered at dose rates 0.39Gy/min (23.4Gy/h) (high dose rate), 12mGy/h, 8mGy/h and 1.6mGy/h (low dose rates). These cells were then pas-saged weekly for 10 weeks or until cells became senescent by constantly re-seeding 5x105 cells in 175cm2 flasks weekly. Cell senescence was also monitored weekly using the senescence associated β-galactosi-dase assay, and cell samples were collected for further assays in the pipeline. Cell viability assays MTT and resazurin reduction assay were used to monitor cell proliferation daily for 7 days after irradiation.

Long-term cell growth experiments revealed a tendency for increase in cell proliferation of cells exposed to low doses at low dose rates. Cell proliferation decreased with increasing dose rate and these effects were persistent for 10 passages (10 weeks). These results indicate not only does low dose radiation in-duce cell proliferation in irradiated cells, but the effects persist even in subsequent generations.

References

1. Vieira Dias, J., Gloaguen, C., Kereselidze, D., Manens, L., Tack, K., & Ebrahimian, T. G. (2018). Gamma Low-Dose-Rate Ionizing Radia-tion Stimulates Adaptive Functional and Molecular Response in Human Aortic Endothelial Cells in a Threshold-, Dose-, and Dose Rate–Dependent Manner. Dose-Response, 16(1), 1559325818755238.

2. Kim, C.S., Kim, J.K., Nam, S.Y., Yang, K.H., Jeong, M., Kim, H.S., Kim, C.S., Jin, Y.W. and Kim, J., 2007. Low-dose radiation stimulates the proliferation of normal human lung fibroblasts via a transient activation of Raf and Akt. Molecules & Cells (Springer Science & Business Media BV), 24(3).

3. Liang, X., So, Y. H., Cui, J., XU, X., ZHAO, Y., CAI, L., & LI, W. (2011). The low-dose ionizing radiation stimulates cell proliferation via acti-vation of the MAPK/ERK pathway in rat cultured mesenchymal stem cells. Journal of radiation research, 52(3), 380-386.

63

PROTEIN-URANIUM INTERACTIONS: STUDY OF URANIUM TARGETS AND ENGINEERING OF SELECTIVE AND

AFFINE SITES FOR BIOSENSORS OR EXTRACTANTS

Catherine Berthomieu,1 Sandrine Sauge-Merle,1 Maria Rosa Beccia,1,2 Romain Pardoux,1 Nicolas Bremond,1 Rym Cher-if,1 Christine Battesti,1 David Lemaire,1Philippe Guilbaud,3 Mohamed Merroun,4 Pascale Delangle,5 Pier Lorenzo So-

lari,6 Florian Brulfert,7 Eric Simoni,7 Samir Safi,7 Serge Crouzy8,

1CEA, CNRS, Aix-Marseille Univ., UMR 7265, Lab. des Interactions Protéine Métal, 13108 Cadarache, France

2Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Institut de Chimie de Nice, UMR 7272, 06108 Nice, France 3CEA, DRCPC, SMCS, LILA, Bagnols Sur Cèze, France

4Department of Microbiology, Univ. of Granada, Granada, Spain ; 5CEA, INAC, UMR-E3 CEA UJF, Grenoble, France

6Synchrotron SOLEIL, Gif-sur-Yvette, France ; 7CNRS-IN2P3, Univ. Paris-Sud, Univ. Paris-Saclay, Orsay, France

8Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, CEA, BIG, LCBM (UMR 5249) , 38000 Grenoble, France


Direct interaction of uranyl with proteins and subsequent alteration of their properties is part of its toxicity. For c-reactive protein [1] or calmodulin [2], calcium substitution by uranyl at the active site induces local structural changes that alter the proteins interaction with cognate partners. This highlights the importance of studying uranium protein interactions at the molecular level to better understand toxicity. Proteins finely tune metal site properties by the chemical nature and structural disposition of the direct metal ligands and by protein motifs more distant from the metal. As such, they are interesting substrates to develop selective radionuclide binding sites in the context of biodetection or remediation.

We study the interference between uranium and calcium binding to proteins and use an engineering approach to decipher determinants of the affinity and selectivity of protein binding sites for uranyl. Combining a molecular dynamics modelling approach with site-directed and targeted random mutagenesis, we obtain binding sites with affinities ranging from the micro to the sub nanomolar range. High affinity for uranyl is observed with phos-phorylated binding sites [3] but also with specific uranyl binding loops bearing carboxylate ligands. [4] Structur-al information on the coordination of uranyl were obtained using EXAFS, FTIR, and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy .[5,6] These results are used to develop a fluorescent biosensor of the bioavailable uranyl fraction in plants or for bioremediation strategies.

References: 1. Pible O et al. 2010 Protein Sci. 19(11), 2219-30; 2. Brulfert F et al. 2017 J Inorg. Biochem. 172, 46-54; 3. Pardoux R et al. 2012 PLoS One 7, e41922; 4. Pardoux, R et al. 2014 Patent WO2014155356 A8; 5. Brulfert F et al. 2016 Inorg. Chem. 55, 2728-36; 6. Sauge-Merle S. et al. 2017 Chemistry Eur J 2017 23, 15505-15517. We acknowledge funding from the Toxicologie program from CEA, and from Programme Investissement Avenir DEMETERRES.

64

RADIATION-INDUCED MIRNAS AS BIOMARKERS OF EXPOSURE IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD LEUKOCYTES

OF BREAST CANCER PATIENTS

Michal Marczyk1, Joanna Polanska1, Andrzej Wojcik2,3, Lovisa Lundholm2

1Institute of Automatic Control, Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland. 2Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, Sweden

3Institute of Biology, Department of Radiobiology and Immunology, Jan Kochanowski University, Kielce, Poland


Introduction: High throughput biodosimetric methods are needed for management of large scale radiolog-ical emergencies. Promising results were reported on the analysis of gene expression in peripheral blood lymphocytes of exposed people for the purpose of biological dosimetry, but they require validation in ra-diation-exposed humans. The aim of the present investigation was to test if microRNA levels in peripheral blood lymphocytes of breast cancer patients treated by external beam radiotherapy were predictive of the absorbed dose.

Materials and methods: Leukocytes were isolated from blood samples collected prior to exposure (con-trol), on the day after one fraction (2 Gy), five fractions (10 Gy) or ten fractions (20 Gy), and finally at one month after 23–25 fractions, or a total dose of 46–50 Gy. Total RNA was isolated, a small RNA library prepa-ration protocol was applied and RNA sequencing was performed using the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform. Univariate analysis was carried out and a nominal logistic regression model was built using a training set from 8 patients (37 samples) and a validation set with incomplete sets of samples from another 8 patients (15 samples).

Results: Only one miRNA, hsa-miR-3065-3p was significantly decreased at 2 Gy compared to 0 Gy after multiple testing correction. A number of miRNAs had an increased or decreased expression as determined from model building by partial overlap between the training and testing set. There were temporal differ-ences in patterns diffentiating miRNAs with early or late responses or stably elevated at all time points. We could also confirm previous reports of the p53-regulated tumour suppressor miRNA miR-34a-5p being radiation-responsive in a dose- and time-dependent manner, in our study we noted the highest increase in miR-34a-5p after 20 Gy.

Discussion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first effort to analyse global miRNA levels in blood after fractionated radiation exposure in vivo in humans. Relatively large individual differences were pres-ent within this sample set, yet a number of novel radiation-responsive miRNAs were identified, as well as confirmation of miR-34a-5p regulation in vivo in humans.

65

ANALYSIS OF BONE MARROW AND LEUKAEMIA CELL EXTRACELLULAR VESICLE MIRNA CARGOS

Eric Rutten1, Lourdes Cruz-Garcia1, Katalin Lumniczky2, Tünde Szatmári2 and Christophe Badie1

1Public Health England, Centre for Chemical, Radiation and Environmental Hazards, Harwell Campus, Didcot, Oxford

2Department of Radiation Medicine, Division of Radiobiology and Radiohygiene, National Public Health Institute, Budapest, Hungary


Extracellular vesicles (EVs) can participate in the establishment of a pro-leukaemic niche within bone marrow (BM) via remodeling of the microenvironment and alteration of the haematopoetic stem cell and progenitor pop-ulation [1]. However, the impact of EVs in ionising radiation (IR)-induced leukaemogenesis by comparison with direct DNA damage effects remains unknown.

The present study aims to characterize the miRNA content from BM EVs after radiation exposure in vivo to iden-tify miRNAs which target leukaemogenetic pathways, and furthermore to characterise effects on cell popula-tions that uptake EVs. Previously, male and female C57BL/6 mice were total body irradiated at 0.1, 1 or 2Gy, and their miRNA profiles were measured using nCounter technology (NanoString Technologies), using a mouse miRNA panel targeting 800 different miRNAs. Subsequent analysis generated predicted pathways targeted by the most representative miRNAs (KEGG pathways, DIANA-microT-CDS), which included: DNA repair (e.g. FoxO, Hedgehog, Hippo), haematopoietic regulation (Wnt signalling), and other pathways regulating stem cell pluripotency and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).

We aim to build on previous data via in vitro assays of cultured CBA BM. EVs from CBA wild-type (WT) mice (a strain prone to radiation-induced leukaemia (2)) and MLP3, a cell line derived from CBA AML, were extracted (Ex-oQuick-TC, System Biosciences). WT EVs were analysed with an nCounter miRNA panel to establish a wild-type expression pattern. Cultures were exposed to 0.1, 1 and 2Gy and EVs harvested at several time points post IR. nCounter and RT2 profiler PCR array (Qiagen) analysis provided insight into miRNA expression differences, exo-some content and metabolic impact. Further in vitro assays focused on MLP3, with EVs analysed to characterise AML miRNA expression profiles. This in vitro methodology allows to measure dose response over time in EVs which will be confirmed in vivo., Future experiments, e.g. FACS sorting, will provide a deeper insight into EV pro-duction and uptake in individual cells.

Moreover, we will use a unique transgenic CBA GFP/mCh model [3], with GFP and mCh expression linked to Sfp1 expression on each of chromosome 2, respectively, allowing for monitoring of the presentation of pre-leukaemic cells, characterised by loss of one fluorescent signal. miRNA EVs content from pre-leukaemic cells will be charac-terised and EVs will be injected into recipient CBA transgenic mice particularly susceptible to AML development..

66

Ultimately, we hope to establish the role and impact of EVs in IR-induced AML, and to identify biomarkers of leukaemia risk in mice that may translate to human.

References:

1. Kumar, B., Garcia, M., Weng, L., Jung, X., Murakami, J., Hu, X., McDonald, T., Kumar, A., DiGiusto, D., Stein, A., Pullarkat, V., Hui, S., Carlesso, N., Kuo, Y., Bhatia, R., Marcucci, G. &Chen, C. 2017, “Acute myeloid leukemia transforms the bone marrow niche into a leukemia-permissive microenvironment through exosome secretion”, Leukemia, vol. 1, no. 13.

2. Verbiest, T., Bouffler, S., Nutt, SL., Badie, C., “PU.1 downregulation in murine radiation-induced acute myeloid leukaemia (AML): from molecular mechanism to human AML”, Carcinogenesis, 2015 Aprl 36(4): 413-9.

3. Verbiest, T., Finnon, R., Brown, N., Cruz-Garcia, L., Finnon, P., OBrien, G., Ross, E., Bouffler, S., Scudamore, C.L., Badie, C., “Track-ing preleukemic cells in vivo to reveal the sequence of molecular events in radiation leukemogenesis”, Leukemia, 32, 1435-1444.

67

POTENTIAL SCREENING ASSAYS FOR INDIVIDUAL RADIATION SENSITIVITY AND SUSCEPTIBILITY

AND THEIR CURRENT VALIDATION STATE

Maria Gomolka1, Michel Bourguignon2, Benjamin Blyth3, Christopher Talbot4, Christophe Badie5, Annette Schmitz6, Georges Noel7, Christoph Hoeschen8, Davor Zeljezic9, Laure Sabatier10 and Sisko Salomaa11

1Federal Office for Radiation Protection, Ingolstaedter Landstrasse 1, 85764 Oberschleissheim, Germany; 2Institut de Radio-protection et Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), BP17, 92260 Fontenay aux Roses, France; 3Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia; 4Leicester Cancer Research Centre, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, Leicester, UK; 5Can-cer Mechanisms and Biomarkers group, Biological Effects Department, Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Public Health England, Didcot OX11ORQ, UK; 6 Institut de Radiobiologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire (CEA JACOB IRCM), 18 route du Panorama, 92260 Fontenay aux Roses, France; 7Centre Paul Strauss, 3 Rue de la Porte de l’Hôpital, 67000 Stras-bourg, France; 8Otto-von-Guericke University, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany; 9Division for Mutagenesis, Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb, Croatia; 10Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), DRF, Fontenay-aux-Roses Cedex, France; 11University of Eastern Finland, 70210 Kuopio, Finland


The individual response to ionizing radiation (IR) has been identified by MELODI as a peculiar issue because of the high probability that the people concerned by an abnormal response deserve more attention and radiolog-ical protection than the normal responders. The abnormal response was initially named “radiosensitivity” and mentioned as a priority in MELODI SRA. In March 12-14, 2018, the MELODI association together with CONCERT organized a workshop on “Individual Radiosensitivity and Radiosusceptibility” in Saint Julians, Malta. Working group 3 evaluated the current state of assays to identify sensitive and susceptible subgroups. The authors of this abstract are working on a position paper to provide an overview on potential screening assays detecting individ-uals showing moderate to severe acute and late radiation reaction or are at increased risk to develop cancer upon therapeutical or occupational radiation exposure. The authors stress the necessity to separate clearly between tissue reactions and stochastic effects such as cancer when comparing the existing literature to validate various test systems. Due to different biological mechanisms, cellular assays which demonstrate predictive power for acute or late normal tissue toxicity will not be equally valuable in the context of radiation carcinogenesis. Require-ments for the assays are set up. The literature is reviewed for assays that are reliable (reproducible), robust and realistic in respect to specimen access, time and costs. Sensitivity and specificity of the assays are regarded and scrutinized for modifying factors. The assays are evaluated with respect to their current state to be implemented as valid biomarkers to predict radiosensitivity and/or radiosusceptibility of an individual. Especially validity and robustness will be considered before they can be proposed for routine application. We aim to give clear recom-mendations for future research improving hereby radiation protection. This includes common cohorts/biobanks to validate current and future test systems and the implementation of a network for validation. Finally, if possible a decision tree of risk will be set up to provide radiation therapists, radiologists and nuclear medicine physicians a tool to assist in their medical treatment decisions. The paper will be published together with the other position papers resulting from the Malta workshop.

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SESSION

69

DEVELOPMENT OF PRIMARY STANDARDS FOR RADIONUCLIDE THERAPY

Ana M Denis Bacelar1

1National Physical Laboratory, Hampton Road, TW11 0LW, Teddington, United Kingdom


Radionuclide therapy uses radiopharmaceuticals to selectively deliver high absorbed doses to the target tissues whilst minimising the toxicity to the organs at risk. Accurate and reproducible measurements and calculations of the administered activities and the absorbed doses delivered are essential to ensure the safety and efficacy of this radiation therapy modality. This is achieved by maintaining metrological traceability to national and inter-national standards. The measurement chain in radionuclide therapy involves three steps: activity administered measurements, quantitative imaging to determine the activity within a given volume of interest and calculation of the absorbed dose delivered determined from the spatial and temporal variation of the activity within that volume. Accurate measurements of the administered activities can be done with a relatively high accuracy within a hospital using a radionuclide calibrator. National Measurement Institutes (NMIs) can provide traceability to pri-mary standards by provision of calibrated sources or calibration services for a range of radionuclides. Traceability for quantitative imaging and dosimetry calculations is however questionable. The UK’s National Physical Labora-tory (NPL) has lead a European Metrology Research Programme project and is presently leading a follow-up proj-ect on metrology for the clinical implementation of dosimetry in radionuclide therapy, with the aim of addressing these challenges [1, 2]. During this project, the world’s first primary standard for radionuclide therapy dosimetry was developed to allow the validation of internal dosimetry calculations by comparison of measurement and calculation of absorbed dose [3]. The standard consists of a gas-filled ionisation chamber containing two adjust-able parallel electrodes or extrapolation chamber, which enables the user to measure the absorbed dose to water from a radioactive solution with uncertainties well within the required levels for radionuclide therapy, typically below 5%. The presentation will review the development of primary standards and traceability needs in radionu-clide therapy.

[1] MetroMRT: http://projects.npl.co.uk/metromrt/

[2] MRTDosimetry. http://www.mrtdosimetry-empir.eu/.

[3] Billas I, Shipley D, Galer S, Bass G, Sander T, Fenwick A, et al. Development of a primary standard for absorbed dose from unsealed radionuclide solutions. Metrologia. 2016;53(6).

70

UNCERTAINTIES IN QUANTITATIVE IMAGING

Jonathan Gear

Royal Marsden Hospital NMFT, London, UK


Quantitative imaging is a prerequisite for dosimetry in Internal Radionuclide Therapy. However, quantita-tive imaging using gamma cameras is hampered by a number of challenges, including segmentation, res-olution and deadtime. In the following we demonstrate how the uncertainty of quantitative imaging can be assessed using the EANM guidelines for uncertainty assessment, based on recommendations from the Guide for Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement. A framework is presented for modelling uncertainty in the measurement process. Each activity values are obtained in terms of a count rate, a calibration fac-tor and a recovery coefficient. The method for determining the calibration and recovery coefficients are described. Consideration is given to propagate estimates of the quantities concerned and their associated covariance and uncertainties. An example of this approach is given in the form of a phantom experiment, which is also used to demonstrate the accuracy of the imaging methodology.

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UNCERTAINTY ANALYSIS IN

RADIONUCLIDE RADIOTHERAPY

Wei Bo Li

Institute of Radiation Protection, Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Ingolstädter Landstraße 1,

85764 Neuherberg, Germany


Introduction: Internal dose assessment in radionuclide therapy is essential for patient dose reporting and health risk analysis. In the entire internal dose assessment, parameters used in physics, human anatomy and physiology, computational methods, like image acquisition process, biokinetic modelling and Monte Carlo simulations are subject to a large uncertainty. Those uncertainties are propagated to radiation doses to patients. In combination with the global sensitivity analysis, the important parameters in the chain of internal dose calculation can be identified. The overall benefits are precision dose reporting and uncertainty reduction of patient doses and of patient-specific risk analysis.

Materials and methods: The basic methods used in this work comprise three principal aspects. First, the meth-odology of internal dosimetry in radionuclide therapy jointly developed by ICRP and MIRD Committee [1] was applied. Second, the law of propagation of uncertainty, also used by ISO and NIST, was implemented to the for-mula of the internal dose calculation. Third, the global sensitivity analysis was introduced to identify the most influential parameters on patient organ doses.

Results: The developed method of uncertainty analysis was applied to pharmacokinetic models and internal dose assessment for clinically commonly used radiopharmaceuticals [2], such as 18F-FDG. Uncertainty and sensi-tivity analysis of 177Lu-PSMA patient dosimetry for prostate cancer therapy will be reported as well.

Conclusion: Uncertainty analysis in internal dosimetry can contribute to radionuclide therapy. Patient doses, re-ported with uncertainty, can be further used for risk analysis. Most influential parameters in internal dose can be identified for improvement of therapy protocol and for reduction of the uncertainty of radiation doses to patients.References:

1. Bolch WE, Eckerman KF, Sgouros G, et al. MIRD pamphlet No. 21: a generalized schema for radiopharmaceutical dosimetry-standardiza-tion of nomenclature. J. Nucl. Med. 50:477-484 (2009)

2. Spielmann V, Li WB, Zankl M, et al. Uncertainty quantification in internal dose calculations for seven selected radiopharmaceuticals. J. Nucl. Med. 57, 122-128 (2016)

Acknowledgements: This work was in part financially supported by the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Build-ing and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) under contract No. 3612S20013.

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BIODISTRIBUTION MODELLING AND DOSE ASSESSMENTS OF RADIUM-223 USED

FOR TREATMENT OF PROSTATE CANCERVera Höllriegl, Wei Bo Li

Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Ingolstädter Landstrasse 1, 85764 Neuherberg (Germany)

email: [email protected]

Introduction: 223Ra-Dichloride (223Ra, Xofigo®) is used in patients with castration-resistant metastatic pros-tate cancer due to its bone-seeking and alpha-particle emitting properties. The objective of this work was to apply the new biokinetic model for radium and its progenies recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP, 2017) to show their pharmacokinetic behaviour in the hu-man body and to compare the model prediction with clinical data. Finally, the absorbed organ doses after intravenous injection of 223Ra were estimated by applying the dosimetric model recommended by MIRD and ICRP (Bolch et al. 2009).

Methods: The current systemic biokinetic models of 223Ra, recommended by ICRP, and its decay prod-ucts were built and interconnected for modeling 223Ra as an injected radiopharmaceutical into human. The transfer coefficients of the models were taken from ICRP Publications or were recalculated. The time integrated activity coefficients in source organs for each decay products were determined. The S-values, which were newly reported by ICRP (2016), were used to calculate the organ absorbed doses. The contribu-tion of each decay products to the absorbed dose of 223Ra was analyzed.

Results: The time-dependent distribution of 233Ra after intravenous administration showed a rapid plasma clearance and a very small urinary excretion. The main elimination was through the colon as feces. Bone retention was about 25% at 24 hours post-injection. Very similar data were obtained in clinic trials. The organ absorbed doses in some key organs and tissues, bone marrow, bone surface and urinary bladder will be shown and compared to results calculated by the software OLINDA/EXM.

Conclusion: The good agreement of the modeled 223Ra data with human clinical data showed the feasibil-ity of applying the ICRP biokinetic models in clinical trials; however, more clinical imaging data for organs are needed to validate the models. The organ doses calculated in this work can be used to compare and assess different alpha radionuclide therapies. The reference dosimetric method can be further developed to evaluate patient-specific doses if the clinical biokinetic parameters are accessible.

References: ICRP, 2017. Occupational intakes of radionuclides: Part 3. ICRP Publication 137. Ann. ICRP 46(3/4). ICRP, 2016. The ICRP computational framework for internal dose assessment for reference adults: Specific absorbed fractions. ICRP Publication 133, Ann. ICRP 45(2). Bolch et al., 2009. MIRD pamphlet No. 21: a generalized schema for radiopharmaceutical dosimetry--standardization of nomenclature. J Nucl Med. 50:477-484.

73

RADIO-IODINE THERAPY OF GRAVES’ DISEASE: EXTRACTING THE DOSE-EFFECT RELATIONSHIP

FROM OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES

Broggio David

IRSN, IRSN/SDOS/LEDI, BP-17, 92626 Fontenay-aux-Roses, France


Introduction: Graves’ disease is a benign disease very often treated with radioiodine. Inspection of the literature shows that there are little evidences for choosing the requested thyroid dose. In order to obtain the dose-effect relationship for the success of iodine-131 therapy for Grave’s disease we carried out an analysis of the literature. Selecting the correct thyroid dose is of course to avoid unneeded exposure of healthy organs.

Materials and Methods: We looked for literature data reporting the success of a single I-131 therapy for Grave’s disease. We only included peer-reviewed articles in French or German where the thyroid dose was reported along with the success rate.

We assigned an uncertainty to the success rate (exact Cloper-Pearson method) and to the reported dose. We finally carried out a fit of the data using, as an ansatz, a sigmoid function. In the fitting procedure both error bars were taken into account following the method of Wolberg [1].

Results and discussion: We extracted from the literature 22 relevant papers accounting for a total of 3922 pa-tients. The reported thyroid doses were between 60 and 649 Gy. In all studies the thyroid dose was calculated with at least one uptake measurement and an ultrasound assessment of the thyroid weight. In 15 of the studies the dose uncertainty was reported or could be deduced. An average dose uncertainty of 26% was fixed for the other studies.

Despite the data are scattered and that the pattern of the dose-effect relationship is far from being clear the fitting procedure gives results in good agreement with the 1995 data of Peters [2] which were obtained with 98 patients.

According to our findings the confidence bands for therapy success are as follows: [58-77%] at 150 Gy, [71-84%] at 200 Gy and [82-94%] at 300 Gy.

Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge this work is the more exhaustive and complete analysis of the dose-ef-fect relationship for one of the most common radio-iodine therapy. It might serve as an evidenced basis for prescription of the administered activity, provided personalized thyroid uptake assessment is performed before therapy.

References: [1] Wolberg J. Data Analysis Using the Method of Least Squares, 2006, Springer [2] Peters H. et al. European Journal of Clinical Investigation 25 (3): 186-193 (1995).

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CLINICAL STUDIES ON CARDIAC

COMPLICATIONS AFTER BREAST RADIOTHERAPY

Jacob Sophie

Institut de Radioprotection et de Sureté Nucléaire – IRSN, Laboratory of Epidemiology, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France


Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer among women and radiotherapy (RT) plays a major role in its treatment. However, BC RT can lead to incidental irradiation of the heart, resulting in cardiac complica-tions with increased risk of a variety of heart diseases arising many years after radiotherapy. Long before the onset of clinically significant late cardiac complications, subclinical cardiac changes may occur over weeks, months or years after RT that can be detected using anatomical and functional cardiac imaging or circulating biomarkers. Detecting early signs of cardiotoxicity and determining the relationship between radiation dose to specific cardiac structures and subclinical cardiac changes is crucial for primary/second-ary prevention.

In this context, in the frame of the MEDIRAD European project, the EARLY HEART study was launched in 2017. This five European centers prospective cohort study will include approximately 250 unilateral breast cancer women treated with RT without chemotherapy, with the aim to identify and validate new cardiac imaging and circulating biomarkers of radiation-induced cardiovascular changes arising in the first 2 years after BC RT and to develop risk models integrating these biomarkers combined with precise dose metrics of cardiac structures based on 3D-dosimetry.

Based on emerging research in advanced imaging modalities and biomarkers, this study will allow enhanced detection and prediction of early radiotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity and patients’ care.

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MECHANISTIC APPROACH AND MEASUREMENT OF RELEVANT RADIOBIOLOGICAL MARKERS FOR

CARDIOVASCULAR RISKS AFTER BREAST RADIOTHERAPY

Rob P. Coppes1

1 Departments of Cell Biology and Radiation Oncology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands


The Horizon 2020 MEDIRAD project on Implications of Medical Low Dose Radiation Exposure aims to enhance the scientific bases and clinical practice of radiation protection in the medical field and thereby addresses the need to better understand and evaluate the health effects of low-dose ionising radiation exposure from diagnos-tic and therapeutic imaging and from off-target effects in radiotherapy (www.medirad-project.eu). Workpackage 4 of this project on Breast radiotherapy and secondary cardiovascular risk performs epidemiological study on cardiovascular changes after radiotherapy, measuring markers of exposure and risk modelling. This presentation will address the approach, recent findings and future plans of task2 of workpackage 4 being the study of the mechanism and measurement of relevant radiobiological markers of exposure effect of low dose radiation-in-duced cardiovascular disease. In this part of the project a preclinical rat model is used to identify mechanisms of cardiovascular toxicity, and to identify standard and innovative biomarkers for cardiovascular toxicity that will be verified in plasma of patients that participate in the clinical studies of tasks 1 (previous presentation). The preclin-ical animal model will be described as well as the approach to obtain biomarkers. The results of this task will be used for the predictive modelling in task 3, presented in the next presentation.

This study was supported by a grant fomr the EU: MEDIRAD, EU Horizon 2020 project: 755523

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DEVELOPING A BIOLOGICALLY-BASED RISK MODEL FOR ATHEROSCLEROTIC DISEASES

AFTER RADIATION THERAPY

Jan Christian Kaiser1, Cristoforo Simonetto1

1Helmholtz Zentrum München, Institute of Radiation Protection, Oberschleissheim, Germany


Radiotherapy (RT) for solid tumors often involves some incidental exposure of the cardio-vascular system. For breast cancer RT the heart receives typical mean photon doses between 3 Gy for the right breast and 7 Gy for the left breast. RT for head and neck cancer generates much higher doses of up to 50 Gray to the carotid intima-media (CIMT). The statistical association between radiation exposure at therapeutic doses and cardiovascular events (CVE), mostly related to atherosclerosis (AT), is well established. Uncertainty re-mains about the shape of the dose response and age-risk patterns after RT. Identification of patients with elevated CVE risk prior to RT is also of importance. Biologically-based risk models for atherosclerosis may help to clarify these questions. Such models rely on a process-oriented description of disease progression which allow to integrate information from diagnostic imaging and possibly molecular biology. In MEDIRAD Task 4.3. a prototype of a mechanistic AT model for CVE risks will be developed and first results related to the model design will be presented here. Analysis of CVEs in the German KORA F4 study suggest a nonlinear risk response to CIMT thickness caused by the mechanical stress-strain relationship of artery walls. This observation facilitates patient stratification with respect to susceptibility for RT-related CVEs and should be reflected in mechanistic models. For a Munich cohort of breast cancer patients we observed a negligible influence of age at RT treatment on lifetime CVE risk projections for patients with a good prognosis. Finally, we will present an outlook on the planned improvements in model development.

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STRESSING THE IMPORTANCE OF CONSIDERING RADIATION DOSES TO CARDIAC SUBSTRUCTURES AND CORONARY ARTERIES IN BREAST CANCER RADIOTHERAPY-INDUCED CARDIOTOXICITY

STUDIES: AN EXAMPLE (BACCARAT STUDY)

Valentin Walker1, David Broggio1, Sylvie Derreumaux1, Jérémy Camilleri2, Eric Bruguière2, Matthieu Lapeyre2, Christian Chevelle2, Gaëlle Jimenez2, Atul Pathak2, Marie-Odile Bernier1, Jean Ferrières3, Dominique Laurier1, Sophie Jacob1

1 Institut de Radioprotection et de Sureté Nucléaire (IRSN), Fontenay-aux-Roses; 2 Clinique Pasteur, Toulouse; 3 INSERM, UMR1027, Toulouse


Background: Breast Radiotherapy (RT) used until the 1990s was associated with long term cardiac complications. Since the 2000s, three-dimensional imaging methods and advanced RT techniques allowed reducing the irradi-ation of healthy tissue. However, the heart often remains partially exposed. Detailed individual heart dosimetry information is required to better understand radiation-induced cardiac damage.

Purpose: To analyse the distribution of individually-determined radiation doses to the heart and its substructures after RT in breast cancer patients from the BACCARAT (BreAst Cancer and CArdiotoxicity Induced by RAdioTherapy) cohort.

Methods: BACCARAT is a monocentric prospective cohort study that included unilateral breast cancer patients treated between 2015 and 2017 and followed-up for 2 years. Before RT, a Coronary Computed Tomography An-giography (CCTA) was performed. CT images used for RT treatment planning allow delineation of the heart and surrounding organs. Registration of the planning CT and CCTA images allowed delineation of the coronary arteries on the planning CT images. Using the 3D dose matrix generated during treatment planning and the added coro-nary contours, dose distributions were generated for the following cardiac structures: whole heart, left ventricle (LV), left main coronary artery (LM), left anterior descending artery (LAD), left circumflex artery (LCX) and right coronary artery (RCA).

Results: Dose distributions were generated for 107 patients: 90 left-sided breast cancer, 17 right-sided. The treat-ment schedule with tangential beams was either 50 Gy delivered in 25 fractions of 2 Gy or 47 Gy in 20 fractions of 2.35 Gy. Additional beams to tumor bed (boost) or lymph nodes areas were used, if clinically indicated. The mean heart absorbed dose was 2.98 ± 1.41 Gy for left-sided patients and 0.61 ± 0.46 Gy for right sided patient. The mean LV dose was 6.40 Gy and 0.17 Gy respectively for left and right-sided patient. Considering coronary arteries, for left-sided patients, mean dose to LM (D_LM) = 1.28 Gy, D_LAD=15.75 Gy , D_LCX=1.61 Gy and D_RCA=0.74 Gy, whereas corresponding doses for right-sided patients were D_LM=0.63 Gy, D_LAD=0.28 Gy, D_LCX=0.28 Gy and D_RCA=1.46 Gy. For left-sided patients, the most exposed part of the LAD could receive doses > 45 Gy.

Conclusion: Our study illustrates the importance of considering the distribution of doses within cardiac sub-structures. That should provide further insight into the spatial location of radiotherapy-induced heart damages in breast cancer patients.

Acknowledgements: Fédération Française de Cardiologie, Électricité de France (EDF).

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VERIDIC: VALIDATION AND ESTIMATION OF RADIATION SKIN DOSE IN INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY

Dabin Jérémie1, Farah Jad2, Maccia Carlo³, Blidéanu Valentin4, Sans Merce Marta5, Zourari Kyveli6, Ciraj Bjelac Olivera7, De Monte Francesca8, GallagherAoife9, Knežević Željka10

1Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK•CEN), Mol, Belgium; 2Paris Sud University Hospitals (APHP), Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France ; ³Centre d’Assurance de qualité des Applications Technologiques dans le

domaine de la Santé (CAATS), Sèvres, France ; 4French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), Gif-sur-Yvette, France; 5University Hospital of Geneva (HUG) and University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV), Switzerland:

6Greek Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), Athens, Greece: 7Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences (VINCA), University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia; 8Veneto Institute of Oncology (IOV), Padua, Italy;

9University Hospital Limerick (UHL), Limerick, Ireland; 10Ruđer Bošković Institute (RBI), Zagreb, Croatia


Background: In interventional cardiology (IC), patients may be exposed to high doses to the skin, resulting in tissue reactions, following a single or multiple procedures. To tackle this issue, online and offline software tools have been developed to estimate the maximum skin dose (MSD) to the patient from IC procedures. However, the capabilities and accuracy of such skin dose calculation (SDC) software to estimate MSD and 2D dose distributions markedly differ among software vendors, and the reporting of the MSD estimate and the related accuracy in the radiation dose structured report (RDSR) is neither systematic nor harmonised. In addition, there is currently no acceptance testing and quality control (QC) protocols of such systems.

The VERIDIC project focuses on the harmonisation of the RDSR and on the validation and control of SDC software products in IC, which will foster radiation protection of patients.

Methodology: SDC software solutions will be analysed according to their calculation algorithms and their capabilities. In particular, the factors considered in the MSD calculation (such as the backscatter radiation, the patient table and mattress attenuation or the patient’s body shape) and how they are reported will be investigated. Furthermore, recommendations for harmonising the MSD reporting will be formulated.

Commonly used dosimeters, including Gafchromic films, termoluminiscent detectors as well as dosime-ters readily accessible to medical physicists in clinical environment, will be thoroughly characterised for a wide range of conditions encountered in IC. Protocols for acceptance and quality control tests to be used in clinical practice will be developed and tested. Tolerance levels and technical criteria for acceptance of SDC systems will be proposed. Those protocols will also be used for comparing different SDC software.

In at least 15 European hospitals, detailed information from more than 750 cardiac therapeutic procedures will be collected, including RDSR and clinical indications. Those data serve to develop reference levels, and investigate correlations between clinical parameters and the patient exposure. Recommendations for patient dose optimisation will be derived. In addition, several months of dose reports will be collected to estimate the proportion of high doses procedures in IC. Skin dose will be calculated using SDC software.

Acknowledgment: The work described in this abstract has been supported by the European Commission, within the CONCERT project. This project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 662287.

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EVALUATION OF EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF STAFF RP TOOLS FOR INTERVENTIONAL PROCEDURES

Gabriela Piernik Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, St Teresa 8 str., Lodz 91-348, Poland


Interventional procedures are widely used in clinical practice and their incidence has been growing constantly. Those procedures are often performed on seriously ill patients and consequently, more staff are needed to sup-port the patient. Furthermore, medical personnel tend to stand closer to the patient and be exposed to higher dose-rates and scattered radiation than for other radiological procedures.

Interventional radiologists represent one of the most important groups of medical specialists involved in such practices. For this reason, radiation doses delivered to staff members are a matter of growing concern and the greatest care must be taken to ensure the safety of these professionals in accordance with the ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) principle.

A broad selection of radiation protection equipment is available including lead (non-lead/light-lead) aprons, thyroid shields and ceiling-suspended shields. The aim of the project is to analyse the most recent available instruments and methods of radiation protection, still not widely, commercially used like masks caps, hoods, Zero-gravity suspended system or radioprotective drapes. During presentation the methodology of currently measurements will be presented.

80

AUTOMATIC ASSESSMENT OF MEDICAL X-RAY IMAGE QUALITY USING THE MODULATION TRANSFER FUNCTION

Zahra Passand, Christoph Hoeschen

Institute for Medical Technology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg

Universitätsplatz 2, 39104 Magdeburg, Germany


Introduction: X-ray imaging is a technology that is widely used in medical diagnostics. The quality of X-ray images is primarily determined by the quality of the detector. Besides the detector, other parameters such as scatter, the geometry of the system, the dose or the influence of the patient, e.g. patient motion or anatomy, have an effect on the resulting image quality. However, no automatic quality checks are applied during the acquisition of medical X-ray images. Constant quality checks could help to maintain a high image quality, reduce or control the applied radiation dose and to avoid the need for a repeated measure-ment. One general way to estimate the image quality is the modulation transfer function (MTF). The MTF is a metric used to describe the quality of the spatial resolution of an image. This work investigates the applicability of the MTF for image quality assessment of thorax X-ray images.

Material and Methods: Thorax X-ray images were acquired from 10 patients using different X-ray systems. The quality of the X-ray images was assessed and compared using the MTF based on the edge method. Therefore, X-ray images were cropped in a first step such that they contained part of the thorax bones and background. In order to detect the edge between the bone and the background, an active contour algo-rithm was applied to separate both areas. Along the detected edge, edge scan functions (ESF) were esti-mated. Using the gradient direction along the edge it was ensured that the ESFs were perpendicular to the edge. The first derivative of the ESF was used to compute the line scan function (LSF). The MTF of each ESF was then computed using the Fourier transform of the LSF. Finally, an average MTF was computed based on a larger number (>50) of MSFs. The image quality of the X-ray images was degraded by adding white Gaussian noise and performing a blurring of the image using a 2D Gaussian smoothing kernel with varying standard deviations. The MTF of the initial and of the modified X-ray images were compared and evaluated.

Results: Averaged MTFs were automatically estimated using the bone/background edges of various thorax X-ray images. Depending on the image quality, clear changes were observed in the MTF.

Discussion and Conclusion: The MTF was used as a metric to distinguish between high and low quality X-ray images. Based on an edge detection in thorax X-ray images, the MTF was automatically computed using ESFs. Future studies will consider X-ray images, which are annotated by clinicians. The proposed meth-od could be used to automatically determine the quality of different X-ray images during clinical routine scans.

Acknowledgements: This research was funded by the European Union in context of the MEDIRAD project (grant number: 755523).

81

SUBJECTIVE QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF THORACIC CT IMAGES

Marie-Pierre Revel1, Maciej Pech2, Zahra Passand3, Otto-von-Guericke4, Amelia Estevao5, Graciano Paulo5, Joana Santos5, Apostolos Karantanas6, Angelica Svalkvist7, Ase Johnsson7,

Jenny Vikgren7, Christoph Hoeschen3,

1Cochin Hospital, Paris, France, 2Medical Faculty, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany3

Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, 4University, Magdeburg, Germany, 5Politécnico de Coimbra, Coimbra Health School, Coimbra, Portugal, 6University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece,

7Sahlenska university hospital, university of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden


To optimize the relation between image quality and radiation dose for an optimized approach of radiation protec-tion, it is first of all necessary to define image quality descriptors. On June 25th of this year, radiologists from the 5 institutions involved in the MEDIRAD project work package 2 had a face-to-face meeting, in order to define new criteria for subjective assessment of image quality of unenhanced thoracic CT investigations.

Based on a Delphi process, they defined 5 anatomical structures to be assessed, using a 5 level Likert scale for defining is these structures could be sharply visualized, as follows: 1- confident that the criterion is not fulfilled, 2 somehow confident that the criterion is fulfilled, 3- I do not know if the criterion is fulfilled, 4- somehow confi-dent that the criterion is not fulfilled, 5- confident that the criterion is not fulfilled. The 5 selected structures were chosen because they can be precisely defined and represent different degree of anatomical precision and un-derlying spatial resolution. All assessments must be done on lung window axial transverse images reconstructed with a high frequency algorithm. All structures except the major fissure are analysed on the right lung, except the major fissure which is incomplete on the right lung in most normal subjects.

1. Major Fissure of the left lung

2. B1 (apical bronchus of right upper lobe): 3 divisions on the axial plane

3. B6: 3 divisions on the axial plane

4. Right inferior pulmonary vein: 3 divisions on the axial plane

5. A6: 4 divisions on the axial plane

In addition to the sharpness of these anatomical details, there will be an overall assessment of noise and arti-facts, using a 3-point scale, as follows: 1- absent, 2- present but not disturbing, 3- present and disturbing. Lastly, for every clinical study, there will be an overall assessment regarding the diagnostic acceptability, also using a 3-point scale: 1- fully acceptable, 2- probably acceptable, 3- unacceptable.

82

The 3 selected clinical indications for unenhanced chest CT were tuberculosis and mycobacterial infection, nodules or metastasis and pulmonary fibrosis.

Example of sharp visualization of B6 3rd division.

83

CT DOSES AND RADIOGENIC RISKS

John Damilakis

University of Crete, Iraklion, Crete, Greece


CT is a valuable technique that can be used to depict organs and tissues, detect diseases and guide procedures. However, patient radiation dose associated with CT examinations and the potential of stochastic effects such as radiation-induced cancer is an issue of concern. CT doses vary significantly across facilities. Recent studies report doses from several CT examinations. Effective doses from head CT examinations performed on adult patients are relatively low (about 2 mSv). Corresponding doses are higher for chest (7-12 mSv) and abdomen (10-17 mSv). Specific groups of patients may be at greater risk from CT exposure. Pregnant patients are exposed to radiation intentionally or accidentally. Radiation doses to the unborn child and associated radiogenic risks from the ma-jority of CT protocols are very low especially if the embryo or fetus is not in the directly exposed anatomical area. Compared to adult patients, children and adolescents are more radiosensitive and they have longer life expec-tancy. Paediatric doses from CT are lower than adult doses when optimized size-specific protocols are applied. CT has also been used for screening of asymptomatic individuals. Patient radiation dose from a low-dose chest CT examination for screening is about 1 mSv and from CT colonography ranges from about 3 mSv to about 9 mSv. This presentation will provide an overview of the patient doses and radiation-induced cancer risks from common CT examinations. A novel method for the estimation of patient organ doses and risks from chest CT is currently being developed in the University of Crete as part of the MEDIRAD project. Results of this research effort will also be discussed during this presentation.

Acknowledgment: Funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 755523 (MEDIRAD project)

84

CT DOSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Virginia Tsapaki

Konstantopoulio General Hospital, 3-5 Agias Olgas Str., 14233 Athens Greece


Computed Tomography (CT) is widely known for its use in diagnostic, interventional radiology and fluoros-copy practice. Depending on clinical needs and technical protocols, patient radiation dose differs, even for the same anatomical region, clinical indication, technical protocol and sometimes even for the same CT unit. Due to the aforementioned reasons, the urge to standardize, to monitor, optimize and generally review medical practices in CT units has risen significantly. At the same time, this can be an extremely time consuming, complex and compound task. Nowadays, sophisticated software with friendly interface can assist to this task, resulting in a much easier and quicker way to monitor all data included in the Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine (DICOM) header of the CT scanner or data recorded in the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) of the hospital. They are either free to install or commercial products. The presentation will provide an overview of CT dose management systems and how they could help in patient optimization and organ dose evaluation.

85

THE INFLUENCE OF TUBE CURRENT MODULATION ON ORGAN DOSE CONVERSION COEFFICIENTS

Ahmad Hassan1, Martin Skalej2, Christoph Hoeschen3

1,2Universitätsklinikum Magdeburg A.ö.R., Germany

3Institute für Medizintechnik, Magdeburg, Germany


The tube current in a clinical CT examination is one of the important determinants of radiation dose. Modifying this factor manually, either by decreasing or increasing it, inevitably impacts radiation dose negatively. To address this, TCM has been implemented in CT scanner technology, which is indispensable in clinical practice. With TCM, tube current is automatically modified angularly (x-y axis), longitudinally (z axis), or both (x-y-z), depending on part of the body being scanned. Therefore, an accurate estimation of the radiation dose received by scanned patient is potentially necessary to determine and estimate any arising risk. This study, in combination with the estima-tions about the proprietary x-ray source information (bowtie filtration and TCM) for the SOMATOM Definition 64 CT scanner,1,2 intends to estimate the normalized organ dose conversion coefficients (DCCCT) to the CTDIvol for the already-utilized scanner. This estimation was performed for different clinical CT examinations involving either a single axial scan or combination of axial scans, with and without TCM. To do so, four different-sized models rep-resented by the ICRP/ICRU Reference Male and Reference Female and child and baby models were used. Organ DCCCT were computed for the CT examinations involving a spiral scan and compared with the results from the combined axial scans. TCM had a large impact on organ DCCCT, which were reduced by up to 30% for some organs. The impact of angular TCM was largely observed on thyroid and urinary tract DCCCT, while the esophagus and lungs were influenced by angular, particularly longitudinal, TCM. Organ DCCCT results were verified by comparing the results of the combined axial slices with those of the spiral scan; there was agreement between these two methods, with a relative difference of less than 5% for organ DCCCT with and without TCM.

References: 1. Ahmad Ibrahim Hassan, et al. “Determination and verification of the x-ray spectrum of a CT scanner,” J. Med. Imag. 5(1), 013506 (2018). 2. Ahmad Ibrahim Hassan, et al. “Determination and verification of tube current modulation of a CT scanner” Phys. Med. (EJMP-D-18-00129), (still under processing).

Acknowledgments: The authors gratefully acknowledge a grant by ‘Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst’ (DAAD, German Academic Exchange service, Germany, grant program number: 57048249)

86

RADIATION MONITORING OF GLE ON BOARD COMMERCIAL FLIGHT

F. Trompier

IRSN, BP17, 92262 Fontenay-aux-roses, France

Dosimetry of aircrew is nowadays done routinely by calculation for a large number of aircrews among the world. This numerical approach has been validated by comparison with numerous on board measure-ments performed with adequate instrumentations such as Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter (TEPC). This approach to assess the occupational exposure of aircrew is approved and recommended in many countries. In case of Solar proton event (SPE) classified as Ground Level Event (GLE), dose rates at flight altitudes can possibly increase, leading to an additional dose that has also to be taken account for aircrew dose records. Some routine dosimetry softwares give an estimation of these extra doses. Nevertheless, the models used for dosimetry are based or compared to very few sets of in flight measurements during GLE. As a matter of fact, since GLE are sporadic, of short duration, non-forecastable, of low probability of occurrence, only continuous measurements onboard airplane could provide measured data. There is obviously a clear need of additional data to improve the existing models. The dedicated instrumentations for aircrew and space dosimetry are rather expensive and need most of the time connection to on board power supply, regular maintenance... As a consequence, very few systems only are continuously operated on board commercial flights, limiting the probability to measure such events.

In order to provide measured data, IRSN has proposed an alternative strategy, based on other types of detectors less performant for CR measurements but fitting the technical, operational and administrative constraints. Thus, IRSN and Air France has launched in 2013 a joint program for monitoring the GLE effect on the dose rate at flight altitude. The objective is to have several measurement devices flying at the same time on different routes during a GLE.

The approach lies in selecting small electronic dosimeters that offer the advantage to be cheap , with a large battery autonomy (up to 6 months), and to discriminate neutron component and high LET particles from photon and low LET radiation, having a FIFO memory type (no limitation due to data storage). Be-tween 35 and 40 airplanes (B-777, B-787, A380) are supplied with EPDN-2 devices. In addition of EPDN-2, a few Liulin Si-spectrometers are also installed. All these devices were calibrated by comparing in flight measurements data with reference data obtained with TEPC. We will provide a review of results of cali-bration flight campaigns and achievable performance of the approach. Results of recent GLE will be also discussed.

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RADIATION DOSE ONBOARD AIRCRAFT INDUCED BY HIGH-ENERGY ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA

DURING THUNDERSTORMS

Ondrej Ploc

Nuclear Physics Institute of the CAS, v.v.i., Czech Republic

Radiation risk of aircraft crew at flight altitudes is currently evaluated by computer codes routinely considering the dose from galactic cosmic rays (CRs) only. High-energy phenomena that occur during thunderstorms can also significantly contribute to the radiation dose onboard aircraft. However, an experimental proof of this hypothesis is missing. In the Czech Republic, we have established the Research Centre of Cosmic Rays and Radiation Events in the Atmosphere (CRREAT) that focuses, besides other activities, on such questions.

While the Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) associated with strong thunderstorm activity and first observed during the satellite experiments by BATSE and subsequently by other satellites, have been studied for approxi-mately 25 years, the observation of short-term increase in the secondary CRs monitoring on the Earth’s surface associated with storm activity (TGE – Thunderstorm Ground Enhancement) are being reported only during the last 5 years. Energy of such phenomena is high enough to trigger also the nuclear reactions in the atmosphere generating further set of particles (neutrons, positrons, gammas). The CRREAT project assumes a combination of data analysis from terrestrial, aircraft and satellite experiments to measure the relationship between CRs and storm activity. The building of the infrastructure for continuous measurement of CRs and radiation events in the Czech Republic may be used for possible future research projects requiring measurements with good time reso-lution on the earth’s surface.

The paper will present an evaluation method of the dose contribution from high-energy phenomena; the method is composed of 6 steps: (1) CRs measurements onboard aircraft used by our group for more than since 2001 by Liulin semiconductor spectrometer and newly, also by the silicon-based dosimeter Airdos, (2) the selection of a proper spectrometer of the gamma radiation from the mentioned atmospheric phenomena, (3) on-ground tests with the gamma spectrometer at the high-voltage and high-current generators, (4) real tests onboard unmanned aerial vehicles close to the thunderstorms, (5) detection and localization of the lightning – a possible source of the radiation, and (6) long-term monitoring using a hybrid detector (CRs + gamma spectrometer) onboard as many commercial aircraft as possible and detection of the high-energy radiation atmospheric phenomenon.

88

CARDIOVASCULAR DECREMENTS FROM SPACE RADIATION EXPOSURE: RISK CHARACTERIZATION, MODELING,

AND MITIGATION

Zarana S. Patel1,2, Janice L. Huff1,3, Lisa C. Simonsen4

1NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058 2KBRwyle, Houston, TX 77058

3MEI Technologies, Houston, TX 77058 4NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23666


Degenerative tissue (non-cancer) adverse health outcomes such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, cataracts, diseases associated with accelerated aging, as well as digestive and endocrine disor-ders, and immune system and respiratory dysfunction, are documented following exposure to terrestrial sources of ionizing radiation (e.g., gamma-rays and x-rays). In particular, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is of major concern following gamma-ray exposure. This evidence suggests a concern for possible degenerative tissue effects following exposures to ionizing radiation in the form of galactic cosmic rays or solar parti-cle events expected during long-duration spaceflight. Specifically, for a Mars mission, the accumulated dose is sufficiently high that epidemiology data and preliminary risk estimates suggest a high risk for CVD post-mission.

However, the existence of thresholds at lower doses, the impact of dose-rate and radiation quality effects, as well as mechanisms and pathways, are not well-characterized. Degenerative disease risks are difficult to assess because multiple factors, including radiation, are believed to play a role in the etiology of the diseases. Data specific to the space radiation environment must be compiled to quantify the magnitude of these health risks to decrease the uncertainty in current permissible exposure limits (PELs), to quantify the impact to disease-free survival years, and to determine if additional protection or mitigation strategies are required.

The NASA Space Radiation Element strategy for degenerative tissue risk assessment and mitigation in-cludes research to characterize adverse health outcomes associated with GCR exposure, to develop an integrated multi-ensemble risk assessment model, and to conduct activities targeting risk mitigation and monitoring. The research portfolio includes evaluation of current clinical standard-of-care biomarkers for their relevance as surrogate endpoints for radiation-induced disease outcomes. Studies are also address-ing the possible role of chronic inflammation and increased oxidative stress in the etiology of radiation-in-duced CVD as well as identification of key events in adverse outcome pathways that will guide the most effective medical countermeasures. Products include validated space radiation PELs, risk models to quan-tify the risk of CVD, and countermeasures and recommendations to clinical guidelines to mitigate the risk.

89

A NEW SHIELDING CALCULATION SOFTWARE FOR DIAGNOSTIC

X-RAY FACILITIES

Carmine Zicari, Claudio Andenna, Giovanni Felicioni

INAIL – The National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work


Designing and shielding of an appropriate radiography room has been one of the major concern of radiation pro-tection. The purpose of the radiation shielding is to limit radiation exposure to workers and members of the public to an acceptable level and, anyway, below the regulatory limits.

The determination of the thickness of primary and secondary barriers is based on National Council on Radia-tion Protection and Measurements recommendations. Report n.49 (NCRP 49, 1976) has been used as a standard guideline for shielding of radiographic rooms in many countries for about two decades.

In 2004, the Report n.147 (NCRP Report 147, 2004) proposed new guidelines for shielding design in radiography rooms. In particular, it revisits the various factors used in the selection of appropriate shielding materials and in the calculation of barrier thicknesses.

In order to speed up the calculations and to obtain more accurate shielding thicknesses in diagnostic x-ray fa-cilities a homemade new software has been developed using the Java language. Both the traditional NCRP 49 method and the new NCRP 147 recommendations have been implemented.

This software permits to capture, draw and edit a simplified planymetry representing the radiography room to-gether with and the surrounding ones. Different shielding materials and parameters are organized in a dedicated database. The program computes the shielding barrier values by using different materials, different dose con-straints for the people and for workers respectively as well as different factors relative to the radioprotection parameters.

The software is planned to be a useful tool for the radioprotectionists, qualified expert and healthy physics expert and it represents a versatile tool to improve the shielding barrier calculations accuracy.

Bibliography

National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. NCRP Report 49. 1976. Bethesda MD, NCRP. National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. NCRP Report No.147 2004 Bethesda

MD, NCRP.

90

SESSION

91

RADIOECOLOGICAL RESEARCH OF WG NORM WITHIN THE ALLIANCE

Thuro Arnold and Susanne Sachs

Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Institute of Resource Ecology, Bautzner Landstraße 400, 01328 Dresden, Germany


NORM sites are characterized by their waste type and by complex mixtures of different soil types, heavy metals, minerals, microbial diversities, present flora and fauna, as well as disequilibria in radionuclide decay chains. Due to this complexity, challenges arise not only from the lack of comprehensive scientific data, but also from existing model concepts themselves, which do not adequately describe the interplay between simultaneously occurring chemical and biological processes at a NORM site. Therefore, a promising strategy is to reduce modelling uncer-tainties by identifying and parameterizing the key processes that influence the radionuclide behaviour in these sites and to transfer this knowledge into mechanistic models sufficiently complex to describe the radionuclide behaviour in the environment, however, at the same time being simple enough to be practical and applicable to different NORM sites. In view of potential hazards associated with the exposure to enhanced natural radiation, proper evaluation of NORM sites related to former, current or future human activities, as well as the need for developing preventive methods at different stages of a technological process in a NORM industry are essential tasks here.

Working group (WG) NORM, currently composed of 20 organisations from 10 European countries, was estab-lished within the European Radioecology Alliance. One of the initial tasks of this WG was to develop a roadmap document, which covers a time frame of five years. This roadmap is part of a prolonged vision aiming at contin-uously incorporating new knowledge to progressively improve risk assessments of NORM contaminated sites and thereby helps to reduce the risk for humans and wildlife. The main objectives specified in the roadmap can be summarized as follows: (1.) improve risk assessment for existing and future NORM sites, (2.) extend transport modelling of radionuclides into the uncontaminated environments by including chemical/geochemical and bio-logical/microbiological processes, i.e. to identify and mathematically describe processes that make significant contributions to the environmental transfer of radionuclides, and (3.) develop a mechanistic understanding of chemical and biological processes on a molecular scale and translate this knowledge into robust sub-models thus paving the way for new strategies for a sustainable rehabilitation and remediation of NORM sites.

WG NORM is a research platform for NORM interested scientists for sharing and exchanging knowledge on radio-nuclide behaviour in the environment. Its objectives aim at reducing the uncertainty of human and environmental risk assessment for NORM via an improved mechanistic process-based transport modelling and by integrating chemical process understanding as well as biological/microbiological processes in transport codes.

92

A REGULATORY PERSPECTIVE ON THE RADIOLOGICAL IMPACT OF NORM IN INDUSTRIES,

WASTE AND LEGACY SITES

Jelena Mrdakovic Popic, Malgorzata K. Sneve

1Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority


The Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA) is a national competent authority regarding radi-ation protection and, as such, is responsible for regulation of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) where necessary. Although regulation of some NORM industries have existed from before, the main work on the regulation has started in 2000s and many activities have still been ongoing. In addition to national regulatory efforts related to NORM, NRPA actively tried to share and learn from the experience and challenges in other countries. Several international meetings have been organized to discuss and ex-change the experience.

Two main questions ‘what do we want to achieve by regulating NORM?’ and ‘What are the main NORM is-sues in decision making regarding remediation options?’ will be elaborated in the presentation by:

- Explaining the current Norwegian legislation and regulatory framework; holistic approach used in prac-tice now, harmonization with international standards

- Giving the general overview of NORM sources of potential radiological concern for Norway (industries, waste and discharge, legacy NORM)

- Presenting the practical examples of regulating the NORM industries, some relevant environmental im-pact assessment and environmental monitoring data and choice of remediation strategies

- Presenting the legacy NORM in Norway – status and challenges on examples of two different legacy sites (decommissioned Nb mining site and an old repository with dumped alum shales with U leakage to drink-ing water sources)

- Summarizing relevant international activities - NRPA in parallel organized jointly with international orga-nizations and other countries regulatory bodies several meetings and workshops, where all national Nor-wegian experience has been shared and discussed, often as a good example how to deal with those chal-lenging issues. Several useful recommendations has been expressed during those discussions supporting closer and wider international cooperation in this area.

93

RADON MEASUREMENTS USING THE NEWLY DEVELOPED P ROTOTYPE DEVICES

Mohammad R Tanha1, Clemens Walther2, Werner Rüh3, Jan Vahlbruch2, Beate Riebe2, Josef Irlinge3, Fazal Rahman Khalid4, Mohammad Abobaker Storai4 and Christoph Hoeschen1

1Lehrstuhl für Medizintechnische Systeme, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Universitätspl. 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany

2Institut für Radioökologie und Strahlenschutz, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Herrenhäuser Str. 2, 30419 Hannover, Germany

3Institute of Radiation Protection, Helmholtz Center Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health Munich, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1,

85764 Neuherberg, Germany 4Afghan Atomic Energy High Commission, Near Silo-e-Markaz, 1001 Kabul, Afghanistan.


The new prototype device developed by the Helmholtz centre in Munich was used to measure the concentration of Radon in different spaces, geographies and seasons. The main focus of study were the caves and basements used as living and working spaces in Afghanistan. The mean activity concentrations ranged from 33 to 2064 Bq/m3 and the corresponding effective annual doses calculated for the inhabitants were in the range between 0.6 and 33.4 mSv. This shows more than 30-fold higher dose limit than proposed by IAEA and ICRP. This might have caused due to the building material, weather and ventilation conditions in the measurement spots. The study proposes set of recommendations to the authorities for the betterment of the conditions in these spots. The study is now followed by students at the University of Magdeburg for comparison and learning purposes.

94

THE ROPHIN SITE IN FRANCE - A PLACE TO CONDUCT INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH ON NORM/TENORM-RELATED ISSUES

G. Montavon1, D. Biron2, V. Breton3, G. Bornette4, P. Chardon3, F. Claret5, S. Larrue6, M. Del Néro7, C. Mallet2, H. Michel8, C. Sergeant9, D. Sarramia3, T. Sime-Ngando2

1 Subatech, 4 rue Alfred Kastler; 44307 Nantes, France 2 LMGE, 1 impasse Amélie Murat, 63178 Aubière, France.

3 LPC, Avenue Blaise Pascal, 63177 Aubière, France 4 CHRONO-ENVIRONNEMENT, 16 route de Gray, 25030 Besançon, France

5 BRGM, BP36009, 45060 Orléans, France 6 GEOLAB, 4 Rue Ledru, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France

7 IPHC, 23 Rue du Loess, 67200 Strasbourg, France 8 ICN, 28 Avenue Valrose, 06108 Nice

9 CENBG, 19 Chemin du Solarium, 33175 GRADIGNAN, France


“Zones-Ateliers” are in France an extended scientists and local authorities network of Long Term Physical and Socio-Ecological Research Observatories, addressing a wide range of environmental problems. The “Zone-Atelier Territoires Uranifères” (ZATU) has been created in 2015. Since then, ZATU offers a framework to foster multidisciplinary scientific explorations about life under natural radioactivity, providing a place of dialog among stakeholders of uranium mining sites, i.e. non-profit organizations, academic laboratories, national research organisms (BRGM, IRSN, CEA) and ORANO.

Located in the Region of Auvergne, the Rophin site (in ZATU) has been exploited for uranium mining from 1947 to 1956. At the end of the exploitation, mine tailings and waste rocks were stored in situ. Rophin is one of the 15 sites of uranium waste storage in France (MIMAUSA database1). The site is now an uninhabited place where vegetation grows on mine tailings as well as downstream from the storage area.

Recent gamma-ray surveys have shown “high” radiation levels alongside a creek downstream of the stor-age site, especially in a wetland area at around 200 meters from the storage site. Drill cores in this area show uranium concentrations up to 2000 ppm in the upper 30 cm, with peak concentrations in a whitish, clayey layer with a thickness of about 5 cm. The origin of the white layer is connected to the active period of the site. Mineral springs are also found near the Rophin site with very high activities reaching 3,000 nano Sieverts per hour.

The Rophin site, characterized by NORM/TeNORM where plants and animal species naturally recolonize some past human disturbed landscapes, appears therefore as a place of interest to study the impact of radiation on living systems including characterization, behaviour and transfer of radionuclides in environ-ment. Examples of ongoing studies will be given in the talk.

1 https://mimausabdd.irsn.fr/

95

TRANSFER AND RELATED DOSE ASSESSMENT OF NATURAL RADIONUCLIDES IN PLANTS AND MOSSES

GROWING ON A PHOSPHOGYPSUM STOCKPILE IN PORTUGAL

José Corisco1, Pedro Nogueira2, Maria José Madruga1

1 Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, E.N 10 km 139.7, 2695-066 LRS, Portugal.

2 Thünen Institute of Fisheries Ecology, Herwigstrasse 31, 27572 Bremerhaven, Germany.


A phosphogypsum (PG) stockpile remains as the legacy of a disabled phosphate plant in the vicinity of an urban area in the south bank of Tejo estuary, in Portugal. The enhanced concentrations of natural radionuclides from uranium decay series is a matter of concern for decision-makers facing the need of requalifying the area occu-pied by the stockpile and what to do with it. Along the time, arborescent plants and mosses have been covering its surface, so this PG stockpile can be used as a natural laboratory to study the transfer of radionuclides in the mineral matrix to the vegetal biota, which might deliver relevant information for the purpose of using that PG as soil amendment for agricultural purposes.

This study has devoted special attention to the bioavailability of 226Ra due to its mobility in the environment. Dose assessment related to the natural radionuclides uptaken by plants and mosses was performed using the ICRP reference wildgrass coupled with the Monte Carlo code MCNPX.

96

FRESHWATER KD DISTRIBUTIONS IN FUNCTION OF M/V RATIO, DOC AND PH

Wirginia Tomczak, Patrick Boyer

Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), PRP-ENV, SERIS, LRTE, Cadarache, France


The contamination of freshwater systems by heavy metals is a world problem due to their toxicity, abun-dance and persistence in the environment [1,2]. One of the main processes affecting their residence time and bioavailability in freshwater systems is their solid-liquid fractionations which are often determined with the coefficient Kd defined as the concentration ratio between the particulate and dissolved phases under the assumptions of reversibility, equilibrium and trace conditions. This empirical parameter is de-pending on several environmental factors (pH, concentration of dissolved organic carbon, particle size and suspended matter concentration) and its variability can cover several orders of magnitudes for a single element. It is then useful to update the freshwater Kd database to reinforce our knowledge and to reduce the Kd uncertainties in function of environmental co-factors.

In this context, this paper is the continuation and complement of the work done by the Working Group 4 (WG4) in the program MODARIA I, organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This previ-ous study [3] presented an updated freshwater Kd database for 52 elements (Ag, Al, Am, As, B, Ba, Be, Ca, Cd, Ce, Cm, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Dy, Er, Eu, Fe, Gd, Hf, Ho, I, K, La, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, Np, Pb, Pm, Po, Pr, Pu, Ra, Rb, Ru, S, Sb, Se, Si, Sn, Sr, Th, Ti, U, V, Zn, Zr) where data of 21 selected elements (Ag, Al, As, Ba, Be, Ca, Cd, Ce, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Si, Sr, U, Zn) have been updated of Kd values reported in the recent literature. Kd data for new element, Hg, previously unavailable, has been also added. Finally, after updating, the analyzes were carried out based on the total number of Kd values equal to 8499 (4668 initial values and 3831 new values).

Although the water systems are characterized by high variability, the present study has shown, for many elements, strong relations between statistical distributions of Kd and key parameters such as m/V ratio, DOC and pH. These results illustrate the importance of updating Kd databases from which it is possible to identify statistically significant regressions useful for reducing the variability of Kd distributions and im-proving the prediction of mobility of selected elements in freshwater systems.

[1] Liu Q., Wang F., Meng F., Jiang L., Li G., Zhou R., 2018. Assessment of metal contamination in estuarine surface sediments from Dongying City, China: Use of a modified ecological risk index. Marine Pollution Bulletin 126, 293-303. [2] Singh U.K., Kumar B., 2017. Pathways of heavy metals contamination and associated human health risk in Ajay River basin, India. Chemosphere 174, 183-199. [3] Boyer P., Wells C., Howard B., 2018. Extended Kd distributions for freshwater environment. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 192, 128-142.

97

RADIATION PROTECTION IN THE

OIL EXPLORATION SECTOR

Sheldon Landsberger1,2

1The University of Texas at Austin, Nuclear Engineering Teaching Lab, 10100 Burnet Road, R-9000, Austin, Texas, USA 78758

2Enviroklean Product Development, Inc. (EPDI) 1909 Garden City Hwy, Midland, Texas,, USA 79701


One of the very first papers describing radioactivity in oil extraction appeared in 1906 just a scant eight years after its discovery by Henri Becquerel in 1896. The world currently consumes closed to 100 million barrels of oil daily and is produced in countries throughout the globe through onshore drilling which refers to drilling deep holes under the earth’s surface and offshore drilling which relates to drilling underneath the seabed. It was only in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s where a significant amount of research was done in characterizing the radio-activity in extraction processes which included, scale, produced water, sludge, etc. What is more surprising than the unexpected amounts of radioactivity in the oil extraction sector is the orders of magnitude differences of radiation from different onshore fields. Thus handling of these radioactive by products including transportation, clean-up procedures, and burial requires stringent training and monitoring procedures. For instance, typical do-simeters that are placed on chests while most of the radiation emanates from the ground or lower parts of sludge tanks underestimates the dose to the body. Our previous MCNP calculations have confirmed this assumption. A detailed overview of radiation protection guidelines for the oil exploration sector including analytical measure-ments of the by products will be presented.

98

NORM IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY: ERICA TOOL ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF IONISING RADIATION ON TERRESTRIAL BIOTA

Ana Mostečak1, Želimir Veinović1, Ivica Prlić2, Marija Surić Mihić2, Marko Šoštarić2

1 University of Zagreb, Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering, Pierottijeva 6, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia

2 Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Ksaverska cesta 2, p.p. 291,

HR-10001 Zagreb, Croatia


Due to the industrial production of oil and gas (extraction procedures), Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) present in oil and gas reservoir geological formations may be brought up to surface as scale layer inside the tubing assorted for maintenance. Scale can contain enhanced levels of natu-ral activity concentrations i.e. scale can become residue. Uncontrolled workers manipulation with such “contaminated” equipment during maintenance procedures may result in enhanced exposure of people (oil and gas industry workers) to ionising radiation as well as certain risk to biota. Identifying where NORM is present in the given industrial activities, drafting and applying appropriate NORM management plans is essential in order to monitor and control the possible risk. Assessment of environmental risks to biota (and consequently to workers) due to possible enhanced exposure to ionising radiation originating from residues can be performed by using several different modelling approaches. Radiological risk assessment of environmental contamination resulting from oil and gas industrial activities was performed at a tubing maintenance site managing scale from inside the tubing. ERICA tool (developed through 6th FP EUROAT-OM) was used to assess the environmental risk from ionising radiation to biota. Previous assessments of this area used data on radionuclide activity concentrations in the environment and resulting dose rates to the biota through a Tier 2 assessment, in order to develop a NORM (possibly even residues) survey strategy and maintain adequate health and safety standards of the workers and the environment. This study pres-ents preliminary results of a Tier 3 assessment scenario based on the samples collected close to the main-tenance site which required a more profound investigation to demonstrate if the biota is at risk or not. The assessment was performed considering highest environmental activity concentrations reported. Default reference organisms available in the Tool were first compared with Natura 2020 data sheet for protected site Lonjsko polje which is in the proximity of the assessment site and then selected.

99

ELEMENTARY AND NORM CONCENTRATION PROFILES IN THREE SWEDISH PIT LAKES

Rimon Thomas1, Elis Holm1, Eva Forssell-Aronsson1, Francisco Piñero García1, Juan Mantero Cabrera1, Mats Isaksson1

1Department of Radiation Physics, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden


Pit lakes are formed after an open-pit mining is filled with water that is usually a mixture of ground water, sur-face water run-off and precipitation. One of the main differences of pit lakes to natural lakes is that the sites are chosen due to a high abundance of specific ore(s) in the bedrock. Post-mining leaves behind heaps of rocks and gravel scattered around the open-pit that usually still contain high concentration of ore(s), which used to be in the bedrock deprived of atmospheric oxygen and water, but now exposed to weathering. This weathering can result in leaching of elements from walls of the open-pit which can contaminate the pit lake with heavy metals and NORM (Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material).

In Sweden several pit lakes are used for recreational purposes and some other as drinking water reservoirs. There-fore, a study was conducted to perform a radiometric and elementary characterization and measurement of water quality parameters along the depth for three pit lakes. Alpha spectroscopy was used to measure U, Th, Po isotopes, ICP-MS for the elementary composition and a water probe for the parameters T, pH, ORP, DO.

The depths of the three pit lakes were 60 m, 30 m and 9 m and as can be seen in the figure below both the ORP and DO shows sharp declines as a function of depth, pH is seen to be less predictable. Elements and chemical reactions dependent on pH, ORP and DO will therefore change accordingly, hindering general assumptions on behaviour and concentrations along the water column based on lake depth only.

It was found that uranium concentrations can vary up to a factor of three with depth, which also implies that there is a possibility to reduce or increase the absorbed dose and toxic effects of uranium by the same factor in lakes used for drinking water.

100

Figure 1. Variation of pH (left), Oxidation-Reduction Potential (center) and Dissolved Oxygen (right) with depth in three pit lakes.

101

MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH CHARACTERIZATION OF U/MICROBIAL INTERACTIONS FOR BIOREMEDIATION PURPOSES

Iván Sánchez-Castro, Pablo Martínez-Rodríguez, María Pinel-Cabello, Margarita López-Fernández and Mohamed L. Merroun

Dept. of Microbiology, Campus de Fuentenueva, University of Granada, Spain


Nuclear energy industry is of great importance worldwide at economical level. Like most of industrial activities, nuclear energy generation implies some risks such as the accidental release of radioactive uranium-rich sub-stances to nature, what would impact the environment, including humans. In order to minimize potential conse-quences of these fortuitous events, the establishment of efficient bioremediation strategies is of great interest. Approaches based on microbial processes are being increasingly studied in recent years. The present work aims to evaluate the uranium immobilization potential of bacterial strains, isolated from different environments of rel-evance, through phosphatase activity. Therefore, a multidisciplinary approach combining colorimetric (Arsenazo III), microscopic (Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy-High Angle Annular Dark-Field known as STEM-HAADF), and spectroscopic (Time-Resolved Laser-Induced Fluorescence Spectroscopy known as TRLFS, Extend-ed X-Ray Absorption Fine Structure known as EXAFS, etc.) methods is applied. Nevertheless, further investigation should be accomplished to gain knowledge in the performance of these bacterial strains when applying them in real polluted waters.

102

INSIGHTS INTO URANIUM TOLERANCE OF MICROBACTERIUM OLEIVORANS A9 BY PROTEOGENOMIC ANALYSES.

Virginie Chapon1, Nicolas Gallois1, Beatrice Alpha-Bazin2, Philippe Ortet1, Mohamed Barakat1, Justine Long1, Laurie Piette1, Severine Zirah3, Adrienne Kish3,

Jean armengaud2, Catherine Berthomieu1

1CEA-CNRS-AMU, saint Paul lez Durance, France. 2CEA, Bagnols-sur-Ceze, France.

3MNHN, Paris, France.


Microbacterium oleivorans A9 is a uranium-tolerant actinobacteria isolated from the trench T22 located near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant1. This site is contaminated with different radionuclides including uranium. Under uranium exposure, cells of Microbacterium oleivorans A9 exhibit three sequential mecha-nisms involved in uranium detoxification: a rapid metal removal within the first 30 minutes, then an active U(VI) release in the exposure medium and a final biomineralization step of uranium in autunite-like mineral phases2. Using an innovative proteogenomic approach, we explored the molecular changes at the pro-teome level occurring in this strain upon uranyl exposure. We interpreted high-throughput proteomic data against a six-reading frame ORF database deduced from the draft genome3, validated the identification of 1,532 proteins, identified these proteins and compared protein abundances from cells exposed or not to uranyl stress. These data show that a complex cellular response to uranium occurs in Microbacterium oleivorans A94. The abundance of 591 proteins was significantly different between conditions. In partic-ular, the uranyl stress perturbed the phosphate and iron metabolisms pathways. A large ratio of proteins more abundant upon uranyl stress, are distant from functionally-annotated proteins, highlighting the lack of fundamental knowledge regarding numerous key molecular players from soil bacteria. Furthermore, sev-eral transporters have been identified to be specifically associated to uranyl stress, paving the way to the development of biotechnological tools for uranium decontamination.

1 Chapon V et al (2012) Appl Geochem 27(7): 1375-1383. 2 Ortet P et al (2017) Genome Announc 999(5). 3 Theodorakopoulos N et al (2015). J Hazard Mater 285: 285-293. 4 Gallois N et al (2017) J Proteomics. pii:S1874-3919(17)30404-9.

103

SIMULTANEOUS MEASUREMENT OF DIFFUSION AND REACTION IN SOIL

Jana Darmovzalova1, Wilfred Otten1, Andrea Boghi2, Lorna Eades3, Guy Kirk1

1Cranfield University, College Rd, Cranfield, MK43 0AL, UK 2University of Southampton, University Rd, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK 3The University of Edinburgh, David Brewster Rd, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, UK


Rates of uptake of nutrients and contaminants by plant roots are in many cases limited by rates of diffusion and reaction. The reaction rates are themselves often sensitive to diffusion rates. However, they are mostly studied under conditions in which diffusion limitations are deliberately removed, e.g. using shaken soil suspensions. The aim was to investigate uranium diffusion and reactions simultaneously to avoid such problems.

We used methods based on measuring concentration-distance profiles of diffusing and reacting solutes in soil. As a first stage, the diffusion of a non-reacting solute – the bromide ion – was studied to characterise diffusion impedance in the experimental soil. To measure concentration-distance profiles, the soil was packed into small, cylindrical cells to a uniform bulk density and moisture content, pulse labelled with bromide at one end, and then after a few hours, sectioned at 0.5 mm intervals parallel to the labelled end. The soil was pre-washed with calcium chloride, so the bromide counter-diffused against chloride. Plots of log bromide concentration against distance squared were linear, in agreement with theory and showing the methods were sound.

Then, the half-cell method was tested for later application for uranium diffusion by studying concentration-dis-tance profiles of bromide ion diffusing against chloride ion from a bromide equilibrated source cell to a bro-mide-free cell. After a determined diffusion period, the cells were separated and treated as in the pulse experi-ments. In principle, the resulting curve fitted overcomes the limitations of sorption and validates the methods in terms of contact, solute transfer and mathematical application.

Later, half-cell method was applied to study diffusion and reaction of uranium in soil by following the bulk-diffusion under plant root relevant conditions. The results were compared to those derived from stud-ies in shaken suspension. This is the simplest approach commonly used to estimate solute partition-ing between solid and liquid phase. However, the method selected is superior to this approach as it over-comes the limitations of the shaken suspension treatment. We also used the results to formally test a newly developed model of U transport and uptake by plants (Boghi et al., 2018)”ISSN” : “0013-936X”, “ab-stract” : “We develop a model with which to study the poorly understood mechanisms of uranium (U. Keywords: Diffusion, half-cell, reaction, sorption, uranium

Reference: Boghi, A., Roose, T., & Kirk, G. J. D. (2018). A Model of Uranium Uptake by Plant Roots Allowing for Root-Induced Changes in the soil. Environmental Science & Technology, 52(6), 3536–3545. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b06136

104

OPTIMIZING FLIGHT-LINE DISTANCE FOR SOIL DECONTAMINATION, APPLICATION TO CONTAMINATED

FUKUSHIMA TERRITORIES

Pedram MASOUDI1, Mathieu LE COZ2, Marc-André GONZE1, Charlotte CAZALA1

1Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), PSE-ENV/SEDRE, 31 avenue de la Division Leclerc, 92260 Fontenay-aux-Roses, France

2Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), PSE-ENV/SEREN, 13115 St Paul-lez-Durance, France


Geostatistical interpolation methods (block and point ordinary kriging) were used to produce soil contam-ination maps based on airborne gamma-ray measurements of cesium-137 deposit acquired in November 2013 with a flight-line distance of <1 km. The methods were applied to six different square tiles of ~20 km length located within 100 km from the Fukushima nuclear power plant to quantify the influence of an increase in the flight-line distance on the quality of the interpolated maps; indeed, smaller the flight-line distance, higher the quality and cost of produced maps. Therefore, kriging estimators were applied over different selections of flight-lines of decreasing density. The quality of the produced maps was quantified by the means of a correctness rate, calculated by comparing the predicted contamination surfaces, above some threshold, to that best estimated from all the flight-lines. The results showed that the calculated correctness was highly correlated with the flight-line distance (r2=0.83): increasing the flight-line distance for every 1 km decreased the correctness of the contamination map by ~1%. In fact, the correctness also depends on variogram modelling which is a subjective step of the kriging methods. The influence of var-iography was also analysed: the contamination maps were reproduced, this time using a fixed variogram model (that of all the flight-lines) to find out how much flight-line distance influences the correctness, while the variogram model is unchanged. It was found that correctness is influenced from the variogram model by less than 6%, meanwhile at least 94% being attributed to the flight-line distance. Hence the relation of correctness versus flight-line distance is reliable.

Acknowledgements: The study has been conducted in the course of the TERRITORIES project, and has received funding from the Euratom research and training program 2014-2018 in the framework of the CONCERT [grant agreement No 662287]. Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) is acknowledged for making Fukushima airborne datasets accessible to the public.

References: Attiogbe J, Aubonnet E, De Maquille L, et al (2014) Soil radiological characterisation methodology. CEA-R-6386, Saclay, p 79. Desnoyers Y, Dubot D (2014) Characterization of radioactive contamination using geostatistics. Radiation Monitoring: 16–18. Masoudi P, Memarian H, Aïfa T, Tokhmechi B (2017) Geometric modelling of the volume of investigation of well logs for thin-bed characterization. J Geophysics & Eng 14: 426–444.

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TRANSLATION AND APPLICATION OF THE SHAMISEN RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PREPAREDNESS AND REMEDIATION

AFTER NUCLEAR ACCIDENTS TO OTHER DISASTERS TYPES (CHEMICAL, NATURAL, ETC.)

Liudmila Liutsko1-3, Adelaida Sarukhan1-3, Elisabeth Cardis1-3, Deborah Oughton4

1Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain 2UPF, Barcelona, Spain

3CIBERESP, Madrid, Spain 4NMBU, Ås, Norway

The EU-OPERRA funded SHAMISEN project developed 28 recommendations for preparedness and health sur-veillance of populations affected by a radiation accident. For the first time, based on the lessons learned from the past, the recommendations focused on optimal decision making processes that not only consider technical issues (direct effects of radiation), but also socio-economic, psychological and ethical dimensions.

The recommendations aim at improving the health of affected populations and cover evacuation, health sur-veillance, epidemiological studies, dose measurements, training of health personnel, and communication with stakeholders and the general public. They are divided into general principles and sets of specific recommenda-tions for before (preparedness) and after (early, intermediate and recovery phases) an accident. Ethical aspects are considered throughout, including the principle of “doing more good than harm”.

The SHAMISEN recommendations can be easily translated to other types of disasters, especially to chemical and natural disasters. Most recommendations are of common application, and those specific to a radiation accident (dose measurements, thyroid screening or importance of having cancer registers a priori and radiation protection culture issues) can be adapted to the circumstances of interest (e.g. environmental monitoring). Likewise, the related epidemiological and health surveillance recommendations apply just as well to natural and chemical disasters, as do the recommendations on education and preparedness of possibly affected popula-tions.

Other very important issues covered by the SHAMISEN recommendations, and applicable to any type of disas-ter are: the resulting psychological stress; the need for adequate and transparent information; the importance of engaging local stakeholders and populations in data collection (or environmental monitoring in general); and establishing mediators between professionals and general public to facilitate dialogue.

Funding: SHAMISEN is part of CONCERT, founded by OPERRA (Open Project for the European Radiation Research Area: FP7, grant agreement 604984).

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ARTIFICIAL RADIONUCLIDES IN VEGETATIVE COVER AT THE SEMIPALATINSK TEST SITE AND IN PLACES

ADJACENT TO ITS TERRITORY

Natalya Larionova, Axana Ivanova, Viktor Glushchenko, Assan Aidarkhanov

Institute of Radiation Safety and Ecology, National Nuclear Center RK, Kurchatov, Kazakhstan


There were 340 underground nuclear tests (“Degelen”, “Balapan”, “Sary-Uzen” testing grounds), 30 aboveground and 86 atmospheric tests (“Experimental field” testing ground and “4” and “4a” grounds for testing Radiological Warfare Agents(RWA)) conducted at the territory of the Semipalatinsk test site (STS) during its functioning.

Significant radioactive contamination of vegetative cover at the STS formed as the result of abo-veground and underground nuclear tests (including excavation tests), radioactive fallouts (close-in and distant fallouts), radionuclides migration with surface and ground waters, and tests of RWA.

The maximum values of 137Cs activity concentration (50-80 kBq/kg) in plants were detected in areas of radioactive streams at the “Degelen” testing ground, 90Sr (1,500 kBq/kg) were at the “4a” ground of RWA tests, 239+240Pu and 241Am (5-9 kBq/kg and 0.2-0.5 kBq/kg respectively) were at the epicenters of aboveground tests at the “Experimental field” testing site. At this, the maximum values of transfer factor (Tf) (ratio of radionuclide concentration in mass unit of plant and soil respectively) of all studied radionu-clides were registered in zones of radioactive streams and at the venues of radiological warfare materials test, whereas the less values were detected on „plumes“ of radioactive fallouts and in conditionally „back-ground“ territories. Minimal values were detected at the epicenters of aboveground nuclear tests. Tf of 90Sr exceeds Tf of 137Cs 8 times on average and 16 times Tf of 239+240Pu. Tf values of 239+240Pu are 3 times higher than Tf of 241Am. Also, certain differences in Tf were seen for certain types of plants and soil, characterized by different physical and chemical properties. Specific characteristics of plants are determined by differ-ence in accumulation of 137Cs from 2 to 10 times, 90Sr – from 2 to 6 times, 239+240Pu - from 2 to 3 times, 241Am – from 2 to 5 times.

Values of artificial radionuclides activity concentration in the territories adjacent to the STS, in most cases, are lower than detection limit of equipment used. Singular quantitative values of 90Sr and 239+240Pu activity concentration detected in plants were registered mainly on “plumes” of radioactive fall-outs. Moreover Tf of 90Sr was considerably high and consistent with Tf of radionuclides which are common for zones of radioactive streams and RWA tests. Obtained Tf for 239+240Pu in the territories adjacent to the STS is lower than Tf in conditionally „background“ territories of the STS and associated with Tf on „plumes“ of radioactive fallouts.

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FROM 241AM TO LANTHANIDE STABLE ISOTOPES: CHECKING CHEMICAL ANALOGY IN THE QUANTIFICATION

OF SOLID-LIQUID DISTRIBUTION COEFFICIENTS

Miquel Vidal, Oriol Ramírez-Guinart, Anna Rigol

Department of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Chemistry, University of Barcelona. Martí i Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona (Spain)


Radiological risk assessments require the parameterisation and quantification of the processes governing the mobility of radionuclides. In terrestrial radioactive contamination episodes, a key process to be parameterised is the interaction of radionuclides in soils and related solid matrices, for which the solid-liquid distribution co-efficient (Kd) is frequently the selected parameter. Whereas Kd data and related variability are well described for a reduced number of radionuclides, less is known about lanthanides and actinides, for which there are scarce sorption data.

Actinides and lanthanides are often considered as chemical analogues, due to their similar chemical properties, such as ionic radii, coordination number and oxidation state, although only a few studies have aimed at quan-titatively assess this hypothesis (Lee et al., 2006; Ramírez-Guinart et al., 2017). For the specific case of 241Am, radioactive isotopes of lanthanides such as europium and samarium have been used as analogues to examine 241Am sorption pattern in soils and similar matrices (e.g., subsoils, tills or sediments). When considering the use of lanthanide stable isotopes, chemical analogy between actinides and lanthanides depends not only on the mech-anisms governing sorption but also on the effect of the concentration level, since specific sites may become saturated when increasing the concentration, thus probably leading to the quantification of lower Kd values.

From the already tested analogy between 241Am and 151Sm sorption in soils at radioactive concentration level, here we extend this study by also examining the effect of the concentration of Sm (using stable isotopes) on soil Kd (Sm). Stable Sm sorption isotherms are obtained for a set of soils, fitted to sorption models, and the derived Kd (Sm) values are compared with Kd (

241Am) and Kd (151Sm) at different Sm concentration ranges. Implications for risk

assessment (effect of the concentration on the sorption pattern, ability to fill gaps of missing data and prediction of their uncertainty) are also discussed. Finally, chemical analogies are further evaluated for other lanthanides (e.g., La and Lu) and environmental matrices, such as biochars, which are materials of rising interest for the reme-diation of contaminated soils and waters.

References: Lee, S.G., Lee, K.Y., Cho, S.Y., Yoon, Y.L., Kim, Y., 2006. Sorption properties of 152Eu and 241Am in geological materials: Eu as an analogue for montoring the Am behaviour in heterogeneous geological environments. Geosci. J. 10 (2), 103–114. Ramírez-Guinart, O.; Salaberria, A.; Vidal, M.; Rigol, A. 2017. Assessing soil properties governing radiosamarium sorption in soils: can trivalent lanthanides and actinides be considered as analogues? Geoderma 290, 33-39.

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UNRESOLVED RADIOACTIVE WASTE AT THE INSTITUTE OF ONCOLOGY, LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA

Uroš Čotar

Institute of Oncology, Zaloška 2, Ljubljana, Slovenia


In 2007 Institute of Oncology, Ljubljana successfully moved to the new facilities. When the old storage facility for radioactive waste was closed there was still some radioactive waste which remained there for different reasons: there were decayed sources, orphan sources found and officially decayed sources which have surprisingly still shown some remaining activity.

The old decayed sources with known properties were successfully transported to the interim storage at the Agency for radwaste management (ARAO). The remaining sources needed a special approach different for each type of waste depending on: volume, mass, activity, isotope constitution.

Many orphan sources were found in the old temporary radwaste facility containing labels but without certificates. Among them 2 were found interesting. The labels from the years 1975-1996 suggested they have been old but on the other hand they could be reused again since they contained Ba-133 and Sr-90 without impurities. The calibrated sources with the exact activity and production date will be very helpful when used as check sources to test dose rate meters, scintillation probes,γ spectrometer and some of the contamination monitors. After the inspection of an independent radiation physicist we obtained the licences for the use of these sources.

A barrel of volume 50l and mass around 20kg was found in the old temporary radwaste facility containing vials with some transparent liquid. The labels from the years around 1980-1990 suggested they contained the Sr-89 isotope. Since almost 30 years have passed since then the isotope certainly decayed (half-life is 50 days). The spectroscopical analysis with HPGe detector has proven that no Sr-89 is found inside but there is still some remaining activity and no spectroscopical lines. The situation suggested a presence of a βemitter with longer lifetime - possibly Sr-90. A further chemical analysis will be performed to prove the existence of theβemitter and verify the isotope composition.

During our work we encountered different problems regarding legislation and technical restrictions. That is why we proposed some changes in the legislation and some cost efficient solutions which would effec-tively solve these problems.

References: Institute of Oncology, Ljubljana: Inventory Archive

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QUANTIFYING EXPOSURE OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS TO RADIATION: A NEW METHODOLOGY

Nicholas Beresford1, Justin Brown2, Yuri Bonchuk3, Harriet Phillips4, Kathleen Thiessen5,

Alexander Ulanowski6, Tamara Yankovich7

1Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, UK; 2Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, Norway; 3Ukrainian Radiation Protection Institute, Ukraine;4CanNorth Environmental, Canada; 5Oak Ridge Center for Risk Analysis, USA; 6Helmholtz Zentrum,

München, Germany; 7International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna


The IAEA is updating its simple methodology for calculation of doses to people from radioactive discharges. The update will provide a harmonised dose assessment methodology for both humans and flora and fauna. The approach is intended for the assessment of planned releases from facilities and estimates radiation exposure during the 100th year of discharge (expected life-time of a nuclear facility). The environmental protection ele-ments of the methodology will, as far as practicable, utilise relevant aspects of the ICRP’s framework for envi-ronmental protection. Here we describe the new IAEA methodology for calculating the radiation exposure of terrestrial wildlife focussing on differences with existing methodologies and demonstrating the potential impact of these differences.

The application of whole body concentration ratios, CRwo-soils, is often aimed to be conservative. However, it has been suggested that the application of CRwo-soils in situations of prolonged atmospheric discharges will result in an underestimation of the exposure of plants and some animals. This is because radionuclides deposited onto plant surfaces are predicted to contribute a significant component of the total plant activity. Ignoring externally deposited radionuclides from the assessment is also inconsistent with models used to assess human exposure. Consequently, the new methodology adopted by the IAEA incorporates an explicit consideration of this exposure pathway, including consideration of herbivorous animals feeding on plants with external deposition.

Other differences in the new approach compared to existing environmental assessment tools are the correction of CRwo-soils for radionuclide physical half-life and the approach used to consider the scenario-specific contribu-tion of radioactive progeny to parent radionuclide dose.

The paper will compare results using the existing and new methodologies.

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ENVIRONMENTAL MEASUREMENTS OF RADIOACTIVITY AND RADIATION PROTECTION QUANTITY AVAILABLE

IN NON-GOVERNMENTAL NETWORKS WEB SITES

Giorgia Iurlaro1, Luciano Sperandio1, Justyna Marganiec2, Patrick Kessler2, Konstantins Bogucarskis3, Steven Bell4, Lorenzo Campani1, Marc De Cort3,

Harald Dombrowski2, Alexandra Helbig5, Sotiris Ioannidis4, Djordje Lazarevic6, Francesca Mariotti1,

Bruna Morelli1, Gordana Pantelic6, Annette Röttger2, Milos Zivanovic6, Craig Duff7

1Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA),

2Joint Research Centre - European Commission (JRC), 3Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), 4NPL Managment Limited, 5Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz (BfS), 6Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences,

University of Belgrade, 7Kromek


The analysis of environmental measurements of radioactivity available in non-governmental networks was done in the framework of EMPIR – 16ENV04 “Preparedness” - “Metrology for mobile detection of ion-ising radiation following a nuclear or radiological incident” [1]. In order to analyse the most widespread networks in Europe the study focused on six web sites [3-8] of private companies and non-governmental organization

According to the Publication 103 of ICRP [2], one of the operational quantities for area monitoring is the ambient dose equivalent and its unit is sievert (Sv). When the instrument response is expressed in count-ing rate it should be converted to ambient dose equivalent rate . The techniques used by non-governmen-tal networks to convert raw data to values, if done at all, were investigated. Furthermore, a representative variety of measuring instruments used in non-governmental network were selected for test purposes at metrological reference facilities within the consortium. The investigation of the reliability of dose rates provided by such networks are performed in the context of work package 3 of the “Preparedness” project in the next months.

This work showed some limitations and strengths of the non-governmental networks web sites, leading to useful considerations on the possible applications of monitoring systems managed by the population and highlighting the need of disseminating the basic standards involving users and managers of non-gov-ernmental networks.

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Bibliography:

[1] http://www.preparedness-empir.eu/?page_id=1016

[2] ICRP 103 - The 2007 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection

[3] https://blog.safecast.org/

[4] http://www.gmcmap.com/index.asp

[5] http://radmon.org/

[6] http://radiationnetwork.com/

[7] http://radioactiveathome.org/en/

[8] https://www.uradmonitor.com/

Acknowledgement: The EMPIR initiative is co-funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the EMPIR Participating States.

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MOBILE DETECTION OF IONISING RADIATION FOLLOWING A NUCLEAR OR RADIOLOGICAL INCIDENT

- THE EMPIR PROJECT “PREPAREDNESS”

Stefan Neumaier1, Harald Dombrowski1, Steven Bell2, Arturo Vargas3

1Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Bundesallee 100, 38116 Braunschweig, Germany

2National Physical Laboratory, Hampton Rd, Teddington TW11 0LW, UK 3Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain


In the aftermath of a nuclear or radiological emergency, reliable data on dose rates and contamination levels are of key importance for any governmental decision on appropriate countermeasures. The latter may affect thousands of people and may have severe economical and sociological consequences. In order to protect the health and life of first responders, in such emergency situations radiological data shall be collected and transmitted to remote control stations by detectors carried by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The joint research project 16ENV04 “Preparedness” (carried out by a consortium of seventeen Euro-pean institutions since August 2017) develops novel radiological detector systems based on UAVs as well as transportable air-samplers, both relevant after a nuclear or radiological emergency.

In addition, the metrological relevance of crowed sourced monitoring data on dose rates, collected by lay-persons, is investigated. Finally, the long-term monitoring of contaminated areas using passive dosimetry systems is covered by this research project. The presentation will give an overview of the main objectives of the Preparedness project, as well as on first results.

Acknowledgements: The Preparedness project is financially supported by EMPIR. EMPIR is jointly funded by the EMPIR participating countries within EURAMET and the European Union.

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210PO IN SWEDISH DIET

F. Piñero-García, E. Forsell-Aronsson, M. Isaksson, E. Holm, J. Mantero, R. Thomas

Dept. Radiation Physics, Inst. of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, Univ. of Gothenburg. Sahlgrenska Univ. Hospital, Gula Stråket 2B, SE-413 45, Gothenburg, Sweden


210Po (t1/2 = 138 days) is a natural occurring radionuclide which belongs to the 238U decay series. It is one of the most radiotoxic radionuclides as a result of its specific activity (Bq/g) its high alpha emission (Eα= 5.3 MeV) resulting in high linear energy transfer (LET). The radiotoxicity is similar to 239Pu and higher than 226Ra. Therefore, the aim of the current research is the monitoring of food to assess the contribution of 210Po to the effective dose to the Swedish population.

For that purpose, different foodstuffs have been sampled according to Swedish food habits. As standard pre-treatment, the samples are washed and non-edible parts are removed. Then, all the samples are oven dried at 80 ºC to constant weight. For the radiochemical determination of 210Po, 2-4 g of dry food are acid digested by microwave oven system. In addition, 209Po is used as yield determinant (internal standard). Then, polonium is sep-arated by liquid-liquid solvent extraction method using Tributyl Phospahate (TBP) and HNO3 (8M). For the source preparation, polonium is deposited on a cupper disk in HCl (2M) at 80 ºC, shaking continuously the sample during 5h. For the source preparation, 210Po is measured by high-resolution alpha spectrometry. Table 1 summarizes the main preliminary results highlighting that 210Po contribution to annual committed effective dose for adult follows the trend: Fish > Vegetable and Fruit > Dairy products > Meat > Egg > Mushroom. The contribution of fish to the 210Po intake thus deserves special attention.

Table 1. Range and mean activity concentration of 210Po (±2σ, mBq·kg-1), together with consumption (g·d-1) and annual committed effective dose for adult D-210Po (μSv·y-1).

Number Consumption Range2 Max2 D (210Po)Vegetable1 19 275 2 - 218 29.1 ± 2.4 3.5 ± 0.3Fruit 6 128 13 - 237 62.6 ± 3.3 3.5 ± 0.2Dairy Products 7 244 10 - 49 24.6 ± 2.0 2.6 ± 0.2Mushroom 6 9 53 - 175 101.9 ± 3.8 0.4 ± 0.1Meat 5 63 5 - 88 39.5 ± 1.8 1.1 ± 0.1Egg 4 14 67 - 338 164.3± 9.5 1.0 ± 0.1Fish 4 41 246 - 5766 2056.3 ± 67.6 36.9 ± 1.2

1Fruit Vegetables, Leafy Vegetables and Other Vegetables. 2Refers to fresh weight.

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To finish, we wish to thank the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) and Nordic Nuclear Safety Research (NKS) for the kind support given.

References

Assunta Meli, M. et al. Assessment of 210Po in Italian diet. Food Chemistry 155(2014): 87-90.

Díaz-Francés, I. et al. 210Po in the diet at Seville (Spain) and its contribution to the dose by ingestion. Radiation Protection Dosimetry 168(2016): 271-276.

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MONTE CARLO SIMULATION OF DOSE CONVERSION COEFFICIENTS FOR MONOENERGETIC ELECTRONS INCIDENT

ON A FISH EYE LENS MODEL

Pedro Nogueira1, Mauritius Hiller2, Marc-Oliver Aust1

1Thünen Institute of Fisheries Ecology, Herwigstrasse 31, 27572 Bremerhaven, Germany

2Stolberg, Germany


Recent studies on terrestrial wild life species living in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, found an elevated frequency of cataracts in the eye for estimated radiation doses below the current ICRP threshold for cataract induction for human eye lens. Up to day, no study on radiation induced cataract frequency on fish eyes lens has been done. However, any thorough future study of this subject will require more accurate dose estimates for the fish eye lens than those currently available. For this purpose, the eye lens absorbed dose per unit fluence conversion coeffi-cients for electron irradiation were calculated using the MCNPX Monte Carlo radiation transport code package. All results were validated against three different fish voxel models. The discrepancies between model results mainly originate from the fishes different eye dimensions used in the different studies and in two of the cases the miss-ing of an defined eye lens region.

The dose conversion coefficients calculated in this work, can be easily used to estimate the dose to the fish eye lens based on the contaminating radionuclide activity in the surrounding water.

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A REVIEW ON EXISTING APPS FOR CITIZEN BASED DOSE MEASUREMENTS

Paola Fattibene1, Sara Della Monaca1, Liudmila Liutsko2-4, Francois Trompier5, Joan Francesc Barquinero6, Leonardo Barrios6, Jean Francois Bottollier-Depois5,

Cecile Challeton-de Vathaire5, Vadim Chumak7, Cinzia De Angelis1, Didier Franck5, Cristina Nuccetelli1, Takashi Ohba8, Koichi Tanigawa8, Elisabeth Cardis2-4

1ISS, Rome, Italia 2ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain

3UPF, Barcelona, Spain 4CIBERESP, Madrid, Spain

5IRSN, Fontenay aux roses, France 6UAB, Barcelona, Spain 7NRCRM, Kyiv, Ukraine

8FMU, Fukushima, Japan


One of the major lessons learned from previous nuclear accidents, in particular Chernobyl and Fukushi-ma, is the need to increase citizen engagement in accident preparedness and response, as has been also reviewed within the project SHAMISEN, funded under OPERRA. One conclusion of the project was that self-made measurements of radiation can create opportunities for providing information to individuals and empowering them to take an active role in their own radiation protection decisions. With modern technologies most of this data can be collected automatically, using mobile devices and appropriate APPs.

This result is the starting point of the project SHAMISEN-SINGS, funded under the European CONCERT call 2017, with the aim of enhancing Citizen Participation in preparedness for and recovery from a radiation accident through novel tools and APPs suitable to support data collection on radiation measurements, health and well-being indicators. Within the project, the role of WP2, in which ISS, FMU, IRSN, UAB and IS-Global as well as international experts are involved, is to evaluate the feasibility of citizens’ engagement in self measurements with apps, plug-ins, and mobile technologies.

The first task of this WP2 is a review of the existing plug-ins, apps and technologies through literature and internet review and an analysis of the gaps which deserve further studies. This analysis will be presented here.

Funding: SHAMISEN-SINGS is part of CONCERT. This project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 662287.

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K. Beaugelin-Seiller1, H. Lepage1, N. Sarkis1&2, M. Ferréol2, O. Geffard2, R. Gilbin1

1Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, PSE-ENV/SRTE,

13115 St Paul les Durance France; 2IRSTEA, UR RiverLy, Ecotoxicology team, 69625 Villeurbanne cedex France


The Rhone river basin is home to many industrial installations, including nuclear fuel cycle facilities, releasing both stable and radioactive substances in the environment. It is therefore a tempting playground for the implementa-tion of integrated risk assessment methods. According to European and French environmental regulations, sever-al networks monitor the basin and collect information on the contamination status of the environment. However, it is done independently for each kind of stressor (i.e. chemical state in the context of the Water Framework Directive, radiological survey by the French “Réseau National de Mesure” - RNM). As such, this a priori rich data set does not allow apprehending the cumulative impact of all these pollutants, nor the reality of the exposure of organisms.

Our project aimed to predict, through the valorization of existing chemical monitoring data and environmental radioactivity measurements, the ecological impact of the mixture of radioactive and stable contaminants in the receiving ecosystem. Continuing the work of our colleagues (Garnier-Laplace et al, 2009; Beaumelle et al, 2017), we applied a method allowing the assessment of multiple toxic pressures on aquatic ecosystems, including both stable and radioactive substances. The principle, inspired from components of the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) approach, relies on an expression of ecotoxicity common to all stressors under consideration, based on the concepts of Potentially Affected Fraction of species (PAF) and the corresponding version developed for mixtures, the msPAF. By doing this we hoped to identify the limits of such an approach with regard to the representative-ness of the measures of contaminants in water, the variability in time of contaminations, and the actual exposure of organisms.

The first step of the work consisted in gathering the existing data, checking their spatial and time consistency. The final dataset was made up of concentration values in water for selected chemicals and radionuclides, for the same sampling times and places.

The study allowed us to investigate in time and space the variability of the global toxic pressure on the Rhone River ecosystem, by identifying main contributors among the set of substances we were able to consider. The lack of consistency and overlap between the different monitoring networks, the differences in practices in terms of sampling and mesuring strategies and uses made it difficult to build a robust dataset including all the iden-tified pollutants. Additionally, for pollutants passing this first step, the availability of ecotoxicity data strongly constrained the continuation of the study.

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K. Beaugelin-Seiller1, H. Lepage1, N. Sarkis1&2, M. Ferréol2, O. Geffard2, R. Gilbin1

1Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, PSE-ENV/SRTE,

13115 St Paul les Durance France; 2IRSTEA, UR RiverLy, Ecotoxicology team, 69625 Villeurbanne cedex France


The Rhone river basin is home to many industrial installations, including nuclear fuel cycle facilities, re-leasing both stable and radioactive substances in the environment. It is therefore a tempting playground for the implementation of integrated risk assessment methods. According to European and French envi-ronmental regulations, several networks monitor the basin and collect information on the contamination status of the environment. However, it is done independently for each kind of stressor (i.e. chemical state in the context of the Water Framework Directive, radiological survey by the French “Réseau National de Mesure” - RNM). As such, this a priori rich data set does not allow apprehending the cumulative impact of all these pollutants, nor the reality of the exposure of organisms.

Our project aimed to predict, through the valorisation of existing chemical monitoring data and environ-mental radioactivity measurements, the ecological impact of the mixture of radioactive and stable con-taminants in the receiving ecosystem. Continuing the work of our colleagues (Garnier-Laplace et al, 2009; Beaumelle et al, 2017), we applied a method allowing the assessment of multiple toxic pressures on aquat-ic ecosystems, including both stable and radioactive substances. The principle, inspired from components of the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) approach, relies on an expression of ecotoxicity common to all stressors under consideration, based on the concepts of Potentially Affected Fraction of species (PAF) and the corresponding version developed for mixtures, the msPAF. By doing this we hoped to identify the limits of such an approach with regard to the representativeness of the measures of contaminants in water, the variability in time of contaminations, and the actual exposure of organisms.

The first step of the work consisted in gathering the existing data, checking their spatial and time consis-tency. The final dataset was made up of concentration values in water for selected chemicals and radionu-clides, for the same sampling times and places.

The study allowed us to investigate in time and space the variability of the global toxic pressure on the Rhone River ecosystem, by identifying main contributors among the set of substances we were able to consider. The lack of consistency and overlap between the different monitoring networks, the differences in practices in terms of sampling and measuring strategies and uses made it difficult to build a robust dataset including all the identified pollutants. Additionally, for pollutants passing this first step, the avail-ability of ecotoxicity data strongly constrained the continuation of the study.

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RADIATION DOSE OF WORKERS ENGAGED IN DECONTAMINATION OF ENVIRONMENT

AFTER FUKUSHIMA-DAIICHI ACCIDENT

Tsubasa Ogawa1, Tetsuro Ueno1, Tomohiro Asano1and Atsuo Ito1

1Radiation Effects Association, 1-9-16 kaji-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 101-0044, Japan


The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami on March 11, 2011 was followed by Fukushima-Daiichi Accident, which released Cs-134, Cs-137 and I-131 into the atmosphere resulting in contamination of environments includ-ing soil, woods, waters and houses. The government issued evacuation orders in the contaminated areas with estimated exposure doses to Fukushima residents above 20 mSv/y. In order to facilitate lifting the orders and promoting decontamination, the government enacted the Act on Special Measures Concerning the Handling of Radioactive Pollution, which was executed in January, 2012. The radiation doses of workers engaged in decon-tamination of environment were registered through the contractors in the radiation dose registration system at Radiation Dose Registration Center (RADREC) of Radiation Effects Association. The purpose of this study is to re-port radiation doses received by decontamination workers, with comparing doses received by workers in nuclear facilities including nuclear power plants in Japan.

As of May 31, 2018, 420 primary contractors joined the RADREC registration framework and radiation dose of 464,283 workers are accumulated in the RADREC database, allowing the use of statistics on dose distribution of decontamination workers. Transitions of radiation dose of decontamination workers, average radiation dose and maximum dose registered during 2012-2017 are given in Figure. The number of decontamination workers has increased from 2012 to 2015, then decreased from 2016 to 2017, because the operation in the special decontam-ination areas was mostly completed by the end of March 2017. Compared with the nuclear workers, the number of workers and the average radiation dose are low for decontamination workers.

The radiation dose registry system for decontamination workers has been successfully established and statistics are available.

Fig. Transitions of number of decontamination workers, average dose and maximum dose

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INFLUENCE OF LONG TERM EXPOSURE TO ENHANCED GAMMA RADIATION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANISMS:

A CASE STUDY COMPARING A PLANT AND AN INSECT. Nele Horemans1, May Van Hees1, Robin Nauts1, Stefan Van Dongen2, Sarah Van Goethem1,2,

Isabelle Van Dijck1, Ines Heylen1 and Eline Saenen1

1Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK•CEN), BIS, Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, Belgium 2University of Antwerp, Evolutionary Ecolgy group, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium


Due to anthropogenic activities increased levels of radioisotopes are found at several places leading to additional exposure of organisms to ionizing radiation Ionising radiation can induce genotoxic effects by interacting with DNA either directly or indirectly and as such it can induce DNA damage, oxidative stress and lead to alterations in proteins and lipids. Organisms will respond to this by inducing DNA repair mech-anisms or enhancing their antioxidative stress mechanisms. This may however come with a cost to the organisms and influence its developmental rate as well as its phenotype. Methylation is one of the epigen-etic mechanisms that is involved in the expression of genes and is said to be involved in the induction of long term/transgenerational memory in different organisms. Additionally a decrease in global methylation may lead to DNA instability and contribute to mutations and chromosomal recombinations.

In order to study the long-term impact (within and across generations) of gamma radiation the higher plant Arabidopsis thaliana and the cricket Acheta domesticus were subjected to chronic low dose radia-tion (ranging between 0.09-1 mGy/h) from early development until end of the life cycle or in a multigener-ational experiment for three subsequent generations (P0, S1, S2) to higher dose rates (20-400 mGy/h). For both organisms different the timing of different developmental stages was followed. For A. thaliana this included roset development, flower induction, and seed setting whereas for the crickets this focused on biometric parameters like weight and length, the different molting stadia and the fluctuating asymmetry of femur. For the plants additional measurements at a molecular level were performed by analyzing tran-scription of genes involved in DNA damage and repair, flower development, DNA methylation as well as the total level of genome methylation.

Plants exposed to low dose radiation (1mGy/h) from the moment of seed imbibition to seed ripening were on average two days earlier in flower bud formation and flower development. This was accompanied by a significant change in methylation level. At the time of flower induction (4 weeks) the chronically exposed plants had lower transcription of flower induction genes and DNA damage and repair genes possibly indi-cating a differential timing of the gene expression or also a different developmental rate. From the plants exposed for multiple generations DNA methylation was higher in a dose and generation dependent man-ner. It seemed that highest differences were present in the S1 generation but seemed to be reduced in the S2 generation. Within a pilot experiment on the development of crickets, on the other hand, an average of 92 µGy/h exposure to external gamma induced a slower development for all 3 biometric parameters tested. In contrast to our hypothesis this resulted in a lower level of fluctuating asymmetry in the exposed compared to the control group. But repetition of these preliminary results is needed. Taken together our results indicate that long term exposure to radiation can lead to distinct changes in plant and insect devel-opment that could (at least for plants) last over generations. If these subtle shifts in development are also apparent in the field this could have ecological consequences.

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PREDICTING RADIONUCLIDES TRANSFER IN THE AGRICULTURAL FOOD CHAIN

Neil Crout1,

1School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, UK


Ingestion of contaminated foodstuffs is typically a major source of radiological dose following releases of radio-nuclides into the environment unless effective countermeasures are in place. For most populations the agricul-tural food chain is potentially the largest source of these radionuclides.

The transfer of radionuclides through the food chain, from soil to plant to animal to consumer is complex, dy-namic, and highly variable. A wide range of radioecological food chain models have been developed to provide a systematic and predictive basis for dose and countermeasure assessment for both routine and accidental releases of radionuclides.

The variability of radionuclide behaviour in the food chain represents a significant challenge for model devel-opment. Factors affecting the transfer to consumers include: the biogeochemistry of the specific radionuclide, the food product, the environmental conditions where the food/fodder crops are grown and population dietary preferences.

This paper will present a synthesis of work which integrates a wide range of laboratory and field experimentation within a generic model approach to addressing biogeochemical variation in soil-crop transfer of radionuclides. Our motivation to provide an applicable approach to address environmental variable in radionuclide transfer and thereby underpin food chain dose assessment. Some of this work has led to spatial assessments of environmen-tal vulnerability to specific radionuclides, notably radiocaesium, whereas other outcomes are focussed on long term transfer relevant to nuclear waste safety assessment.

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PECULIARITIES OF AIR CONTAMINATION WITH TRITIUM AT THE TERRITORY OF SEMIPALATINSK TEST SITE:

SOURCES AND FORMATION MECHANISMS

O.N. Lyakhova, L.V. Timonova, Z.B. Serzhanova, N.V. Larionova

Branch «Institute of Radiation Safety and Ecology» of the RSE NNC RK,

Kurchatov city, Kazakhstan


Any kinds of nuclear tests, nuclear experiments or accidents unescapably lead to forming large amounts of tritium (Т) in the environment. Since tritium is a hydrogen isotope, it can be found in any substances containing hydrogen molecules and it can be bound both with water in tissues of various environmental objects, and organic matter of plants and animals.

As a result of nuclear tests at the territory of the former Semipalatinsk Test Site (STS) there were formed some sites with high concentration of T in the environmental objects. By the present time it was found that each radioactive-contaminated part of the site has its specific peculiarities in contamination with tritium.

In this paper issues of studying sources and transfer mechanisms of two main Т speciation in air –НТО andТgas are considered. Based on all the data obtained total amount of Т, coming to air in form of НТОwas estimated as exemplified by the most highly contaminated parts of the test site.

Research works were conducted at the main testing sites of the STS: «Degelen», «Balapan» (places of un-derground nuclear explosions), «Experimental Field» (air and surface nuclear explosions) as well as the ter-ritory of the «Atomic» lake, formed as the result of an excavation explosion, and in the channel of Shagan river, having high T concentration in the environmental objects – water, plant and soil.

According to the results, the maximum НТОconcentrations were registered in atmospheric air in vi-cinity of radioactively-contaminated creeks with high T concentration in water and vegetation. Volumetric activity of НТОranged between 30 and 1000 Bq/m3, value of Тgas. was not higher than 0,5 Bq/m3. This indi-cates that the main source ofТentry to the air at this particular site is water, when НТОenters to the air as the result of evaporation process. An additional source ofНТО is plants, where Т gets transferred into air as a result of transpiration processes. A different situation was observed in the venues of underground nuclear explosions where Tgas dominates in respect of quantity. Concentration of Tgas. in soil air researches 150-200 Bq/m3. Most possibly, emanation of Tgas. could be caused by typical processes, occurring inside of boreholes cavities, accompanied by release of gas compounds to the surface. The place of special inter-est is «Atomic» Lake, whereНТОand Тgas were registered in relatively equal amounts of up to 90 Bq/m3.

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For this area the following mechanisms of air contamination with tritium were registered – leaching Т out of the bank soil into water and direct НТОentry from water surface to air; processes of transformation of various T speciation in the soil column, resulting in вТgas. redistribution in the atmosphere.

According to results of assessment of the total amount of HTO coming into air environment at the STS ter-ritory, «Degelen» site, where underground nuclear tests were conducted in tunnels, contributes most of all to atmosphere contamination with tritium. The total amount of Т, originating from its territory exceeds the values obtained for other sites by 2 orders of magnitude.

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INVESTIGATIONS ON AMBIENT 129I (GAS AND AEROSOL) AT SHORT DISTANCE FROM THE LA HAGUE

REPROCESSING PLANT

Olivier Masson1, Olivier Connan2, Jochen Tschiersch3, Kostas Eleftheriadis4

1 IRSN/PSE-ENV/SEREN/LEREN. Bât 153, St Paul lez Durance, 13115, France 2 IRSN/PSE-ENV/SRTE/LRC, Cherbourg-Octeville, 50130, France

3 HMGU. Helmholtz Zentrum München (GmbH), Institute of Radiation Protection, Neuherberg, 85764, Germany

4 Institute of Nuclear and Radiological Sciences & Technology, Energy & Safety, NCSR “Demokritos”, Ag. Paraskevi, Attiki, 15310, Greece

e-mail : [email protected]

The aim of this research is to better understand the behavior and the fractionation (gas vs. aerosol) of ra-dio-iodines in the atmosphere after a release. We took opportunity of the routine 129I release to the atmo-sphere by the reprocessing facility of La Hague (France), which represents c.a. 6 10-3 TBq y-1.To have a better insight about its behavior, we conducted a 1year field campaign with the aim to address the gaseous 129I content, in terms of gas-to-particle ratio at 1 km from the stack. We also examine the size distribution of 129I on the aerosol-bound phase. Finally, to check for possible secondary emissions from the marine envi-ronment (where more than 99% of 129I is released within liquid discharges), we performed aerosol and gas-eous samplings during the shutdown period of the facility. Regarding the release at the stack outlet itself, it is not expected to find 129I on the aerosol-bound fraction due to the high filtration efficiency involved in the process before release. Gaseous iodine is much more difficult to trap: it escapes from the scrubbing system which does not have the same highest efficiency as for the aerosol. To measure gaseous concen-trations we use a high volume gaseous trap (80 m3/h) and for the aerosol fraction a battery of high-volume impactors to assess the size distribution between 0.49 and 7.2 µm. We found a high gas-to-particle ratio ranging from 25 to 50. This is quite surprising even if iodine at the stack is supposed to be mainly molecular iodine (I2). Indeed its presence in the environment is not expected in that form because of its high reactiv-ity to form oxides with other airborne compounds or by photo-dissociation during daytime.

The size distribution exhibits a bimodal distribution with contribution from the finest aerosol fraction due to the gaseous fraction predominance and conversion or transfer of gaseous iodine onto aerosols. The coarse fraction has also a significant contribution which typically corresponds to the marine aerosol size suggesting the transport of 129I from the sea. These characteristics have influence on the inhalation dose assessment.

Finally, we measured a residual 129I concentration of ca. 8 µBq/m3 even after 2 weeks of facility shut-down. It can be expected to origin from 129I emissions from the seaweed field and/or emissions from the marine envi-ronment (plankton, sea sprays). Further investigations will be aimed at highlighting this biogenic contribution.

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RESUSPENSION DUE TO REMEDIATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FUKUSHIMA EXCLUSION ZONE AND IMPLICATION TO DOSE

Jochen Tschiersch1, Kazuya Yoshimura2, Vladimir Spielmann1, Kerstin Hürkamp1, Kazuki Iijima2, Taeko Shinonaga1, 3, Kaname Miyahara2

1 Helmholtz Zentrum München, Institute of Radiation Protection, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany

2 Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Sector of Fukushima Research and Development, Fukushima 975-0036, Japan

3 present address: Hirosaki University, Institute of Radiation Emergency Medicine, Aomori 036-8564, Japan


In contaminated areas, deposited radionuclides can become airborne again and may be inhaled by persons stay-ing in these areas: Wind may mobilize soil particles and plant debris with attached radionuclides. Human activi-ties, e.g. during remediation measures, may enhance the airborne resuspended material.

The airborne radioactive particles are inhaled by exposed persons and induce an internal dose, which has to be considered in addition to the external dose caused by the g-radiation of the deposited radionuclides. In this study, the potential internal exposure due to inhalation during different remediation actions is examined.

In the Fukushima exclusion zone large scale decontamination activities take place which influence amount and characteristics of the resuspended material. Besides airborne activity concentration, the activity size distribution and the solubility of the radionuclides have to be considered. Measurements during exemplary decontamination works provide experimental data of the main parameters. Bulk samples by air filtration supply material for activi-ty concentration measurement and solubility tests. The activity size distribution is determined by sampling with size segregating impactor technique.

Inhalation dose depends on the kind and amount of inhaled radionuclides, but also on the size of radioactive particles and the solubility of the radionuclides in the lungs. The activity median aerodynamic diameter (AMAD) and geometric standard deviation are determined from the size segregated samples. The solubility type of the inhaled material is determined from the filter samples using simulated lung fluid. The dose assessment is per-formed according the ICRP lung model using the computer code IMBA professional. Doses determined from mea-sured parameters are compared to those using ICRP default values. Variability is studied and the range of poten-tial inhalation dose is assessed and compared to the external dose.

Acknowledgement: This study was supported by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), Germany by contract 3614S40015. Its contents are only the responsibility of the authors.

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LONG-TERM MEASUREMENTS AND ANALYSIS OF RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION WITH NATURAL

AND ARTIFICIAL RADIONUCLIDES IN THE ATMOSPHERE IN THE SOUTH OF POLAND

Ewa Nalichowska1, Jerzy W. Mietelski1,Renata Kierepko1, Krzysztof Gorzkiewicz1, Paweł Janowski2,Kamil Brudecki1,Ewa Tomankiewicz1,Agata Kowalska3

1Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN, Radzikowskiego 152, 31-156 Krakow, Poland 2AGH University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science, Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krakow, Poland

3Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Geoengineering, Mining and Geology, Na Grobli 15, 50-421 Wroclaw, Poland


In this study, we investigated radioactive contamination of the atmosphere in Krakow, Poland with se-lected natural and artificial radioisotopes. The data has been obtained from the permanent radioactivity measurements of air at ground level and total atmospheric precipitation at the Institute of Nuclear Phys-ics PAN. Approximately 125 monthly samples of both of dry and wet air precipitation and ca. 624 weekly samples of ground level air contamination, collected between 2005 and 2016, were used. For a detailed analysis we have chosen: terrestrial K-40, Pb-210, cosmogonic Be-7, Na-22 and artificial Cs-137 and Plutoni-um isotopes. Using this unique for Central Europe long-term database of radioactive contamination of air and in total precipitation, background level of the atmospheric radioactivity in this region was estimated together with absorbed doses from the aforementioned natural and artificial isotopes were calculated.

In this presentation we will show methods of quantitative and qualitative assessment of the level of ra-dioactivity as measured in ground-level air aerosol samples and total precipitation samples using nuclear spectrometry and radiochemistry methods. Selected results of radioactivity measurements will be pre-sented and compared to the results obtained in other regions of the world. In Krakow, average activity concentration of analysed radioisotopes ranges from 0.3 µBq/m3 for Na-22 to 3000 µBq/m3 for Be-7 in air filters and from 0.6 Bq/m3 for Na-22 to 2100 Bq/m3 for Be-7 in total precipitation. The annual effective doses from inhalation of these isotopes is approximately a few µSv. Apart from the radionuclides routinely observed in the measured samples sometimes there are registered other artificial radioisotopes, which can be used as indicators of atmospheric release incidents. In this work there will be discussed the actual potential sources of atmosphere radioactive contamination on the considered area based on the analysis of exception-ally high radionuclides activity concentration measured in the samples. Between 2005 and 2018 there were a few events of increased activity concentration of Cs-137 (in the order of mBq/m3) and also some extraordinary isotopes, not normally occurring in measured samples (e.g. I-131, Co-60) were detected. Some of these were caused by well-known events such as Fukushima accident in 2011, but majority of them are not clearly identi-fied e.g. release of Ru-106 in 2017. More unusual results, their potential sources and associated doses, in refer-ence to the long-term radioactivity background data, will be also presented and discussed.

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AND

INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH AND OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH (IMROH)

SESSION

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INVOLVEMENT OF RESIDENTS LIVING IN THE VICINITY OF THE CHERNOBYL EXCLUSION ZONE IN MONITORING AND INTERPRETING MEASUREMENT RESULTS AND THE

INFLUENCE OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOURS

CROUAIL Pascal2, MOSTOVENKO Andrey5, MAITRE Mélanie2, SHKLIARAVA Nastya5, NAITO Wataru6, BOTTOLIER DEPOIS Jean-François1, FEDOSENKO Anastasia3, KATLABAI Tatiana4,

KATLABAI Piotr4, BERTHO Jean-Marc1,

with the significant contribution of the pupils and teachers of Kamaryn school7

1IRSN, Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France; 2CEPN, Centre d’étude sur l’Évaluation de la Protection dans le domaine Nucléaire, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France.; 3Veterinary station, Local Cen-tre for Protection and Radiological Culture, Kamaryn, Bragin district, Belarus; 4‘Sprout of Life’, Local Centre for Protec-tion and Radiological Culture, Krasnoe, Bragin district, Belarus; 5RIR, Research Institute of Radiology, Gomel, Belarus;

6AIST, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Research institute of Science for Safety and Sustainability, Tsukuba, Japan; 7State Educational Institution ‘Kamaryn school’, Bragin district, Belarus: YERMAKOV

Fyodor (director); MASALYKA Vladimir (physics teacher); BLIZNETS Polina, GOROSHKO Dmitry, GUDOSHNIKOV Denis, ZHURAVSKAYA Julia, KARTASH Karina, KRAISVETNY Oleg, KRIVONOSOVA Rimma, LYUBICH Daniil, PANTELEEVA Olga,

PINCHUK Snezhana, POVOD Karina, ROMANENKO Philip, SUPRUN Sophia, TARASOV Wyacheslav, SHAPETKO Igor, SHA-PETKO Cyril, YAKIMOVICH Andre (pupils)


TERRITORIES (Work Package 2, Task 1) is dedicated to accounting for variability in individual behaviours in space and time, in the context of existing exposure situations in the long term after a nuclear accident. This task studies three decades of post-Chernobyl contamination aiming at identifying and assessing the factors which affect its spatial and temporal variability in the environment and associated uncertainty in the evaluation of human internal and external exposures, according to local land use, local agricultur-al practices and other factors. As a model, the variability in foodstuff and environmental contamination measured over a long period of time was studied in Kamaryn, one of the closest Belarus inhabited place (2000 inhabitants) to the exclusion zone, located at a 35km distance from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. This retrospective analysis of the exposure variability is based on the past and present radiological characterization of the village through three main actions:

- The collection and statistical data analysis of radioactivity concentrations in various foodstuff and feedstuff (e.g. milk, vegetables, forest and other wild products, hay, etc.) as well as whole body measurements made during the period 1990-2016. More than 11,000 monitoring results have been

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collected from measurements made by several Belarusian scientific institutes, non-governmental orga-nizations, local professionals and citizens.

- The realization of an ambient dose rate map in and around the village. This action took place in the frame-work of the OpenRadiation® collaborative project, which gives the opportunity to people to easily moni-tor the radioactivity in the environment using connected apps on smartphones and to share the GPS-lo-cated monitoring results, in real-time, on the dedicated website (www.openradiation.org/). This was done by a group of twenty volunteer pupils of the Kamaryn school.

- The analysis of the variations in individual external effective doses according to the daily activities of inhabitants (e.g. indoor vs. outdoor activities): the same group of pupils used the D-shuttle® external ef-fective dose measurement and analysis system developed by AIST-Japan (since the Fukushima accident, similar dosimeters are worn by the people affected by the aftermath of the catastrophe).

The trends of monitoring results over long periods of time have been deeply analysed, both in terms of contami-nation of the environment and effective doses. Then, this scientific analysis was confronted to the local popula-tion knowledge of the past and current situation of the village (locally implemented agriculture countermeasures, meteorological observations, seasonal events such as flood episodes or forest fires, etc.). This project has clearly contributed to an improved capacity-building in radiological protection and led to a real transfer of knowledge to the local young population through self-monitoring. As well, the project provided important outputs for a bet-ter understanding of the variability in terms of radioactivity and individual doses at very fine - a village size - territorial level, and could certainly help the scientists involved in preparedness, emergency management, and post-emergency recovery to better take into account uncertainty in post-accidental exposure modelling and dose assessment.

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NOVEL SPECTROMETRY SYSTEMS FOR RADIOLOGICAL EARLY WARNING NETWORKS IN EUROPE

- A SUMMARY OF METROERM RESULTS

Stefan Neumaier1*, Patrick Kessler1, Harald Dombrowski1, Steven Bell2, Denis Glavič-Cindro3, Toni Petrovič3

1Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Bundesallee 100, 38116 Braunschweig, Germany 2National Physical Laboratory, Hampton Rd, Teddington TW11 0LW, UK

3Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia


Within the framework of the joint European research project “Metrology for radiological early warning net-works in Europe” (MetroERM), co-funded by the European Commission (EC) and EURAMET, fifteen Europe-an institutions, including leading metrology institutes, developed novel and improved instrumentation for environmental radiation monitoring, focused on radiological early warning networks. Currently, approxi-mately 5500 dosimetry monitoring stations are operational in Europe which provide dose rate data on an hourly basis to the European Radiological Data Exchange Platform (EURDEP) of the EC. In addition, a few hundred air-samplers measure activity concentrations in air. Novel spectrometry systems based on LaBr3-, CeBr3- and SrI2-scintillation detectors and CdZnTe semiconductor detectors have been developed, in-tensively investigated and characterised by the MetroERM partners. Finally, the performance of these spectro-dosimetry systems was tested and validated at an intercomparison performed at PTB’s reference sites. Based on the results of this project, a new generation of radiological early warning network detectors, with a metrologically sound performance and traceable to primary standards, became available. The pre-sentation will summarise the most important findings and results of MetroERM, focused on spectrometry systems for radiological early warning networks in Europe.

References:

Neumaier, S., Dombrowski, H., Kessler, P.: Metrology for radiological early warning networks in Europe (“MetroERM”) - A joint European Metrology Research Project. Health Physics, 111(2), 2016, 100 – 105.

Glavič-Cindro, D., Brodnik, D., Petrovič, T., Vencelj, M., Ponikvar, Bell, S. J., Keightley, L. and Woods, S.: Compact radioac-tive aerosol monitoring device for early warning networks. Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 126, 2017, 219-224. (DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2016.12.036).

Kessler, P., Behnke, B., Dombrowski, H., Röttger, A., Neumaier, S.: Novel spectrometers for environmental dose rate monitoring. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 187, 2018, 115-121. (DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2018.01.020).

Acknowledgements: The MetroERM project is financially supported by EMRP. EMRP is jointly funded by the EMRP participating countries within EURAMET and the European Union.

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CHALLENGES OF RADIOLOGICAL/NUCLEAR ON-SITE MEASUREMENTS

Branko Petrinec, Dinko Babić, Tomislav Meštrović, and Marko Šoštarić

Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health,

Ksaverska cesta 2, 10000 Zagreb


Mobile units represent a key element of emergency preparedness and response. On-site measurements are now-adays in their quality not much behind laboratory measurements, and also provide a quick acquisition of data that are accurate enough for making prompt and well substantiated decisions.

Basic radiological on-site measurements include the determination of ambient dose rate equivalent H*(10)/t, the identification of radionuclides and the quantification of their activity. Of these, the quantification is particularly demanding and relies on high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry which has recently advanced enough to be effective in on-site measurements.

The goal of this work is to present typical problems in on-site measurements, these being: selection of an ap-propriate measurement device, accounting for background signal, the use of collimators, geometrical aspects related to a given measurement, calibration issues, etc. Consequently, it is desirable to open a discussion among experts in the field in order to set regulations and recommendations for this type of measurements.

The selection of the type and number of appropriate measurement devices should be based on a proper insight into their characteristics and performances. Regular calibration is necessary, and it turns out that this some-times should be carried out just before a measurement. Furthermore, joint exercises of several teams, which include measurements of the same objects and comparisons of the obtained results, increase the quality and preparedness for on-site measurements. This exchange of experiences is important part of the efforts to make measurement protocols uniform, leading to the easier interpretation of results and eventually to setting appro-priate regulations.

Protocols for on-site measurements are either missing or differ even between states that have the same ra-diological problems. These protocols should define criteria for the selection of equipment with regard to the type, efficiency, construction, and redundancy. Data transfer is another problem due to different software and data formats used by different equipment manufacturers, and also with respect to the ways of communication (the Internet, radio, fax, etc.). Moreover, maps of background values of H*(10)/t, and even of background activity concentrations of radionuclides of interest, would be helpful in the quantification of the results of the aforemen-tioned measurements.

We conclude that it would be desirable to establish an international workgroup of experts in the field, which could lead to guidelines for the development of protocols for on-site measurements.

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LITERATURE

Institut Jožef Stefan. Primerjalne meritve hitrosti doze in spektrometrije gama ‘’PRIMER 2016’’, Ljubljana, 2016.

Institut za medicinska istraživanja i medicinu rada. Izvješće o mjerenjima i nadzoru radioaktivnosti na području jadranskog priobalja u blizini podmornice na nuklearni pogon – Nuclear submarine Class Rubis, Zagreb, 2016.

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EDUCATION & TRAINING SESSIONS

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EDUCATING ABOUT RADIATION RISKS IN HIGH SCHOOLS: TOWARDS IMPROVED PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE

COMPLEXITY OF LOW DOSE RADIATION HEALTH EFFECTS

Andrzej Wojcik1, Karim Hamza1, Karin Haglund2, Leena Arvanitis3, Iann Lundegård1, Margareta Enghag1, Linda Schenk4

1Stockholm University, 2Blackeberg Gymnasium, Stockholm, 3Tumba Gymnasium, Stockholm,

4Royal Institute of Technology and Karolinska Institute, Stockholm.


The levels of stochastic health effects following exposure to low doses of ionising radiation are not well known. This is mainly due to the lack of statistical power of epidemiological studies which makes it im-possible to quantify them with an unequivocal precision. A consequence of the uncertainty as well as the stochastic nature of risk, is that any radiation exposure is met with deep concern not only by the public but also by scientists who disagree about how the partly conflicting results from low dose studies should be interpreted.

The public concern is not limited to ionising radiation but is inherent to other areas of modern technologies such as biotechnology or communication. The everyday presence of advanced technologies, such as X-ray diagnostic devices or mobile phones, confront people with the necessity to take decisions and there is an ongoing debate regarding both the nature and magnitude of potential risks and how education efforts may empower the public’s own decision-making on these matters. In the field of radiation research there are different opinions regarding the optimal education methods, spanning from the idea that peoples´ fears will be eliminated by introducing dose thresholds below which the risk is assumed to be zero, to suggestions of concentrating research efforts in an attempt to eliminate all uncertainties regarding the effects of low doses.

Within the science education research complex socio-scientific issues such as health risks associated with advanced technologies are appreciated as a means to develop teaching that promotes, amongst other things, students’ decision-making skills and understanding of the role of science in society. Working with secondary school science, our approach to radiation risks as a socio-scientific issue is not to solely present facts but rather to show risks in a broader perspective aiming at developing students’ competency in making decisions based on informed assessment of a complex state of the art. We received funding to develop appropriate teaching materials and the aim of this contribution is to present our rationale and experiences in the hope to stimulate and encourage other researchers to pursue similar approaches.

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THINKING BEYOND THE ETHICS OF GOOD INTENTIONS: AN ETHICS OF CARE FOR RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION

Meskens Gaston1,2

1SCK•CEN, 2400 Mol, Belgium

2University of Ghent, Blandijnberg 2, 9000 Ghent, Belgium


Reflections on ethics in relation to radiological protection to date have largely focussed on values prescribing ethical behaviour and good governance in dealing with nuclear technology in the various application contexts. These values reasonably follow from the question of what it would imply for professionals (scientists, managers, policy advisors, medical doctors or regulators, …) to be ‘responsible’ or ‘good’ in their own professional context. In that sense, in its publication ‘Ethical foundations of the system of radiological protection’, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has identified the core ethical values underpinning the system of radiological protection as being ‘beneficence and non-maleficence’, ‘prudence’, ‘justice’ and ‘dignity’. In the spirit of ‘good governance’, this set of core values is completed with three ‘procedural values’, being ‘accountability’, ‘transparency’ and ‘inclusiveness’ (stakeholder participation).

However, to what extent and in which way do existing formal regulatory ‘systems’ and specific ‘cultures’ (political, scientific, managerial, educational) enable, stimulate or eventually hinder the adoption and implementation of values such as those mentioned above? The presentation will discuss this question in general, and the conse-quences thereof for the radiological protection system in particular. The idea is that ethical thinking in relation to radiological risk governance requires reflection beyond ‘the ethics of good intentions’, and that it should be completed with ethical reflection with regard to the potentialities and ‘hindrances’ that characterize the systems and cultures in which professionals concerned with radiological protection are formed and meant to operate. In conclusion, the presentation will propose an ethics of care perspective that could inspire a critical vision on these systems and cultures as well as the necessary change to them in the interest of enabling the working of the core and procedural values for radiological protection to their ‘full potential’.

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CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR RADIATION PROTECTION PROFESSIONALS:

BRINGING NEW SCIENTIFIC INSIGHTS IN PRACTICE

Clarijs Tom1, Michèle Coeck1

1SCK•CEN, Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, Belgium


When the fundamental principles of radiation protection are put into practice, practitioners tend to focus on the major guidelines they are taught during their initial radiation protection training, i.e. the justification of an exposure, the optimisation of the dose and an absolute respect for the dose limits. Due to daily rou-tine tasks and other priorities, professionals might overlook the underlying scientific basis of these funda-mental principles and might not be fully aware of recent insights in the discipline of radiation protection.

Thanks to evidence-based research in various disciplines of radiation protection, which has initiated tech-nological innovations in industry and medicine, a more efficient protection of the public, the workers, the patient and the environment has been achieved over the last century. However, a lot of scientific insights are not immediately valorized and cannot be directly implemented in a technological or structural feature in an installation using ionising radiation. Examples are the change in tissue weighting factors, the insights in non-cancer effects, risk perception and communication, the need for more correct dose and risk es-timation and the complexity of radio-ecology. An awareness of these scientific insights is nonetheless needed to apply the key principles of radiation protection.

One way to acknowledge and consciously keep these scientific insights in mind is to participate in theo-retical and practical training on a regular basis in order to continuously update relevant knowledge, skills and attitude in this matter.

In the framework of continuous professional development (CPD) in radiation protection, the SCK•CEN Academy for Nuclear Science and Technology offers various CPD sessions customized to the needs and practices of the end-user. In this way, radiation protection in practice can be optimized using direct in-put from various research disciplines such as radiobiology, dosimetry, social science, nuclear engineer-ing, materials science, emergency management and decommissioning. With the input of tens of SCK•CEN scientists, engineers, technicians, medical doctors, social scientists, … the SCK•CEN Academy contributes to develop and increase the necessary competences to ensure an adequate protection of the public, the worker, the patient and environment against the detrimental effects of ionising radiation. This presenta-tion will demonstrate how effective training is delivered to various experts in radiation protection, as well as nuclear workers in different domains by using state-of-the art input from ongoing research in radiation protection.

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ACCESS TO INFRASTRUCTURES: AIR2 AND AIR2D2

Maria Panagiotopoulou1, Jean-Michel Dolo1, CONCERT WP6 members*, Laure Sabatier1

1Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA),

18 route du Panorama, Fontenay-aux-Roses, 92265, France


The specific necessity of focusing on infrastructures in Radiation Protection has been highlighted in the HLEG (High Level Expert Group) report in 2009. Since then, large Euratom projects (DoReMi, OPERRA, STAR…) have dedicated specific WPs and tasks to infrastructures. Surveys performed during these projects have concluded that the most necessary infrastructures are already available, although, not at the bench of each user, rendering access to state of the art infrastructures a major bottleneck. In the CONCERT project, WP6- Access to Infra-structures, focuses on increasing the visibility of high quality infrastructures available to perform cutting-edge research in any of the disciplines related to Radiation Protection, and facilitating access to these facilities for re-searchers and students in this field. The term “infrastructures” comprises the so-called large infrastructures such as exposure platforms, including those for animal and plant experiments, epidemiological cohorts, sample banks, databases, analytical platforms such as biological dosimetry facilities and ‘omics laboratories and e-infrastruc-tures including models and tools.

To this end, two main tools have been implemented in WP6: the database AIR²D² (Access to Infrastructures for Radiation protection Research Documented Database) and CONCERT’s monthly bulletin, AIR² (Access to Infra-structures for Radiation protection Research). AIR²D² (http://www.concert-infrastructures.eu) is an easy-to-use communication and dissemination tool that serves as a webportal to guide researchers in their choice of in-frastructures (85 listed to date). To further assist them in their search, dynamic maps and filter functions are available for each of the aforementioned sub-categories, as well as a global map with common criteria (contact details, address...), providing a global view of all the listed infrastructures. The results of a search can be exported into a csv file and read in Excel. In the months to follow, additional supporting material of various types will be uploaded to AIR²D², e.g. images, tables, brochures, etc., in order to transform it into a “documented database” and users will be invited to give their feedback on the infrastructures listed. On the other hand, AIR² (published since October 2015), highlights through its pages all the information available on infrastructures related to Radiation Protection research and has now reached its 29th Issue with 87 infrastructures presented. The AIR² distribution list comprises more than 1000 persons and is growing day by day, thanks to blogs, newsletters and websites that introduce the bulletin and provide links to the newly-published issues. At the end of CONCERT, all the pages featuring the infrastructures will be organised in a web handbook listing the 120 infrastructures published in the bulletins during the 5 years of the project. A first draft (D6.4) is currently available on http://www.concert-h2020.eu/en/Publications. This project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 662287.

* Liz Ainsbury, Mohammed Abderrafi Benotmane, Angelika Bohnstedt, Jean-François Bottollier-Depois, Nina Chobanova, Fieke Dekkers, Tatia-na Duranova, Valeria Hadjidekova, Siamak Haghdoost, Lívia Hanušovský, Mats Harms-Ringdahl, William Hempel, Ulrike Kulka, Olivier Laurent, Katalin Lumniczky, Balázs Madas, Elizabeth May, Maarit Muikku, Andrea Ottolenghi, Deborah Oughton, Elina Pajuste, Laure Piqueret-Stephan, Wolfgang Raskob, Almudena Real, Brit Salbu, Sisko Salomaa, Paul Schofield, Vere Smyth, Maria Antonella Tabocchini, Soile Tapio, Hans Chris-tian Teien, Andrzej Wojcik

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THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN EYE-LENS DOSIMETER FOR INTEGRATION INTO RADIATION PROTECTION SPECTACLES

Vedran Bandalo, Jennifer Bloedorn, Johannes Brönner, Markus Figel, Miha Furlan,

Matthias Greiter, Herbert Hödlmoser, Erika Mende and Martin Schmid

Introduction. With the new radiation protection legislation, the limit value for the annual dose of the eye lens Hp(3) will be lowered from 150 mSv to 20 mSv. This requires more protective eyewear against radia-tion for the user. This is why a collective team of dosimetry laboratories, a manufacturer of radiation pro-tection equipment and a supplier of dosimetry systems have worked together to develop a new eye lens dosimeter which is integrated seamlessly into a new pair of radiation protection glasses. Many mechanical adapters can be used to retrofit existing safety glasses or visors to accommodate the dosimeter as well.

Materials & Methods. The development partners jointly defined a mechanical interface for the connection of dosimeter and radiation protection glasses. The eyeglass manufacturer developed a new lens model with an integrated detector mounting. The results of Monte Carlo calculations in addition to an eye lens dosimeter based on BeOSL technology adapted for Hp(3) was designed for the German market. In cooper-ation with the supplier of the BeOSL system, a separate detector element was created for applications in extremity and partial body dosimetry.

Results. Prototypes of the dosimeter and the new radiation protection glasses will be shown. The first data on the energy and angle dependence of the dosimeter compared to the IEC requirements are presented. In addition, observations are made about the protective effect of the new radiation protection glasses.

Practical Demonstration. Dosimetrics, founded in August 2013, is a GmbH by German law, located and reg-istered in Munich, Germany. It is a spinoff from the Helmholtz Zentrum Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health. The corporate’s objective is to market the BeOSL product line. The company will be briefly presented, followed by an overview of the BeOSL product line and a practical demonstration..

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CONCERT PROJECTS

http://www.concert-h2020.eu/en

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CONCERT was running two open research calls in 2016 and 2017 respectively, to strengthen the scientific research in strategic priority areas of radiation protection defined by the European radiation research platforms. Nine projects have been selected for funding.

Short descriptions of the nine research projects are available in: AIR2 special issue edition Feb-ruary 2017 and AIR2 special issue edition February 2018 accessible from http://www.concert-h2020.eu/en/Concert_info/Access_Infrastructures/Bulletins .

Projects of the 1st call, which started in 2017

CONFIDENCE: COping with uNcertainties For Improved modelling and DEcision making in

Nuclear emergenCiEs (2017---2019)

Project Coordinator: Wolfgang RASKOB (KIT, Germany)

Project Website: https://portal.iket.kit.edu/CONFIDENCE/

Duration: 2017 ---> 2019

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LDLensRad. Towards a full mechanistic understanding of low dose radiation cataracts

Project Coordinator: Liz AINSBURY (PHE, United Kingdom)

Project website: https://www.researchgate.net/project/LDLensRad-the-European-CON-CERT-project-starting-in-2017-Towards-a-full-mechanistic-understanding-of-low-dose-radi-ation-induced-cataracts

Duration: 2017 ---> 2019

TERRITORIES: To Enhance unceRtainties Reduction and stakeholders Involvement TOwards

integrated and graded Risk management of humans and wildlife In long-->lasting radiological

Exposure Situations

Project Coordinator: Marie SIMON CORNU (IRSN, France)

Project website: https://territories.eu

Duration: 2017 ---> 2019

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Projects of the 2nd call, which started in 2018

ENGAGE: Enhancing stakeholder engagement in radiation protection

Project Coordinator: Catrinel Turcanu (SCK•CEN, Belgium)

Project website: http://engage-concert.eu/

Start date: 20/11/2018 Duration: 24 months

LEU---TRACK: The Role of Extracellular Vesicles in Modulating the Risk of Low Dose Radiation---induced Leukaemia

Project Coordinator: Katalin Lumniczky (OSSKI, Hungary)

Project website: https://www.researchgate.net/project/The-Role-of-Extracellular-Vesicles-in-Modulating-the-Risk-of-Low-Dose-Radiation-induced-Leukaemia-LEU-TRACK

Duration: 01/10/2017 ---> 31/01/2020

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PODIUM Personal Online DosImetry Using computational Methods

Project coordinator: Filip Vanhavere (SCK•CEN, Belgium)

Project website: https://podium-concerth2020.eu/

Duration: 1/01/2018 --> 31/12/2019

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SEPARATE: Systemic Effects of Partial---body Exposure to Low Radiation Doses

Project Coordinator: Anna Saran (ENEA, Italy)

Project website: under development

Duration: 01/10/2017 --> 31/01/2020

SHAMISEN---SINGS: Nuclear Emergency Situations---Improvement of dosimetric, Medical And Health Surveillance, Stakeholder INvolvement in Generating Science

Project Coordinator: Elisabeth Cardis (ISGlobal, Spain)

Project website: http://radiation.isglobal.org/index.php/en/shamisen-sings-home

Duration: 01/10/2017 --> 01/01/2020

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Project leader: Jeremie Dabin (SCK•CEN, Belgium)

Project website: https://www.researchgate.net/project/VERIDIC-Validation-and-Estima-tion-of-Radiation-skIn-Dose-in-Interventional-Cardiology

Duration: 01/02/2018 --> 01/02/2020

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THE CONFIDENCE PROJECT

Wolfgang Raskob1, Nicholas A. Beresford2, Tatiana Duranova3, Anne Mathieu4, Milagros Montero5, Tim Müller1, Catrinel Turcanu6, Clemens Woda7

1 Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany

2Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, United Kingdom 3VUJE, Slovak Republic

4IRSN, France 5CIEMAT, Spain

6SCK•CEN, Belgium 7HMGU, Germany


The H2020 CONFIDENCE Project aims to close existing gaps in several areas of emergency management and long-term rehabilitation associated with large-scale accidental releases of radioactivity into the en-vironment. It concentrates on the early and transition phases of an emergency, but considers also lon-ger-term decisions made during these phases.

The work-programme of CONFIDENCE was defined with the objective to understand, reduce and cope with the uncertainty of meteorological and radiological data and their further propagation in decision support systems. This includes atmospheric dispersion, dose estimation, foodchain modelling and countermea-sure simulations models. Consideration of social, ethical and communication aspects related to uncertain-ties is a key aspect of the project. Improvements in modelling and combining simulation with monitoring will help gain a more comprehensive picture of the radiological situation and will clearly improve decision making under uncertainties. Decision making principles and methods will be investigated, ranging from formal decision aiding techniques to simulation based approaches. These will be demonstrated and test-ed in stakeholder workshops applying the simulation tools developed within CONFIDENCE. A comprehen-sive education and training programme is fully linked with the research activities.

To date, ensemble modelling for atmospheric dispersion has started, monitoring approaches have been developed and advanced foodchain models investigated. Stakeholder panels were set up to investigate the development of sensible countermeasure strategies, define important attributes for decision making and first investigations about mental models (theoretical framework to understand behaviour of people) were per-formed. Multi-criteria decision tools have been improved for uncertainty handling and our first training courses have been prepared [https://eu-neris.net/home/newsletters/171-confidence-training-course-2.html].

CONFIDENCE is part of CONCERT. This project has received funding from the Euratom research and training pro-gramme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 662287.

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LDLENSRAD: TOWARDS A FULL MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF LOW DOSE RADIATION INDUCED CATARACTS

Elizabeth A. Ainsbury1, Tamara Azizova2, Gabriele Babini3, Stephen Barnard1, Claudia Dalke4, Lawrence Dauer5, Ilaria De Stefano6,7, Joseph Dynlacht8, Michele Ellender1, Lillian Garrett4, Joachim Graw4, Nobuyuki Hamada9, Sabine M. Hölter4, Miguel Jarrin10, Munira Kadhim11, Alexia Kalligeraki10, Simona Leonardi6, Mariateresa Mancuso6, Roisin Mc-

Carron1, Jayne Moquet1, Christopher Ottaway1, Daniel Pawliczek4, Simonetta Pazzaglia6, Roy Quinlan10, Anna Saran6, Rick Tanner1, Barbara Tanno6, Marie-Claire Ung4, Alice Uwineza10, Kevin Whitehill1.

1 Public Health England, Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Oxford OX11 0RQ, UK.

2 Southern Urals Biophysics Institute, Clinical Department, Deputy Director, Head of Clinical Department, Southern Urals Biophysics Institute, 19, Ozyorskoe Shosse, Ozyorsk, Chelyabinsk oblast, Russian Federation, 456780.

3 Università degli Studi di Pavia, Dipartimento di Fisica, Via Bassi, 6, 27100 Pavia, Italy.

4 Helmholtz Zentrum München GmbH, German Research Center for Environmental Health,

Institute of Developmental Genetics, Germany. Ingolstädter Landstraße 1, 85764 Oberschleißheim, Germany.

5 Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Departments of Medical Physics and Radiology, 1275 York Avenue New York NY 10065, US.

6 Agenzia Nazionale Per Le Nuove Tecnologie, L’energia e Lo Sviluppo Economico Sostenibile,

Department For Sustainability, Italy.

7 Guglielmo Marconi University, Department of Radiation Physics, Italy.

8 Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Radiation Oncology, US.

9 Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, Nuclear Technology Research Laboratory, Japan.

10 Durham University, Department of Biosciences, Durham, United Kingdom.

11 Oxford Brookes University, Department of Biological and Medical Sciences - Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, UK.


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Recent epidemiological studies and reanalyses have indicated that the threshold for formation of radi-ation induced lens opacities is much lower than previous understanding had suggested, and a substan-tial reduction in occupational lens dose limits has now been implemented within the European Union. The mechanisms of low dose radiation cataract induction are, however, still rather unclear, and important questions thus remain regarding the scientific basis for establishing dose limist for protection of the lens.

The CONCERT funded LDLensRad project brings together experts from across and beyond Europe to an-swer key research questions regarding the effects of ionising radiation on the lens, including: the mecha-nisms involved in low dose radiation induced cataract; the impact of dose and dose rate; the role of age and genetic background, and whether radiation responses observed in the lens can be viewed as global biomarkers of radiosensitivity. The multidisciplinary team of LDLensRad collaborators are investigating the mechanistic chain of events from the biological responses to the initial radiation insult (including intracel-lular communication and DNA damage and repair), the impact in terms of perturbation of lens fibre for-mation (including genomic, proteomic, lipidomic and proliferative effects), through to the morphological outcomes in terms of the formation of local cellular changes, protein aggregation and opacities assessed through lifetime cataractogenesis studies. A range of mouse models with different radiosensitivities have been chosen for these studies, specifically: C57BL/6, 129Sv, Ercc2+/- and wildtypes bred on a C57BL/6 X C3HeB/FeJ F1 background, and Ptch1+/- bred on CD1 and C57BL6/J backgrounds. The mice are exposed to doses of 0.5 – 2 Gy Co-60 gamma radiation, with dose rates of 0.3 and 0.063 Gy min-1. These studies will be supported by in vitro cellular investigations in a range of appropriate cell lines with a larger number of dos-es and dose rates. In addition, the potential for a future prospective molecular epidemiology programme using human lenses obtained from workers of the first Russian nuclear facility, the Mayak Production As-sociation, is being explored. These lens biology and cataractogenesis studies are also complemented by neurological and pathological analyses of the brain, and behavioural studies, to consider wider systemic radiation responses and to test the hypothesis that radiation effects in the lens can be used to measure individual radiosensitivity.

Although the project is still at an early stage, initial data already demonstrate the key role of both age at exposure (with sensitive early Ptch1+/- mice already developing cataracts) and genetic background in radiation sensitivity of the lens. Interesting trends in dose and dose-rate responses are also beginning to emerge. It is anticipated that the results of this project will have key implications for radiation research and protection. Concrete outcomes are anticipated to include definitive information regarding the shape of the dose and dose-rate responses, in addition to the link between low dose radiation exposure, age and genetic background with respect to cataract and wider systemic effects. The aims and objectives of the project will be presented, together with preliminary data.

LDLensRad is part of CONCERT. This project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 662287.

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TERRITORIES WORKSHOP ON COMMUNICATION OF UNCERTAINTIES OF RADIOLOGICAL RISK

ASSESSMENTS TO STAKEHOLDERS

Almudena Real1, Martin Steiner2, Lindis Skipperud3, Rodolphe Gilbin4, Alan H. Tkaczyk5, Marie Simon-Cornu4

1 CIEMAT. Radiation Protection of the Public and the Environment. Av. Complutense 40. Madrid 28040, Spain.

2 Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), Ingolstaedter Landstrasse 1, 85764 Oberschleissheim, Germany.

3 NMBU. Norwegian University of Life Sciences. P.O. Box 5003. 1432 Aas, Norway.

4 IRSN, Institut de Radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire 13115 Saint Paul les Durance. BP3 Cadarache, France.

5 University of Tartu, Institute of Physics & Institute of Technology, Ostwaldi Street 1, EE-50411 Tartu, Estonia.


The TERRITORIES project (“To Enhance unceRtainties Reduction and stakeholders Involvement TOwards integrated and graded Risk management of humans and wildlife In long-lasting radiological Exposure Situations”, www.territo-ries.eu), within the CONCERT-EJP of Horizon 2020, targets an integrated and graded management of contaminated territories, characterised by long-lasting environmental radioactivity (either natural or artificial). TERRITORIES fills in the needs that emerged after the post-Fukushima experience and the publication of International and Euro-pean Basic Safety Standards. The overall outcome of the project will be an umbrella framework, that will be the basis to produce, within TERRITORIES, novel guidance documents for dose assessment, risk management, and remediation of contaminated sites, with due consideration of uncertainties and stakeholder involvement in the decision making process.

In November 2017 the workshop “Communication of uncertainties of radiological risk assessments to stake-holders”1 was organised within the education and training activities of TERRITORIES. The aim was to discuss the implications and relevance that the uncertainties in radiological risk assessments in long-lasting exposure situ-ations have for different stakeholders (regulators, industry, scientists and members of the public), and to work out how these uncertainties could be better communicated. Ethical and social uncertainties were not explicitly addressed in this workshop.

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The lessons learned in the workshop will be presented, including

- an indication of the acceptable level of uncertainty for different stakeholder groups,

- an overview of how each stakeholder group manages such uncertainties,

- suggestions of how TERRITORIES can provide guidance on addressing and reducing the most relevant uncertainties for each stakeholder group,

- the needs and weaknesses of communication of uncertainties for each stakeholder group, and

- tools and approaches to improve such communication.

The TERRITORIES workshop was attended by 30 participants from 10 countries. The participants included scientists, regulators, industry, experts on general public-related issues and representatives of the Europe-an platforms on radiation protection ALLIANCE, NERIS and MELODI.

References

1 CONCERT-EJP D9.75. https://territories.eu/assets/files/publications/D9-75_D-TERRITORIES-Workshop_Oslo-16-Nov-2017_24012018_approved.pdf

Acknowledgments

The workshop was sponsored a) within the framework of the TERRITORIES project. TERRITORIES is part of CONCERT. This project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agree-ment No 662287 and b) the Centre for Environmental Radioactivity (Norway). The contributions by the session chairs and speakers, as well as the moderators and secretaries of the group work sessions, are greatly appreciated.

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TERRITORIES: TO ENHANCE UNCERTAINTIES REDUCTION AND STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVEMENT TOWARDS INTEGRATED

AND GRADED RISK MANAGEMENT OF HUMANS AND WILDLIFE IN LONG-LASTING RADIOLOGICAL EXPOSURE SITUATIONS

Marie Simon-Cornu 1 on behalf of all TERITORIES partners2

1IRSN, France

2BfS, Germany; CEPN, France; CIEMAT, Spain; Mutadis, France; NMBU, Norway; NRPA, Norway; PHE, UK; SCK.CEN, Belgium ; University of Tartu, Estonia.


The TERRITORIES project targets an integrated and graded management of contaminated territories charac-terised by long-lasting environmental radioactivity. This project interlinks research in sciences supporting radi-ation protection (such as radioecology, human or ecological dose and risk assessments, social sciences and hu-manities), providing methodological guidance, supported by relevant case studies, covering a large geographical scope (Europe and Japan), and a wide range of source terms (natural and artificial radionuclides), of ecosystems, of spatial extent and occupation features (from fenced sites to inhabited areas), of temporal scales of interest (with long-term series up to 3 decades after Chernobyl), and of remediation histories. Deliverables already avail-able on the website (http://territories.eu) include: D9.65: a synthesis report about decision making processes; D9.73: conclusions of the workshop about key factors contributing to the overall uncertainties in radiological impact and risk assessment models; D9.75: conclusions of the workshop about communication of uncertainties (also presented this week by Real et al., 2018). Other results introduced this week cover radiological characteriza-tion of territories, variability of individual behaviours in space and time, and involvement of residents (Masoudi et al., 2018; Crouail et al., 2018). Check our website and blog (https://territoriesweb.wordpress.com/) to get more information, e.g. about next open events: workshop in Oxford (19th - 20th March 2019) and final event in Aix-en-Provence (mid-November 2019).

References of ERPW 2018 communications:

Crouail P et al., 2018. Involvement of residents living in the vicinity of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in monitoring and inter-preting measurement results and the influence of individual behaviours.

Masoudi M, Le Coz B, Gonze MA, and Cazala C, 2018. Optimizing flight-line distance for soil decontamination, application to contaminated Fukushima territories.

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Real A, Steiner M, Skipperud L, Gilbin R, Tkaczyk, Simon-Cornu M, 2018. TERRITORIES workshop on communication of uncertainties of radiological risk assessments to stakeholders.

Acknowledgments and disclaimer:

TERRITORIES is part of CONCERT. This project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 662287.

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MAPPING THE COMPLEXITY OF SOCIETAL UNCERTAINTIES IN LONG-TERM EXPOSURE SITUATIONS: TWO CASE STUDIES

Abelshausen Bieke1, Perko Tanja1

1SCK-CEN, Boeretang 200, BE-2400 Mol, Belgium


Addressing uncertainties in decision making processes related to environmental remediation entails the reduc-tion of both scientific and societal uncertainties. Societal uncertainties are complex and exist not only within the frame of remediation but also in their broader social, political, economic, cultural and environmental context. It is therefore important to not only identify these uncertainties and address them one by one, but also, and perhaps foremost, to address the complexity of their interrelationship. Two case studies were conducted; (1) the reme-diation of a historical NORM contamination (within a mixed contamination), and (2) the remediation of (mixed) contamination resulting from radium extraction. In the first stages of these case studies (document and media analysis), a list of societal uncertainties was created. This list formed the basis for the development and analy-sis of semi-structured interviews with affected populations in the two sites. The semi-structured interviewed were conducted in 2017 and addressed the questions: “which (if any) uncertainties do affected populations in long-term exposure situations experience and what are the causes for these uncertainties?” Additionally, the influence of the inclusion (or lack thereof) of societal stakeholders in decision making processes is examined. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using coding analysis software and presented in narrative form. The results of the analysis show that societal uncertainties in long-term exposure situations are often ambiguous and unpronounced. Familiarity with both the contamination and the remediation processes, and affiliation with the industry involved reduces the existence and intensity (urgency or importance) of societal uncertainties. Addition-ally, trust in the remediation processes and the actors involved, resulting from familiarity, affiliation and decision making power, also influences both the existence of uncertainties and their intensity. A significant insight gained is that processes beyond the scope of the remediation have a similar effect. For example, an increased focus on unrelated environmental issues in a society can both augment and decrease the intensity, or even result in a dis-missal of the existence of risks related to the existing exposure situation. The analysis allowed for the visualization of the interrelationship between the uncertainties and their causes; including the direction (increase or decrease) of this relationship. The recommendation is made to further map these relationships for other cases and initiate the development of a common conceptual framework representing the complexity of societal uncertainties. The influence of unrelated issues as causes of (or the lack of) uncertainties is a crucial factor in addressing societal uncertainties, as the reduction of uncertainties within remediation processes is expected to be, in some instanc-es, impossible, unnecessary, redundant or even counterproductive.

This research is conducted in the frame of the TERRITORIES project.

TERRITORIES is part of CONCERT. This project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 662287.

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STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT IN EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE: STATE OF THE ART

Abelshausen Bieke1, Van Oudheusden Michiel1, Tanja Perko1 ,Zeleznik Nadja2, Turcanu Catrinel1


2EIMV, Hajdrihova 2, 1000 Ljubljana


Following the aftermath of past nuclear and radiological events, notably the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents, as well as the increasing demands for citizens involvement on environmental issues, , as shift towards the engagement of stakeholders has been made in nuclear emergency, preparedness, response and recovery, including the general public. Lessons learned from international experiences suggest this shift is not without its challenges: it brings forth conceptual, methodological and discourse challenges for the radiation protection community, researchers and practitioners. Tackling these challenges requires a (re-) examination of previously accepted conceptualisations of stakeholders and stakeholder engagement. Therefore, systematic research is conducted to clarify the concepts, rationals and vanues for stakeholder and stakeholder engagement mobilised by researchers and practioners in the field of nuclear emergency management. For this a desk-top research and a systematic literature review is conducted. The desk-top research includes a structured (non-exhaustive) search for EU policy legislation, policy briefs, EC directives and other EU level adopted conventions (Aarhus, ESPOO,…), reports and guidelines from international or-ganisations (eg IAEA, OECD-NEA, HERCA, ICRP, ENSREG,…) related specifically to nuclear and radiological emergency preparedness and response. The systematic literature review is conducted on academic litera-ture published in the period 2007-2017 from the database Web of Science. For this search key words include stakehold* AND nuclear* OR radiologic* AND emergency OR accident. A synthesis analysis is conducted to explore the interpretation given to the term stakeholder and stakeholder engagement. Additionally, this research provides insights in stakeholder rationales for participation (i.e; instrumental, normative and/or substantive), the level of participation and/or model for participation, and the identification of trends, con-tradictions or divergences to standard practices. In general, it can be seen that concerning legislation and recommendation at international and EU level contradictions in interpretations given to the concept of stakeholder and stakeholder engagement exists. Concerning the motivation for stakeholder engagement a predominant instrumental motivation is identified. It is however noteworthy that normative and substan-tive motivation are present more in legislation and recommendation than they are in academic literature.

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The references and use of participation models is limited for both strands of literature, with Arnstein’s ladder of participation being the most predominantly present.

This research was developed in the frame of the ENhancinG stakeholder participation in the GovernancE of radiological risks (ENGAGE) project.

ENGAGE is part of CONCERT. This project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 662287.

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THE ROLE OF EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES IN MODULATING THE RISK OF LOW DOSE RADIATION-INDUCED LEUKAEMIA

(LEU-TRACK)

Katalin Lumniczky1, Christophe Badie2, Soile Tapio3, Franz Rödel4

1National Public Health Institute (OKI), Budapest, Hungary 2Public Health England (PHE), Chilton, UK

3German Research Center for Environmental Health (HMGU), Munich, Germany 4Goethe-University (GUF), Frankfurt am Main, Germany


The LEU-TRACK project was chosen for funding during the second CONCERT Transnational Call for Propos-als (2017). The consortia is composed of 4 partners: OKI as the project coordinator, PHE and HMGU as well as GUF as third party.

Background: While radiation-induced direct damage to the haematopoietic stem cell pool is suggested to be the major driver in the development of the disease after higher doses, radiation-induced leukaemia at low doses most probably involves additional mechanisms distinct from those at high doses. EVs are major vehicles of intercellular communication due to their complex cargo. Recent data have shown that EVs mediate radiation-induced bystander effects in the bone marrow, initiating signals that lead to bone marrow dysfunction.

Objectives and experimental outline: LEU-TRACK proposes to study basic mechanisms in low dose ra-diation-induced leukaemia by focusing on two highly innovative aspects in the mechanism of the dis-ease: the role of signalling between the bone marrow microenvironment and the stem cell compartment in initiating the leukemic process and the role of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in mediating radiation-related signals among the different cellular compartments of the haematopoietic system .The proposal aims at investigating mechanisms and pathways how bone marrow-derived EVs, by influencing the communica-tion between the different cellular components of the bone marrow can induce bone marrow damage and thus modulate low dose radiation-induced leukaemia. A further objective of the proposal is to perform a deep and systematic analysis of EV cargo by using multiple omics techniques and complex phenotypical approaches with the aim to identify biomarkers of radiation exposure potentially indicating an increased risk for leukaemia development. In order to correlate blood-derived EV markers identified in experimental animals with markers present in human leukaemia patients, a small pilot study, analysing blood-derived EV cargo from leukaemia patients subjected to prophylactic brain irradiation will also be carried out.

Proposed output: The project will provide a better understanding of pathways and/or mechanisms of low dose radiation carcinogenesis and will contribute to a better evaluation of the risks associated with low doses, helping to improve risk perception, disease prevention, health promotion and in the later run ther-apy development.

LEU-TRACK s part of CONCERT. This project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 662287.

157

PODIUM: PERSONAL ONLINE DOSIMETRY USING COMPUTATIONAL METHODS

Vanhavere Filip

SCK-CEN, Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, Belgium


Individual monitoring of workers exposed to external ionizing radiation is essential to allow application of the ALARA principle and follow up of the legal dose limits. However, large uncertainties still exist in personal dosime-try, especially for neutrons and for inhomogeneous fields.

The objective of this project is to improve occupational dosimetry by an innovative approach: the development of an online dosimetry application based on computer simulations without the use of physical dosemeters. Op-erational quantities, protection quantities and radiosensitive organ doses (e.g. eye lens, , brain, heart, extremities) will be assessed based on the use of modern technology such as personal tracking devices, flexible individualized phantoms and scanning of geometry set-up. When combined with fast simulation codes, the aim is to perform personal dosimetry in real-time.

The objective is to develop an online application in which we will calculate individually the occupational doses, instead of measuring them with one or more dosemeters. For that purpose, the spatio-temporal radiation field, including its energy and angular distribution, needs to be known. We will use input from fixed dose monitors and we will capture real movements of exposed workers and transfer this to the calculation application.

Because of the limited time frame, we will simultaneously use an intermediate approach with pre-calculated flu-ence to dose conversion coefficients for phantoms of different statures and postures. This approach will provide us with the first step towards online dosimetry based on simulations. We will apply and validate the methodology for two situations where improvements in dosimetry are urgently needed: neutron workplaces and interventional radiology. The legal aspects to introduce this or similar techniques as an official dosimetry method will also be established.

The availability of the proposed online personal dosimetry application shall overcome the problems that arise from the use of current passive and active dosemeters. Such limitations include the uncertainty in assessing neutron and photon doses when part of the body is shielded, the delay in calculating the doses and the situation where workers position dosemeters incorrectly. In addition, it will increase awareness among workers and will improve the application of the ALARA principle.

PODIUM is part of CONCERT. This project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 662287.

158

VERIDIC: VALIDATION AND ESTIMATION OF RADIATION SKIN DOSE IN INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY

Dabin Jérémie1, Farah Jad2, Maccia Carlo�, Blidéanu Valentin4, Sans Merce Marta5, Zourari Kyveli6, Ciraj Bjelac Olivera7, De Monte Francesca8, GallagherAoife9, Knežević Željka10

1Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK•CEN), Mol, Belgium

2Paris Sud University Hospitals (APHP), Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France

�Centre d’Assurance de qualité des Applications Technologiques dans le

domaine de la Santé (CAATS), Sèvres, France

4French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), Gif-sur-Yvette, France

5University Hospital of Geneva (HUG) and University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV), Switzerland

6Greek Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), Athens, Greece

7Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences (VINCA), University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

8Veneto Institute of Oncology (IOV), Padua, Italy

9University Hospital Limerick (UHL), Limerick, Ireland

10Ruđer Bošković Institute (RBI), Zagreb, Croatia


Background

In interventional cardiology (IC), patients may be exposed to high doses to the skin, resulting in tissue reactions, following a single or multiple procedures. To tackle this issue, online and offline software tools have been developed to estimate the maximum skin dose (MSD) to the patient from IC procedures. How-ever, the capabilities and accuracy of such skin dose calculation (SDC) software to estimate MSD and 2D dose distributions markedly differ among software vendors, and the reporting of the MSD estimate and the related accuracy in the radiation dose structured report (RDSR) is neither systematic nor harmonised. In addition, there is currently no acceptance testing and quality control (QC) protocols of such systems.

The VERIDIC project focuses on the harmonisation of the RDSR and on the validation and control of SDC software products in IC, which will foster radiation protection of patients.

159

Methodology

SDC software solutions will be analysed according to their calculation algorithms and their capabilities. In par-ticular, the factors considered in the MSD calculation (such as the backscatter radiation, the patient table and mattress attenuation or the patient’s body shape) and how they are reported will be investigated. Furthermore, recommendations for harmonising the MSD reporting will be formulated.

Commonly used dosimeters, including Gafchromic films, thermoluminescent detectors as well as dosimeters readily accessible to medical physicists in clinical environment, will be thoroughly characterised for a wide range of conditions encountered in IC. Protocols for acceptance and quality control tests to be used in clinical practice will be developed and tested. Tolerance levels and technical criteria for acceptance of SDC systems will be pro-posed. Those protocols will also be used for comparing different SDC software.

In at least 15 European hospitals, detailed information from more than 750 cardiac therapeutic procedures will be collected, including RDSR and clinical indications. Those data serve to develop reference levels, and investigate correlations between clinical parameters and the patient exposure. Recommendations for patient dose optimi-sation will be derived. In addition, several months of dose reports will be collected to estimate the proportion of high doses procedures in IC. Skin dose will be calculated using SDC software.

Acknowledgment

VERIDIC is part of CONCERT. This project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 662287.

160

BACKGROUND AND STATE OF THE ART IN THE FIELD OF ABSCOPAL RADIATION EFFECTS: DEVELOPING

THE “SEPARATE” PROJECT

Anna Saran1, Paola Giardullo1,2, Barbara Tanno1, Gabriele Babini3, Francesca Antonelli1, Arianna Casciati1, Mirella Tanori1, Simona Leonardi1, Emanuela Pasquali1, Ilaria De Stefano1,2,

Soile Tapio4,5, Munira Kadhim6, Fiona Lyng7, Simonetta Pazzaglia1, Mariateresa Mancuso1

1 Agenzia Nazionale per le Nuove Tecnologie, l’Energia e lo Sviluppo Economico Sostenibile, Laboratory of Biomedical Technologies, Rome, Italy. 2 Guglielmo Marconi University, Department of Radiation Physics, Rome, Italy. 3 Università degli Studi di Pavia, Dipartimento di Fisica, Via Bassi, 6, 27100 Pavia, Italy. 4, 5 Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Institute of Radiation Biology, Munich, and German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Technical University Munich, Germany. 6 Oxford Brookes University, Department of Biological

and Medical Sciences - Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford, United Kingdom. 7 Dublin Institute Of Technology, Centre for Radiation and Environmental Science, Focas Research Institute, Dublin, Ireland.

e-mail: [email protected] and [email protected]

In the last three decades, the concept that radiation generates long-range signaling responses has been described in a wide variety of experimental systems (in vitro, cultured artificial 3-D human tissue systems, ex vivo models). However, there is a general lack of in vivo data relevant for human exposures and only limited data are available that allow understanding of their generality in tissues/systems in vivo and un-derlying mechanistic bases.

Using a mouse model of radiation sensitivity, we showed that non-targeted abscopal effects are factual in vivo events with carcinogenic potential in different tissues (i.e., central nervous system and skin). We also established that interplay between radiation dose and exposed tissue volume plays a critical role in non-targeted effects, including carcinogenesis, occurring in off-target tissues. Finally, recent data have identified the involvement of non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) in the resolution of abscopal DNA dam-age and tumor induction in non-targeted cerebellum.

The CONCERT funded SEPARATE project is designed to extend these studies with focus on the analysis of the effects on brain, heart, and liver following exposures of the lower third of the body, whilst the target organs are shielded. Changes in these important organs at the transcriptome, non-coding RNAs, protein, and metabolic levels will be analyzed. We will also investigate exosomes from exposed tissues, and their specific bioactive cargo - particularly RNA content – for their role in mediating out-of-target effects in vitro and in vivo. By combining cellular, molecular and bioinformatic data we will be able to identify the response pathways in the different tissues, and by inference, suggest the candidate signalling molecules involved. A second major outcome of the project will be the identification of candidate biomarker molecules of both whole- and partial-body irradiation responses. The aims and objectives of the project will be presented together with preliminary results.

SEPARATE is part of CONCERT. This project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 662287..

161

SHAMISEN SINGS PROJECT– STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVEMENT IN GENERATING SCIENCE (RADIATION PROTECTION)

Liudmila Liutsko1-3, Adelaida Sarukhan1-3, Paola Fattibene4, Sara Della Monaca4, Sylvie Charron5, Joan Francesc Barquinero6, Vadim Chumak7, Takashi Ohba8, Koichi Tanigawa8, Yuliya Lyamzina8,

Aya Goto8, Yevgenia Tomkiv9, Deborah Oughton9, Philippe Pirard10, Natallia Novikava11, Mélanie Maître12, Pascal Croüail12, Thierry Shneider12,An Van Nieuwenhuyse13, Elisabeth Cardis1-3, SHAMISEN SINGS Consortium

1ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; 2CIBERESP, Madrid, Spain, 3UPF, Barcelona, Spain, 4ISS, Rome, Italia, 5IRSN, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France, 6UAB, Barcelona, Spain,

7NRCRM, Kyiv, Ukraine, 8FMU, Fukushima, Japan, 9NMBU, Ås, Norway, 10Santé Publique France, Saint-Maurice, France, 11ISEI-BSU, Minsk, Belarus,

12CEPN, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France, 13KULeuven, Leuven, Belgium

e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

Citizen-science is a blooming field, providing benefits both to citizens – engaging them in research on topics of concern– and scientists, thus enhancing potential for positive societal changes. The roots of the approach go back hundreds of years, to Benjamin Franklin and Charles Darwin, whose professions were distinct to those that were volunteering and later were famous for (Silvertown, 2009).

Technological advances, including mobile Apps, provide important tools to facilitate participation of citizens in science. Their use in the radiation protection and monitoring is relatively recent however, developed in the after-math of the Fukushima accident (Liutsko & Cardis, 2018) with the Safecast (Brown et al, 2016) and D-Shuttle proj-ects (Adachi et al.2015). The EU-CONCERT funded SHAMISEN SINGS project aims to explore how citizen science can be used for dose and for health/well-being monitoring and information through the use of mobile Apps that can be made available widely. Stakeholder consultations during the project ensure that citizens can participate in the design and evaluation of the Apps.

The objective is for any Apps developed within SHAMISEN SINGS to benefit stakeholders, in particular citizens concerned about radiation, in general and in particular in the context of an accident, helping in dose assessment and helping people to regain control of their lives, reduce overall exposure and anxiety. In this presentation, we will introduce the details of SHAMISEN SINGS project and the first results on its progress.

Funding: SHAMISEN-SINGS is part of CONCERT. This project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 662287.

162

YOUNG SCIENTISTS SESSIONS

163

DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPACT SIPM-BASED GAMMA AND X-RAY DETECTOR FOR DOSE RATE MEASUREMENTS

Luka Pavelić1, Marija Surić Mihić1, Ivica Prlić1, Igor Lacković2


2University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, Unska 3, Zagreb, Croatia


Gamma and X-ray detectors for measuring dose rates in compact survey instruments and active electronic do-simeters still perform poorly in pulsed fields [1], low dynamic range, low accuracy and precision. For instance, the Geiger-Müller tube is still the most widely used detector in radiation protection survey although it suffers from all of the above-mentioned deficiencies. We have successfully developed proof of a concept prototype detector that has potential to overcome certain disadvantages of current devices. The developed detector is based on a small 4x4 mm2 Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) coupled to a Thallium doped Sodium Iodide scintillation crystal. The SiPM and crystal are placed in a 3D printed enclosure. Our SiPM consists of 9340 Geiger-mode avalanche pho-todiode cells where each cell operates as an independent photon counter generating an avalanche breakdown signal when hit by a UV photon from the scintillator, thus giving a count rate and incident photon energy infor-mation. Signals from the detector are amplified using a transimpedance amplifier and acquired via a fast pulse digitizer for offline analysis. Using two different algorithms and Cs-137 as our calibration source, we successfully analysed information about the count rate and photon energy to obtain the dose rate.

References

[1] Ankerhold, U., Hupe, O. and Ambrosi, P. Deficiencies of active electronic radiation protection dosemeters in pulsed fields. Radiat. Prot. Dosim. 135(3), 149–153(2009).

164

CHRONIC EXPOSURE TO GAMMA RADIATION INDUCES REPROTOXIC EFFECTS IN COMBINATION WITH ENHANCED

GERM CELL APOPTOSIS AND DNA DAMAGE IN CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANS EMBRYONIC CELLS

Erica Maremonti 1, Deborah Houghton 1, Brit Salbu 1, Yetneberk A. Kassaye 1, Catherine Lecomte-Pradine 2, Dag Anders Brede 1

1 Centre for Environmental Radioactivity (CERAD), Isotope Laboratory, Dep. of Environmental Science, Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management (MINA)Norwegian University

of Life Sciences (NMBU), P.O. Box 5003, NO-1432 Ås, Norway 2 Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), PRP-ENV, SERIS, Laboratoire d’ECOtoxicologie des radionucléides (LECO), Cadarache, France

E-mail: [email protected]

Ionizing radiation interacts with biological matter by one fundamental principle, and thus molecular mech-anisms of harmful effects are conserved in all living organisms including humans. On the other hand, there are great differences in radiosensitivity related to biological features of the individual species. The nema-tode Caenorhabditis elegans tolerates high acute doses of both X-ray and gamma radiation without mortality. However, recent studies have shown that even low doses of chronic exposure of ionizing radiation can be harm-ful for reproduction by this tolerant organism, but there is still little mechanistic understanding.

Therefore, in this study, effects related to reproduction in C. elegans were compared after acute and chron-ic irradiation. Secondly, in order to assess sensitivity during development, different larval stages were sub-jected to chronic irradiation and reprotoxic effects compared. Furthermore, we investigated adverse ef-fects at the molecular level by measuring germ cell apoptosis and DNA damage in embryonic cells using the Comet assay.

While acute exposure of L4 stage did not induce any negative effect, the reproduction was severely re-duced when nematodes were exposed to ≥40 mGy•hr-1 of chronic irradiation (cumulative dose of ≥4.3 Gy), with embryo/L1 to L3 molt being the most sensitive developmental stage. This stage is characterized by high cell division, including the development of gonad precursor cells. In fact, the germ line appeared neg-atively affected at doses ≥40 mGy•hr-1, as demonstrated by increased DNA damage-induced germ cell apoptosis. In addition, embryonic cells were sensitive to radiation-induced DNA damage (17 and 19% av-erage of tail DNA intensity at 40 and 100 mGy•hr-1, respectively), whereas, no visible effects was shown on mature somatic cells. PCA-analysis showed that decreased reproduction was negatively correlated to increased germ cell apoptosis and DNA damage in embryonic cells.

It thus appears that irradiation did not impair somatic cells or post-embryonic development, in spite, it se-verely reduced the reproductive performance, increased the germ cell apoptosis and provoked substantial DNA damage in embryos.

165

PARASITISM MEDIATES NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF RADIATION TO BUMBLEBEES AS DEMONSTRATED

BY LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS AND FIELD STUDIES IN CHERNOBYL

Raines, K., Tinsley, M., Copplestone, D.

University of Stirling,


Crithidia bombi is a common trypanosome parasite exhibiting condition dependant effects on bumblebees and has been used a model system for infection and stress dynamics.

We conducted field studies in Chernobyl and found that bumblebees from highly contaminated areas had a greater Crithidia bombi load and there were no old bees as judged from wing wear. To test this result under lab-oratory conditions, we infected bumblebees with Crithidia bombi and irradiated them with dose rates found in Chernobyl. We found that increased radiation exposure reduces the time it takes for bumblebees to be infected and this therefore reduces individual bumblebee lifespan. We found that bumblebees which had been irradiated at higher dose rates had an overall higher Crithidia bombi load. The laboratory data support field data from Cher-nobyl.

Therefore, we can show that low dose radiation exposure indirectly reduces longevity by exacerbating the effects of parasitism. We have consistently shown, using both a laboratory setting under controlled conditions and using bumblebees which have been sampled from Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The effect size from the laboratory was reduced when compared to the field which indicates that the optimal conditions and ab libitum food supply may have buffered against stress which would be encountered in the field.

This is the first truly complementary first study to combine laboratory and field studies in the field of radio-ecology and significantly contributes to resolving the ongoing controversy between laboratory and field studies measuring the effects of radiation on wildlife. Furthermore, the Bee is an International Commission on Radiolog-ical Protection Reference Animal, therefore this information supports my previous research advocating that the Derived Consideration Reference Level for the bee to be reduced.

166

PERSONALIZED RADIOIODINE UPTAKE MEASUREMENT WITH GAMMA-CAMERA USING 3D REALISTIC THYROID PHANTOMS

Beaumont Tiffany1, Forbes Aurélie2, Vallot Delphine3, Farah Jad2, Caselles Olivier 3, Caldeira Ideias Pedro4, Franck Didier1, D. Broggio1

1IRSN, IRSN/SDOS/LEDI, BP-17, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France 2Hôpitaux Universitaire Paris-Sud, Paris, FRANCE

3Institut Universitaire du Cancer Toulouse - Oncopole, Toulouse, FRANCE, 4 IRSN, IRSN/PSE-ENV/SIRSE/LSE, Le Vésinet, FRANCE.


Purpose. According to the EANM recommendations for benign thyroid diseases therapy, the absorbed dose should be personalized. Consequently, the iodine thyroid uptake should be accurately measured with g-camera or NaI probe. Calibration phantoms are quite crude representations of neck anatomy. Therefore a set of realistic thyroid phantoms with varying volumes was developed and 3D printed to investigate the precision of standard calibration procedures when assessing thyroid uptakes. Additionally, a new calibra-tion procedure that reduces the volume effect and the user-dependent choice of ROI was developed.

Materials and methods. For measurements, the thyroid phantoms were filled with 123I and 131I liquid solu-tions. The multi-centre study has been realized with 4 gamma-cameras at 3 French nuclear medicine de-partments. For 123I measurements, Siemens Symbia T2 and S g-cameras with LEHR collimators were used. The 131I measurements were realized using a Siemens Symbia T2 and a GE Discovery NMCT670 with HE collimators. The phantoms were imaged for three distances between the g-camera and the table. Further-more, a new calibration procedure simply consisting in defining an optimum threshold for image process-ing was developed.

Results. The standard calibration procedure was found to often underestimate thyroid activity when com-pared to the realistic phantom calibration. More precisely for 123I, the difference in activity was between +5% and -21%, depending on the distance between the g-camera and the table, the thyroid volume and the g-camera model. The threshold protocol is distance dependent but volume- independent and makes it possible to measure the uptake with an uncertainty limited to 7% for 123I. Contrary to some literature claims, the present experiments show limited (<6%) impact of thyroid volume on uptake assessment.

Conclusion. In current routine clinical practice, thyroid uptake is often underestimated indicating that the therapeutic activity given to patient could be reduced by at least 30% should the new calibration protocol based on realistic thyroid phantoms be used. A proper and simple image processing adapted to the clinical practice could also improve the calibration of gamma-cameras. 131I data require further analysis.

A retrospective study is underway to estimate the difference between planned doses and delivered thy-roid doses when patient uptake is measured according to the developed protocol.

167

TRANSFER PARAMETERS VALUES FOR 90SR AND 137CS ISOTOPES IN MEDITERRANEAN ECOSYSTEM.

Francisco M. Gómez Polo1, Javier Guillén Gerada1, Danyl Perez Sanchez2, Nicholas A. Beresford3.

1Laboratorio de Radiactividad Ambiental (LAUREX), University of Extremadura (Spain), 2Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológica, CIEMAT (Spain),

3Centre for Ecology & Hydrology - Lancaster (United Kingdom)


The transfer of anthropogenic radionuclides into the human foodchain, especially 90Sr and 137Cs, is of great inter-est in different phases of a nuclear emergency. The parametrisation of transfer is a key factor in radioecological models, usually through the concept of Transfer Factor (TF). However, transfer factor data in the literature for a given radionuclide show a variability of four to five orders of magnitude within the same climate conditions (IAEA TRS 472). Although many references can be found in literature for TF in temperate climates, few are available for the Mediterranean climate; suggesting a geographical bias in the data against Southern European Mediter-ranean ecosystems. Compared with temperate climates, the main characteristic of the Mediterranean climate is the seasonal variation of dry summers and mild winter seasons. This may influence the seasonal variation in plant nutrient and radionuclide uptake. In this work, existing 90Sr and 137Cs Transfer Factors data reported in the literature for Mediterranean climate conditions are reviewed. The number of references specific for this climate is few. Radio- strontium and caesium stable analogs are also being studied due to the low concentrations of the radionuclides found in Mediterranean areas. Currently we are determining transfer factors for these radionuclides and their stable elements for key and regional (Mediterranean) produce.

Acknowledgement: This work is being conducted within the CONFIDENCE project (https://portal.iket.kit.edu/CONFIDENCE/index.php ) funded by the EURATOM CONCERT-European Joint Programme (http://www.con-cert-h2020.eu/).

References: IAEA, 2010. Technical Reports Series No. 472. Handbook of parameter values for the prediction of radionuclide transfer in terrestrial and freshwater environments. IAEA, 2010. STI/DOC/010/472.

168

ENHANCE THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS TO MINIMIZE THE IMPACT IN AGRICULTURAL AREAS DERIVED FROM

A NUCLEAR ACCIDENT

Blanca Garcia-Puerta, Cristina Trueba, Milagros Montero

CIEMAT, Avenida Complutense 40, 28040 Madrid. Spain


To accomplish the necessary measures to minimize the long-term effects of a nuclear accident on the population, the application of a previously developed strategy is required. Therefore, it is essential to have a forehand designed plan to act in the most effective way to support the decision-making process, aim-ing to reduce the consequences. Focusing on a post-accident scenario, the work presented here is an overview of the PhD thesis titled: “Geographic Information Technologies applied to study the radiological vulnerability of the agricultural systems in the Peninsular Spain”. This thesis faces the agricultural resultant issues from a radioactive deposit, and it is intended to define prioritisation categories for the areas to act on, in order to apply the more effective remediation strategies to avoid the entrance of the released radio-nuclides (Cs-137 and Sr-90) into the food chain. It should be noted that part of the conclusions obtained in this PhD will be included in the CONFIDENCE Work Package 4 and are also part of the ANURE Project in which CIEMAT is involved with JRC (Ispra) since February 2017.

In the long-lasting phase (when the radionuclides released have already been deposited on the setting), the decision making on the design and implementation of the remediation strategies will have to combine the space-time evolution of the contamination, the prediction of the radiological situation in the long term and the recovery actions proposed with socio-economic factors. A methodology to assess the evolution of the contamination and prediction of the radiological situation on Spanish agricultural areas has been developed taking into account the specific soil properties that govern the soil-to-plant transfer processes. These soil properties, taken from a wide Spanish soil profile database, prove the radiological vulnerability of Spanish soils, understood as their potentiality to transfer the contamination to plants. From the combi-nation of this potentiality with other key factors such as agricultural production, and the transfer factors: soil to plant and soil to fruit, the agricultural areas of most concern are identified allowing their indexing in order to define the prioritisation areas where remediation or recovery actions should be implemented. This categorization, jointly with the applicable countermeasures and socio-economic factors, will help de-cision-makers to design and implement the most effective remediation strategy focussed to facilitate the timely resumption of normal living conditions.

In this paper the preliminary results from the developed methodology applied to a Spanish case study are presented.

169

VERIFYING THE PERFORMANCE OF THE ARGON-41 MONITORING SYSTEM FROM FLUORIDE-18 PRODUCTION

FOR MEDICAL APPLICATIONS

Nicole Virgili1

1Sapienza University Department of Energetics Dept. of Basic and Applied Sciences for Engineering,

Via A. Scarpa 14, Rome,Italy


In this work, the well-known MC code was used to simulate the TR19PETcyclotron (19 MeV) installed at “A. Ge-melli” University Hospital (Roma, IT) and routinely used in the production of positron emitting radionuclides. In a medical cyclotron facility, 41Ar (t1/2 = 109.34 m) is produced by the activation of air due to the neutron flux during irradiation, according to the 40Ar(n,�)41Ar reaction; this is particularly relevant in widely diffused high beam current cyclotrons for the production of PET (Positron Emission Tomography) radionuclides, 18F radionuclide in this case. The aim of this work is the determination of the detection efficiency of a Geiger Muller detector placed in the terminal part of the chimney of the cyclotron for environmental monitoring of 41Ar emission through the chimney of the cyclotron. Function of the detector is to reveal the activity of 41Ar produced by the cyclotron. Taking into account the activity of 41Ar inside the bunker of 700 Bq/�A, beam current intensity of 50 �A and 41Ar radioactive decay constant of 1,054 · 10-4 s-1, the activity of 41Ar emitted and the detection efficiency have been calculated. In conclusion the detection efficiency determinated through the use of Monte Carlo code is very low (4,7 10-7 cps/Bq), consequently the counting rate of 1,3 · 10-2 is low and several studies have now been conducted to find more effective detectors.

References

1. Bergamini C. e Marengo M. Radiation Protection Dosimetry Unita` di Radiofarmacia UCSC Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, Roma 2004. 2. Infantino A., Valtieri L., Cicoria G., Pancaldi D., Mostacci D., Marengo M., Experimental measurement and Monte Carlo assessment of Argon-41 production in a PET cyclotron facility, PhysicaMedica31(2015)991996. 3. Remetti R., Burgio N. T., Maciocco L., Arcese M., Filannino M.A., Monte Carlo simulation and radiometric characterization of proton irradiated [18O]H2O for the treatment of the waste streams originated from [18F]FDG synthesis process, Applied Radiation and Isotopes 69 (2011) 10461051.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my collaborators Professor R. Remetti (”Sapienza University of Rome Italy, Department of Energetics) and Dr. L. Indovina (Physics Department, University Hospital ”A. Gemelli” Rome, Italy).

170

CONSTRUCTION OF THE MAMMOGRAPHY PHANTOM FOR 2D AND 3D X-RAY IMAGING

Mihaela Justić, Luka Pavelić, Marija Surić Mihić, Ivica Prlić

Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Ksaverska c.2, Zagreb, Croatia


Breast phantoms are widely used for the evaluation of mammography systems through various QC proto-cols. The main idea is providing a continuous, fast and easy check of imaging performances of the system on routine basis. Currently there are many phantoms on the present market, but it is very hard to find one phantom that can truly represent the patient’s body (with incorporated all complex structures of the breast), which is not very expensive or easy to handle. The idea of this work is to design realistic breast phantom made with inexpensive materials that we could use in our QC program and also to see if it can be used for both 2D and 3D mammography. PMMA custom designed support plate with different range of filaments were made and tested on clinical FFDM and DBT systems. We evaluated the attenuation coeffi-cients for each tissue type represented in the phantom and proposed method of incorporating different fine objects in the phantom. Comparison of our custom made phantom with currently available commer-cial phantoms has given promising results and encouraged us to start developing software for precise image evaluation.

Keywords: breast phantom, 2D and 3D mammography, quality control

171

THE EFFECT OF IONIZING RADIATION ON AMOUNT

AND PHENOTYPE OF BONE MARROW-DERIVED EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES

Nikolett Sándor1, Eszter Persa1, Tünde Szatmári1, Rita Hargitai1, Róbert Deák2, Judit Mihályi2, Dávid Kis1, Katalin Lumniczky1

1: Department of Radiation Medicine, National Public Health Institute, 1221, Budapest, Anna str. 5, Hungary

2: Biological Nanochemistry Research Group, Hungarian Academy of sciences, 1117, Budapest, Magyar tudósok körútja 2, Hungary


Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane-coated particles released by most of the cells. By transporting their cargo (consisting of proteins, lipids, RNAs and miRNAs) EVs play important roles in intercellular communication. Our recent studies focus on investigating how bone marrow derived EVs can mediate the development of radia-tion induced acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in CBA mice. Our first aim is to study the effect of ionizing radiation (IR) on the size distribution, content and phenotype of EVs derived from mouse bone marrow (BM). For this pur-pose CBA/H mice were treated with whole body irradiation (0, 0.1 and 3 Gy). Twenty-four hours later, mice were sacrificed, BM was flushed from tibia and femur and EVs were isolated from cell supernatant using Ultracentrif-ugation (UC) or Exoquick TC kit. The amount of EVs was determined by Bradford assay and by flow cytometry (Cytoflex). Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) was used to determine their size distribution. EVs were characterised by Western blotting with EV-specific (TSG10, Annexin and CD9) proteins. The specific origin of EVs within the BM was determined by phenotyping the EVs using flow cytometry.

It was found that BM-derived EVs isolated by UC were more homogenous in size, but their contamination with non-EV specific proteins was higher than EVs isolated by Exoquick TC. Flow cytometry could be used for estima-tion of EV particle number. Irradiation with 3 Gy slightly reduced EV size. Radiation-induced changes on the phe-notypical parameters of EVs are underway. So we can say that EVs can be reproducibly isolated from mouse bone marrow and it seems that the Exoquick kit, based on EV precipitation technique is superior to UC for EV isolation from in vivo material. Flow cytometry can be used both for EV particle number determination and for phenotyp-ical characterisation of surface markers present on EVs.

The work described in this abstract has been supported by the European Commission, within the CONCERT proj-ect. This project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 662287 and from the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (grant agreement number: VKSZ_14-1-2015-0021).

172

PROTEOMIC ANALYSES OF EXOSOMES DERIVED FROM BONE MARROW AND BLOOD PLASMA IN IRRADIATED MICE

Prabal Subedi1, Omid Azimzadeh1, Michael Schneider1, Fabian Metzger2, Tünde Szatmari3, Katalin Lumniczky3, Simone Mörtl1, Mike Atkinson1, Soile Tapio1

1Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health GmbH, Institute of Radiation Biology, Neuherberg, Germany

2Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health GmbH, Research Unit Protein Science, Munich, Germany

3National Public Health Institute – Division of Radiobiology and Radiohygiene, Budapest, Hungary


Recent data has shown that exosomes mediate radiation-induced bystander effects in the bone marrow, initiating signals that lead to bone marrow dysfunction1. For a better understanding of the propagation of this dysfunction, exosomal protein cargo needs to be investigated in more detail.

Firstly, different lysis buffers were examined for the maximal enrichment in the number of identified pro-teins. Secondly, the optimal lysis method was applied to exosomes that were derived from bone marrow (BM) and blood plasma (BP) from mice exposed to ionizing radiation. The exosomes were isolated 24 h af-ter the mice were subjected to sham (0 Gy), low-dose (0.1 Gy), or high-dose (3 Gy) total body irradiation. The exosomes were lysed, the proteins digested and injected to Q-Exactive™ HF mass spectrometer. Finally, protein identification was performed. The differences in protein expression in low- and high-dose radiated mice compared to sham-irradiated mice are an indication of the dynamic ‘radiation markers’ present in living organisms and will be discussed.

1Szatmari et al., Frontiers in Immunology 2017.

The LEU-TRACK project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 in the framework of CONCERT under grant agreement No 662287.

173

EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES FROM IRRADIATED MICE INDUCED APOPTOSIS IN MOUSE BONE MARROW

Dávid Kis, Eszter Persa, Tünde Szatmári, Nikolett Sándor, Rita Hargitai, Géza Sáfrány and Katalin Lumniczky

National Public Health Institute, Division of Radiobiology and Radiohygiene, Department of Radiation Medicine, Budapest, Hungary e-mail:[email protected]

Radiation induced bystander effects (RIBE) refer to the induction of biological changes in cells not directly hit by radiation. Due to RIBE the number of cells affected by radiation is larger than the actual number of irradiated cells. This has important consequences in radiation protection and in radiation induced health effect. The role of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in mediating RIBE has been raised by recent in vitro studies, but in vivo investigations are still lacking.

The main task of our work was to analyse cellular damage and phenotypical changes in mouse bone marrow after direct irradiation and after in vivo injection of EVs isolated from irradiated animals.

Here I present an in vivo study investigating the role of EVs in RIBE. 9-12 week-old male C57BL/6 mice were to-tal-body irradiated with X-rays (0.1, 0.25, 2 Gy). 4 and 24 hours later EVs were isolated from the bone marrow and were intravenously injected into unirradiated bystander animals. The effects of EVs on the bone marrow cells of these bystander mice were compared to radiation effects in the directly irradiated animals. Apoptosis induction was analysed by TUNEL assay and the level of DNA double strand breaks was measured by flow cytometry using an anti-�-H2AX (phospho-Ser139) antibody. The following cell types were measured in the bone marrow stem and progenitor cell compartments by flow cytometry: hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) (Lin-Sca1+cKit+), mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) (Lin-Sca1+, CD44+), lymphoid progenitors (L.PROG.) (CD45+CD90.2+), granulocyte and monocyte precursors (Gr1+, CD11b+), megakaryocytes and megakaryocyte progenitors (CD41+CD61+) and erythroid precur-sors (Ter119+CD71+).

Due to direct irradiation, the proportion of apoptotic cells and cells with DNA double- strand breaks increased dose-dependently. Consequently, 24 hours after irradiation the number of L.PROG, HSC and MSC in the bone marrow significantly decreased.

The role of EVs in transmitting radiation effects was confirmed in the bystander mice. Increased rate of apoptosis was detected in the HSC and L.PROG populations 4 hours after injection of EVs isolated from mice irradiated with 2 Gy. The number of HSC in the bone marrow significantly decreased 24 hours after injection of EVs from mice irradiated with 0,25 ; 2 Gy, and MSC significantly decreased 24 hours after injection of EVs from mice irradiated with 0,1; 0,25 ; 2 Gy. �-H2AX positive cells were not detectable in the bone marrow of bystander mice.

Our results indicate that EVs can mediate RIBE in the bone marrow of non- irradiated bystander animals. These effects were not dose-dependent and manifested on certain cell subpopulations only.

The work described in this abstract has been supported by the European Commission, within the CONCERT project. This proj-ect has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 662287 and from the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (grant agreement number: VKSZ_14-1-2015- 0021).

174

“SEPARATE”: SYSTEMIC EFFECTS OF PARTIAL-BODY EXPOSURE TO LOW RADIATION DOSES

Zohaib Nisar Khan1, Omid Azimzadeh1, Simone Mortl1, Fabian Metzger2, Anna Saran3, Munira Kadhim4, Fiona Lyng5, Soile Tapio1

1 Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Institute of Radiation Biology, Munich, Germany

2 Research Unit Protein Science, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Institute of Radiation Biology, Munich, Germany

3 Agenzia Nazionale per le Nuove Tecnologie, l’Energia e lo Sviluppo Economico Sostenibile, Laboratory of Biomedical Technologies, Rome, Italy.

4 Oxford Brookes University, Department of Biological and Medical Sciences - Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford, United Kingdom

5 Dublin Institute of Technology, Centre for Radiation and Environmental Science, Focas Research Institute, Dublin, Ireland


Most human exposures to ionizing radiation are partial body exposures (PBI). PBI poses a major challenge in radiation protection, with contradictory evidence suggesting that it can both contribute to and protect against detrimental health effects. To date, only limited tools are available for rapid and accurate estima-tion of the dose distribution and the extent of the body spared from the exposure. Although advances in radiotherapy delivery such as Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) and Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) offer significant improvements in dose conformality, radiation effects are still to be con-fined to the directly irradiated tissues and thus exposure of normal tissue remains a limiting factor in many therapy cases.

Radiation-induced bystander responses have been observed in a range of cell types, tissue models and in vivo. The nature of the molecule(s) and pathways responsible for this cell-cell communication/signalling of damage-sensing signals thus allowing the amplification of cell killings and / or cell proliferations effects is unknown, although numerous candidates have been proposed, ranging from calcium, Nitric Oxide (NO) , RNA, cytokines and growth factors. SEPARATE is the project designed to explore all of these relevant end-points. We will be focussing on the effects of radiation on brain, heart, and liver and thus various molecular pathways will be investigated to answer the biological questions under study. The project is at an early stage and any preliminary results will be presented and discussed in the meeting.

The SEPARATE project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 in the framework of CONCERT under grant agreement No 662287.

175

EXTERNAL DOSE-RATE MEASUREMENTS BASED ON SMARTPHONE CMOS SENSORS

Alessia Mafodda, Clemens Woda

Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ingolstädter Landstraße 1 D - 85764 Neuherberg


The present work is carried out in the framework of the European Project CONFIDENCE („COping with uNcer-tainties For Improved modelling and DEcision making in Nuclear emergenCiEs “) within the European Joint Pro-gramme CONCERT. CONFIDENCE aims at assessing and reducing uncertainty of meteorological and radiological data, including dose estimation, during a nuclear emergency and coping with uncertainty in decision making.

Past events such as the nuclear accident in Fukushima, have raised the public awareness of ionizing radiation and its associated risks [1]. Technological enhancement in personal devices such as the new generation smartphones contributed to enable lay people to conduct their own radiation measurements. In fact, there are some applica-tions available on the market that turn a smartphone into a dose-rate meter using the Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) sensor of the camera as a radiation detector.

Characterization of the most important dose-rate apps for smartphones are required, in order to assess the reliability of such “citizen measurements”. Here we report preliminary results of investigations carried out on two Apps, “RadioactivityCounter” and “GammaPix”, by means of irradiations with calibrated 137Cs, 60Co and X-ray sources, the latter with ISO narrow spectrum qualities from N-30 to N-300, at the Secondary Standard Dosim-etry Laboratory of the Helmholtz Zentrum München. In order to investigate the variability in sensitivity of the CMOS sensors and the quality of the app-specific calibration values, the experiment is carried out on 14 different smartphone models, eight of them from 2017. Determination of the dynamic range, response time, agreement between reference dose-rates and measured dose-rates, characterization of energy and angular dependence are outlined. Dose rate responses for “Radioactivity Counter” are provided from 10 to 1000μGy h-1, whereas range of lower dose-rates (2-5 μGy h-1) could be explored only with few devices. Same analysis has been carried out with “GammaPix” that shows only count rates. Reasonable agreement between reference and measured dose-rates are observed when integrating over >10 minutes, whereas large fluctuations occur for one-minute-based mea-surements, which are more realistic for field applications. First tests on the energy dependence were conducted on phones with high quality sensors (e.g. iPhone) for back and front cameras. A strong over-response of up to a factor of 15 was observed for lower energy photons, with only a minor difference in the relative response between both camera types.

Based on the results obtained so far, the preliminary conclusion is drawn that citizen measurements based on smartphone apps can potentially identify regions of high radioactive contamination but more on a qualitative than on a quantitative level.

References: 1. O. Van Hoey et al. 2016. Radiation Protection Dosimetry 168, 314-321

176

NANODOSIMETRIC ESTIMATION OF DNA DAMAGE IN A GOLD NANOPARTICLE LOADED CELL

AFTER PHOTON IRRADIATION

Tobias Dressel1, Elisabetta Gargioni2, Hans Rabus1

1Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt Braunschweig, Bundesallee 100, 38116 Braunschweig, Germany 2University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany


The potential use of metallic nanoparticles, e.g. gold nanoparticles, either as contrast agent in diagnos-tic imaging or to enhance the effect of radiation therapy, is being intensively investigated worldwide. Al-though enhanced radiation damage was observed in in-vitro and in-vivo experiments, these effects can-not be solely explained with the predicted increase of absorbed dose [1]. This leads to the conclusion that the underlying physical, chemical and biological mechanisms are not yet completely understood. A useful approach would therefore be to investigate these effects on a nanometric scale. For example, the poten-tial increase of DNA damage could be related to the increased ionization density in the vicinity of gold nanoparticles due to a higher yield of emitted secondary electrons after photon irradiation.

In this work, a mathematical approach was used for a fast estimation of direct DNA damage due to the presence of a given gold nanoparticle concentration in the cell cytoplasm. In a simple cell model (cell diameter: 30 µm, nucleus diameter: 10 µm), 2600 spherical gold nanoparticles (30 nm in diameter, corre-sponding to a concentration of 1 pg/cell) were uniformly distributed inside the cytoplasm, i.e. outside the nucleus. Starting from radial distributions of secondary electron spectra around a single gold nanoparticle, as determined in previous work [2], the secondary-electron tracks that reach the nucleus surface were cal-culated by means of a newly developed algorithm. Finally, the spatial ionization distribution inside the cell nucleus due to these secondary electrons was calculated in a track structure simulation for each nucleus surface segment using the Monte Carlo Code Geant4-DNA [3,4].

The resulting electron fluence at the nucleus surface is characterized by a large fraction of low-energy electrons, so that most ionizations would occur in the vicinity of the nucleus surface. However, a fraction of energetic photoelectrons can also reach the surface and cause ionizations over the whole nucleus. The current version of the algorithm performs fast track structure calculations for different nanoparticle con-centrations and can easily be adapted to any spatial distribution inside or around the nucleus. Further work will quantify nanodosimetric quantities (such as the ionization cluster-size distribution) by overlapping the spatial ionization distribution with randomly distributed DNA targets in the size of 10 base pairs [5]. Repeating the procedure for the water-only environment will then allow an estimation of DNA damage enhancement.

References: [1] K. T. Butterworth et al., Nanoscale, 4 (2012) 4830-4838 [2] T. Dressel, M. Bug, E. Gargioni, Radiother. & Oncol., 123 Suppl. (2017) 421 [3] S. Incerti et al., Med. Phys., 37 (2010) 4692-4708 [4] M. A. Bernal et al., Med. Phys., 31 (2015) 861-874 [5] P. Lazarakis et al., Phys. Med. Biol., 57 (2102) 1231-1250

177

POSTERS

178

EXPLORING THE DEPENDENCE OF THE MOUSE LENS MICRORNA-SIGNATURE ON GENETIC BACKGROUND,

RADIATION DOSE AND DOSE RATES

Gabriele Babini1, Barbara Tanno2, Ilaria De Stefano2,3, Paola Giardullo2,3, Emanuela Pasquali2, Simona Leonardi2, Francesca Antonelli2, Arianna Casciati2, Mirella Tanori2, Anna Saran2, Elizabeth A. Ainsbury4,

Stephen Barnard4, Claudia Dalke5, Daniel Pawliczek5, Jochen Graw5, Munira Kadhim6, Alexia Kalligeraki7, Alice Uwineza7, Roy Quinlan7, Simonetta Pazzaglia2 and Mariateresa Mancuso2

1Università degli Studi di Pavia, Dipartimento di Fisica, Via Bassi, 6, 27100 Pavia, Italy. 2Agenzia Nazionale Per Le Nuove Tecnologie, L’energia e Lo Sviluppo Economico Sostenibile,

Department For Sustainability, Italy. 3Guglielmo Marconi University, Department of Radiation Physics, Italy. 4Public Health England, Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Oxford

OX11 0RQ, UK. 5Helmholtz Zentrum München GmbH, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Institute of Developmental Genetics. Ingolstädter Landstraße 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany.

6Oxford Brookes University, Department of Biological and Medical Sciences - Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, UK. 7Durham University, Department of Biosciences, Durham, United Kingdom.


The LDLensRad Concert project is investigating the mechanisms underpinning ionising radiation (IR) in-duced cataractogenesis. Cataract is a well-known harmful long-term effect of IR exposure, and the project is paying particular attention to the effects of low to moderated doses of IR, with respect to dose rate and genetic background. The aim of this work is to determine the microRNAs (miRNAs) signature of the mouse lens for these experimental conditions in order to understand the mechanisms of IR-induced cataract.

In order to evaluate the differences in the miRNA profiles, 10 weeks old Ptch1+/- mice, bred onto two dif-ferent genetic backgrounds (CD1 and C57BL/6J), were whole body irradiated with g-ray (60Co) doses up to 2 Gy at two different dose rates (0.3 or 0.063 Gy/min). Lenses were explanted 24 hours post-irradiation, total RNA was extracted from lens epithelial cells and miRNA Next Generation Sequencing was performed. After library generation and sequence alignment to the miRBase21, the R package DESeq2 was applied to the raw counts in order to obtain the differential expression of miRNAs between the genetic backgrounds, different doses and the two dose rates. Finally, statistically significant miRNA lists were enriched with the top20 predicted target genes in order to evaluate and compare how different lens regulatory pathways were perturbed.

Our preliminary results show genetic background produced significant differences in the deregulated miR-NA lists. A lower number of significantly deregulated miRNAs, associated to slightly different molecular pathways, were identified following the different doses of ionizing radiation. Comparisons between identi-fied miRNAs and pathways among the different conditions will be presented.

The LDLensRad project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 in the framework of CONCERT under grant agreement No 662287.

179

EVALUATING WEBSITES RELATED TO RADON FROM A STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE

Tanja Perko1, Catrinel Turcanu1, Bieke Abelshausen1, SCK•CEN & Christiane Pölzl-Viol2


2Bfs, Ingolstaedter Landstr. 1, 85764 Oberschleissheim, Germany


Several studies within the field of radon communication have shown that stakeholder engagement is beneficial to the implementation of protective actions against radon risk. International and national legislative documents related to radon action plans require higher engagement of stakeholders in addressing radon exposure situations and the associated risks. Stakeholder engagement in radon topics can be supported by the use of websites of local and national authorities. Websites can enable stakeholders to contribute their own ideas, suggestions, and requests; at the same time, they can provide ‘guides’, ‘resources’ and ‘reviews’. Websites with social media links promote transparency, participation and collaboration. This research explores whether radon websites of nation-al and local authorities EU-wide support engagement of radon stakeholders. Specifically, it evaluates national and selected local communities’ websites related to radon, as these are the most common interaction points be-tween citizens and public services in many EU countries. It analyses the websites from a stakeholder engagement perspective, accessibility, responsiveness, dialogue, content and transparency/openness. The national and local authorities websites will be evaluated from the following EU countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia and U.K. The research results report on accessibility: referring to the capability of making websites accessible to a wide array of possible radon stakeholders, with particular attention on whether these have equal access to information and functionality regardless of their technical aptitude, and whether they can access information from websites on mobile devices with a good user experience. Analysis will be conduct-ed from a stakeholder engagement perspective, namely whether the websites encompass tools through which stakeholders can interact with authorities. Since social media has become a key tool for authorities’ responsive-ness, with most authorities integrating social media plug-ins into their websites, this opportunity in the field of radon will be captured. Results will also report on the responsiveness of local and national authorities on radon related questions posted on the local or national website or sent to the radon related contacts published on the website. Since the “story content” and “site appearance” showed strong correlations with engagement attitudes by stakeholders, the analysis will also evaluate whether the radon related websites have a clear organization structure with an easy-to-use navigation system and user-centred design. In the context of the radon websites, transparency/openness aspects will be also analysed. Results of this systematic analysis of radon related web-sites will give an insights in radon communication and engagement with stakeholders by using other than tradi-tional mass media or face-face-to face communication and will offer ideas for good practices to be used in radon communication strategies that have to be developed and applied in all European member states.

This research is conducted in the framework of the ENGAGE project. The work described in this abstract/paper has been supported by the European Commission, within the CONCERT project. This project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 662287.

180

ELABORATION OF COMPLEX, NONSPECIFIC PHYSIOLOGICAL CRITERIA FOR ESTIMATION OF INDIVIDUAL RADIOSENSITIVITY

Davit Nadareishvili, George Ormotsadze, Salome Kiparoidze

Ivane Beritashvili Center of Experimental Biomedicine, Tbilisi, Georgia


ICRP Publication 118 Ann. ICRP 41(1/2), 2012 The prognosis, prevent and mitigate of late tissue radiobiologi-cal effects is currently one of the main problems of fundamental and applied radiobiology [1, 2].

If acute tissue effects are mainly determined by cellular radiosensitivity, the entire hierarchy of adap-tive-compensatory systems of the organism takes part in the formation of late radiobiological effects.

Therefore, the direct investigation of the regularities of the inter-individual variability of the body’s func-tional systems and the identification of individual characteristics that determine the severity of radiobio-logical effects is a direct way of searching for predictors of individual radiosensitivity.

The technology of evaluation of individual radiosensitivity, which is being developed in the I.Beritashvili Center of Experimental Biomedicine is based on a complex analysis of frequency indices of heart rate vari-ability (HRV) and qualitative spectra of peripheral blood erythrocytes (PBE).

The first of these is considered as a marker of the functional state of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and is considered as an integral characteristic of the body regulatory systems, while the second charac-terizes the functional state of the red blood system (RBS) and is considered as an integral indices of status of Proliferative Cell Populations of the organism.

A minimal sufficient set of the parameters characterizing the quality of PBA is applied by two parameters: 1) the spherulation degree of PBA, characterizing the deformability of cells and 2) cell volume [3].

Within the framework of the above approach, the ANS and RBS characteristics were studied in radiosensi-tive (RS), radioresistance (RR) and in young groups of laboratory animals. As is known, young specimens are characterized by high metabolic activity and high radiosensitivity. It was intended to make comparative analysis of initial indices in the RR, RS and in young animals, to reveal the factors determining radiosensi-tivity of an organism,

It was found that RS animals compared with RR animals have a high initial proliferative activity and high tension of the body’s regulatory systems.

The obtained results indicate the prospectivity of studies of complex, nonspecific physiological parame-ters as predictors of individual radiosensitivity. Keywords: individual radiosensitivity, nonspecific physiological criteria

Reference: 1. 2.2nd International Symposium on the System of Radiological Protection, Abu Dhabi, 22-24 October 2013 3. Ormotsadze, K. Nadareishvili. A new method for studying the red blood system. Radiation studies. Tbilisi, Vol.X, p.p. 5-35, 2002.

181

THE PUBLIC FACING SURVEY SET UP WITHIN THE EJP CONCERT TO GAUGE THE PERCEPTION OF RADIATION RISK:

PRELIMINARY RESULTS

Sara Della Monaca1*, Valentina Dini1*, Sveva Grande1*, Alessandra Palma1*, Paola Fattibene1, Antonella Rosi1, Maria Antonella Tabocchini1, Tatiana Duranova2, Tanja Perko3, Christiane Pölzl-Viol4, Yevgeniya Tomkiv5,

Catrinel Turcanu3, Christine Willrodt4, Mauro Grigioni1, Simon Bouffler6

1ISS – Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy 2VUJE Inc, Trnava, Slovak Republic

3SCK CEN - Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, Mol, Belgium 4German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), Germany

5Centre for Environmental Radioactivity, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway 6PHE, Public Health England, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

*equally contributing authors


Work package 5 of the CONCERT European Joint Programme deals with stakeholder engagement and communi-cation strategies in radiation protection. In particular, Task 5.3 of the work package concerns the development of survey activities for a more efficient interaction with civil society and the use of social media for public commu-nication. This task falls within the scope of the CONCERT consortium answering the needs in radiation protection for the public, occupationally exposed people, and patients in medicine. Within this context, a public facing e-sur-vey has been developed and launched in the first days of June 2017 on the CONCERT website. To reach a larger segment of the population, minimizing the impact of linguistic barriers, the text of the survey was translated in fourteen European languages: English, Bulgarian, Croatian, Dutch, Estonian, French, German, Greek, Latvian, Ital-ian, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak and Spanish. The deadline was 31st December 2017.

The survey aimed to gauge the perception of radiation risk amongst a wide range of people who are not radi-ation specialists and their opinion on information that would be helpful to a general audience to understand radiation risk. The first general part included a section about the responders’personal information, their atti-tude towards science and technology, their satisfaction towards the actors in the radiation protection domain and the actions undertaken by RP authorities, their opinion towards the communication channels about radio-logical and nuclear risk. In the second part of the survey, specific sections were addressed to particular cat-egories of people such as professionally exposed persons, medically exposed patients or people with a gen-eral or cultural interest for radiation protection issues (such as journalists or students). Different strategies of disemination were used by the differente countries. A total number of 1966 replies were received in the different fourteen European languages. The data analysis is in progress and some preliminary results will be presented.

Acknowledgments: The work described in this abstract has been supported by the European Commission, within the CON-CERT project. This project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 662287.

182

RECOVERY OF THE RED FOREST FROM A FIRE EVENT

C. Barnett1, N. Beresford1,2, L. Norton1, C. Wells1, J. Chaplow1, M. Wood2,

N. Entwistle2, A. Churilov3, S. Gaschak4

1Centre for Ecology & Hydrology – Lancaster, United Kingdom; 2University of Salford, United Kingdom;

3National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Ukraine; 4Chornobyl Center, Ukraine


Severe and acute radiation from the Chernobyl accident killed coniferous trees in a 4-6 km2 area of forest, now known as the ‘Red Forest’. In July 2016, an accidental fire burnt c.80% of this area presenting a unique opportunity to study the effect of fire on radionuclide biogeochemistry and the impact of radiation on the recovery of forest ecosystems exposed to a secondary stressor (fire). The RED FIRE project built upon pre-fire baseline measurements collected by the TREE project and data from collaborating Ukrainian sci-entists; this gave us an opportunity to contrast pre- versus post-fire ecosystem states. The objectives of the project were to assess the impact of fire on radionuclide mobility in soil and determine if there was any impact of radiation on the recovery of the forest ecosystem. To achieve these objectives we used some approaches novel to radioecology: bait lamina sticks to measure soil biological activity; aerial drone vege-tation and contamination mapping; wildlife camera traps and bioacoustic recorders. This poster concen-trates on our studies of the recovery of vegetation and soil biological activity following the fire.

In April 2016 (pre-fire), we deployed bait lamina sticks at 18 sites in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (11 in the Red Forest) to investigate soil biological activity across a range of ambient dose rates (13-220 µSvh-1). The bait lamina sticks are 10 cm long PVC strips with 16 small holes along their length; the holes are filled with bait (food); loss of bait provides a measure of soil biological activity. In September 2016, to assess ecosystem recovery post-fire, we deployed bait lamina at 20 sites in the Red Forest, including the 11 sites previously used in April 2016; they were re-deployed in spring and autumn 2017. A summary of the results from these studies are presented.

In September 2016, at each of the 18 bait lamina sites, vegetation cover was recorded using photographs. Sites were marked so that subsequent vegetation recovery could be monitored using photographs and by an on-ground vegetation survey; species present at each plot were identified and the percentage cover was recorded in September 2017. In March 2017, aerial drone flights were also used to provide a photo-grammetric analysis of vegetation cover; the area will be reflown in summer 2018. A summary of the results from these studies is also presented.

Acknowledgements: RED FIRE (https://www.ceh.ac.uk/redfire) was funded under a NERC Urgency Grant (NE/P015212/1). Deployment of the camera traps was conducted as part of the TREE project (http://www.ceh.ac.uk/tree) which is co-funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council, Environment Agency and Radioactive Waste Management Ltd.

183

RADIATION EXPOSURE AT LOW DOSES INCREASED THE FECUNDITY OF FEMALE FLIES

Jina Park, You Yeon Choi, Sunhoo Park, Young Woo Jin, Ki Moon Seong

National Radiation Emergency Medical Center, Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences,

Seoul, Republic of Korea 01812


Due to the epidemiological studies for A-bomb survivors, everybody knows that high dose radiation over 500 mGy can induce the detrimental effects on human health including acute radiation syndrome and malignant diseases like cancers. Although it is scientifically true, an increase in the rate of deterministic events would not be expected following exposure to less than 100 mGy of radiation. They are still some uncertainties of biologi-cal effects in those ranges of radiation. We need much more experimental data to conclude the low dose risk of radiation below 100 mSv. To investigate the radiation response of reproductive organ, which is one of radia-tion-sensitive organs, we compared eggs production and fertility of the irradiated flies at egg stage, depending on radiation doses (0, 0.05, 0.1 and 5 Gy). Exposure at the egg-stage with 5 Gy significantly decreased fecundity of female adults, regardless of radiation exposure of male flies. Interestingly, irradiated female flies at 0.05 and 0.1 Gy showed the increased eggs production when they copulated with non-irradiated male flies. We also found increase of egg-generation in the ovary of irradiated female at 0.05 and 0.1 Gy by whole-mount immune-staining. Genes profile data by RNAseq and qRT-PCR proposed the important genes in the female oogenesis and the func-tional networks of reproduction responding to radiation exposure at low doses. Taken together, these data sug-gest that radiation exposure at low doses enhances the eggs production of the female adults which are irradiated at the early developmental stage. More mechanistic studies at molecular levels should be further implemented to find a biomarker available for the judgment of radio-sensitive population.

References: Morciano et al. Effects of reduced natural background radiation on Drosophila melanogaster growth and devel-opment as revealed by the FLYINGLOW program. J Cell Physiol. 2018 233(1):23-29

Nouhaud et al. High-throughput fecundity measurements in Drosophila. Sci Rep. 2018 13;8(1):4469

Acknowledgements: This study was supported in part by grants from the Nuclear Safety & Security Commission (NSCC: 50613-2018), Republic of Korea

184

INTERCEPTION, RETENTION AND TRANSLOCATION OF 137-CS IN SPINACH PLANT AT DIFFERENT GROWTH STAGES FOR ACUTE

CONTAMINATION SCENARIO AND SPRINKLING IRRIGATION

Antonella Cristina1,2, Lieve Sweeck1, May Van Hees1, Jean Wannijn1, Axel Van Gompel1 and Roeland Samso2n

1Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK•CEN), Biosphere Impact Studies, Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, Belgium

2University of Antwerp, Department of Bioengineering, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerpen, Belgium

[email protected]

Radionuclides present in the environment can enter the human food chain through uptake by agricultural plants leading to possible human exposure to radiation. There are two main pathways for the contami-nation: (i) by indirect contamination when radionuclides deposited on the soil are taken up by the root systems, (ii) by direct contamination of the canopy. Related to the last route, the key processes governing the crop contamination by foliar uptake are: (i) interception, (ii) retention/absorption, and (iii) translocation. Large uncertainties are associated with the currently known factors that affect the radionuclide uptake via the foliar pathway. To reduce these uncertainties, we investigated the mentioned processes and pro-duced data on the interception fraction as function of the biomass, the leaf area index, and the stage of plant development, under the hypotheses that these variables are the most relevant in our experimental conditions.

Three, four, five and six weeks old hydroponically grown spinach plants were contaminated with a solution of Cs137 by simulating acute contamination scenarios. Some of the contaminated plants were collected 24 hours after each contamination event in order to measure the intercepted activities. The remaining plants were harvested after six weeks from germination in order to estimate the percentage of losses occurring for two different conditions: (i) Treatment of weekly non-contaminated rainfall; (ii) Control by no rainfall application.

Currently, data on the interception fractions f and interception fractions normalized to the biomass of the plant fB and normalized to the leaf area index (LAI) fLAI have been obtained for different plant development stages. The results show significant differences among the stages of plant development for both f and fB (p<0.05) while not significant differences occur in case of fLAI which could be consequently suitable for modeling purposes in case of emergency situations, when no data about the plant biomass and/or leaf area index are known. Currently the data about the processes of retention and translocation are still being analyzed and will be discussed.

185

ANALYSIS OF RADIATION EXPOSURE RESULTING FROM MAMMOGRAPHY IN KOREA

Jong Hwa Kim1, Kwang Pyo Kim1, Dae Hyung Cho2

1Kyung Hee University, 1732 Deogyeong-daero, Giheung-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi-do 17104, Republic of Korea

2Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, 62 Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34142, Republic of Korea


Mammography is an important medical method to diagnose breast cancer and save life. The National Cancer Screening Program (NCSP) has provided screening services nationwide. For mammography, the service is pro-vided to 40-year and over women every 2 year. However mammography without good quality control or good guideline may result in unnecessary radiation exposure to patients. Therefore, good quality control and guideline are necessary for the mammography. Diagnostic reference level (DRL) can show current status of typical practice of radiographic examinations. The objective of the present study was to investigate current status of radiation exposure from mammography in Korea. For the purpose, diagnostic reference levels in Korea and other countries were reviewed. The DRL values for mammography were reported in 2007 in Korea, 2006 in the USA and 2012 in the Europe. The reported DRL values were 1.36 mGy in Korea, 1.6 mGy in Europe and 2 mGy in the USA. DRL in Republic of Korea was 15% lower than Europe and 32% lower than USA. The lower radiation exposure in Korea may be at-tributed to the mammography’s image acquisition methods, including computed radiology (CR), digital radiology (DR), screen film. It was reported that the CR resulted in higher radiation dose compared to the DR or screen film. The nationwide survey in 2007 reported that distribution of mammography devices were about 89% for screen film, 10% for CR, and 1% for DR in Republic of Korea. However, the use of DR has been rapidly increasing. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate current status of mammography and related radiation exposure.

References

[1] Humphrey LL, “Breast Cancer Screening: a Summary of the Evidence for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force”, Annals of Internal Medicine Vol.137 (2002)

[2] Moayyad E. Suleiman, “Diagnostic reference levels in digital mammography: a systematic review”, Radiation Protection Dosimetry (2015)

186

CALCULATION OF EFFECTIVE DOSES FOR GENERAL RADIOGRAPHY EXAMINATIONS IN KOREA

Woo Jin Kim, Min Young Lee, Jong Hwa Kim, Gyo Hyeok Song, Kwang Pyo Kim*

Kyung Hee University, 1732 Deogyeong-daero, Giheung-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi-do 17104, Republic of Korea


The number of diagnostic radiology examinations has been increasing worldwide. Diagnostic radiology ex-aminations can be classified into various types, including general radiography, computed tomography (CT), fluoroscopy, and interventional procedures, mammography. In Korea, total number of general radiography examinations was reported to be about 270 million in 2015. General radiography examination represents about 78% of total diagnostic radiology examinations. Medical radiation imaging results in radiation expo-sure and thus may cause potentially negative health effects such as cancer. Final objective of this study is to estimate total radiation exposure to Korean population due to the diagnostic radiation examinations. As a part of the study, effective doses to adult patients for general radiographic examinations were cal-culated with the setting parameter information (kVp, mAs, etc.) collected in Korea. Radiation doses to the organs and tissues were calculated using a radiation transport code MCNPX. The calculations were per-formed for 7 different types of general radiography examinations, including skull (AP, LAT), chest (AP, LAT, PA), abdomen AP, and pelvis AP. For the examinations on head (skull AP, LAT), effective doses were less than 0.05 mSv. For the rest of the examinations, effective doses varied with examination type ranging from 0.07 mSv (chest PA) to 0.39 mSv (abdomen AP). Effective doses for the examination on abdomen and chest were relatively higher than the examination on head because the radiographic examinations on abdomen and chest included the organs and tissues with relatively higher tissue weighting factors. The calculated effective doses in this study with the information about number of radiographic examinations will be used to estimate radiation dose to Korean population.

Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the Nuclear Safety Research Program through the Korea Founda-tion Of Nuclear Safety (KoFONS) using the financial resource granted by the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) of the Republic of Korea. (No. 1803013)

References: [1] UNSCEAR, “Sources and effects of ionizing radiation Voloum I”, United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, UNSCEAR 2008 (2010) [2] ICRP, “Managing patient dose in digital radiology”, Interna-tional Commission on Radiological Protection, ICRP Publication 93 (2004)

187

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF EXPOSOURE SETTINGS OF GENERAL RADIOGRAPHIC EXAMINATIONS IN KOREA

Min Young Lee, Woo Jin Kim, Gang Woo Ryu, Kwang Pyo Kim*



General radiography examination is important tool for diagnosis of disease. It comprises the largest number of x-ray examinations of patients in Korea. However, general radiography may result in unnecessary radiation ex-posure, which may result from improper quality control or inappropriate machine exposure setting is of concern from the aspect of national public health. Therefore, it is necessary to periodically review current practices of the diagnostic radiation use. For the radiographic examinations, radiation dose varies depending on radiologic ma-chine exposure setting, including tube voltage (kVp), current time product (mAs), etc. The objective of this study was to analyse exposure setting information collected through nation-wide in Korea. The information about ma-chine exposure setting practice in Korea was collected for radiographic examinations for adults, including skull AP, chest AP, abdomen AP, and pelvis AP. The collected setting information included kVp, mAs, screen size, and film-to-focus distance. The exposure settings widely varied by hospitals. Average (range) tube voltage values were 74 (62 ~ 88) kVp for skull AP examination, 97 (60 ~ 129) kVp for chest, 77 (60 ~ 102) kVp for abdomen, and 76 (60 ~ 109) kVp for pelvis. Average (range) mAs values were 25.7 (8 ~ 100) mAs, 6.7 (0.8 ~ 60) mAs, 27.6 (3 ~ 64) mAs, and 27.4 (7.9 ~ 80) mAs for the examinations, respectively. Average (range) screen sizes were 27×31 (22×25 ~ 49×52) cm2, 42×43 (35.5×41 ~ 53.5×48) cm2, 39×43 (15×17 ~ 49×52) cm2, and 42×38 (15×17 ~ 49×52) cm2 for the examina-tions, respectively. Average (range) film-to-focus distances were 111 (86 ~ 150) cm, 121 (85 ~ 190) cm, 109 (85 ~ 180) cm, and 109 (85 ~ 140) cm for the examinations, respectively. The collected exposure setting information will be used to calculate radiation doses from radiographic examinations. The collected information with the calculated radiation doses can be used for optimization of exposure settings and finally for radiation protection of patients.

Acknowledgements: This research was supported by a fund (code 2018E380200) by Research of Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

References: [1] ICRP, “Managing patient dose in digital radiology”, International Commission on Radiological Pro-tection, ICRP Publication 93 (2004)

188

DOSIMETRY OF STRAY RADIATION IN PHOTON RADIOTHERAPY AND PHANTOM DOSIMETRY STUDIES

– RESULTS OF EURADOS WORKING GROUP 9

Marija Majer1 and Željka Knežević1

on behalf of EURADOS Working Group 9

1Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička c. 54, Zagreb, Croatia


Radiation doses to normal tissues during radiotherapy are substantially lower than target doses, but they are inevitable and as such may be associated with side-effects of radiotherapy such as an increased risk of secondary cancers. When primary treatment goals such as target volume coverage and sparing of critical organs have been achieved, the reduction of unwanted side-effects becomes a legitimate objective and phantom dosimetry studies, using reliable dosimetry, are important for their investigation.

Using organ doses and appropriate risk model, cancer risk for associated cancers can be estimated and protection of patients improved. Levels of organ doses will depend on the details of the particular treat-ment regimen. Dose measurements using anthropomorphic phantoms are very useful for estimating organ doses and for comparing different techniques and regimens. In addition, measured dosimetric data are needed to verify Monte Carlo and analytical models that are under development.

Dosimetry of stray radiation in photon radiotherapy and phantom dosimetry studies carried out within EURADOS WG9 (Radiation Dosimetry in Radiotherapy) will be presented and discussed.

References: 1. Majer et al, Out-of-field dose measurements for 3D Conformal and Intensity modulated radiotherapy of a paediatric brain tumour, Radiat Prot Dosim (2017), 176, 331-340 2. De Saint-Hubert and Majer et al, Out-of-field doses in children treated for large arteriovenus malformations using hypofractionated gamma knife radiosurgery and inten-sity modulated radiation therapy, Radiat Prot Dosim, (2018) https://doi.org/10.1093/rpd/ncx301 3.Harrison, R. M. et al Dosimetry for second cancer risk estimation in radiotherapy: measurements in water phantoms. EURADOS Report 2017-01. ISSN 2226-8057; ISBN 978-3-943701-14-2, Neuherberg.

189

RADIATION PROTECTION IN A NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANAYSIS LABORATORY

Sheldon Landsberger1,Tracy Tipping1, Peter Bode2 and Nuno Pessoa Barradas3

1The University of Texas at Austin, Nuclear Engineering Teaching Lab,

10100 Burnet Road, R-9000, Austin, Texas, USA 78758

2NUQAM Consultancy, 3284LK-37 Zuid-Beijerland, The Netherlands

3International Atomic Energy Agency, PO Box 100, A-1400, Vienna, Austria


The vast majority of radiation protection guidelines in nuclear facilities usually relate to perhaps one to a few sources of radiation in very controlled environments. Currently, there are more than 239 operational research reactors in the world with the top two usages being education & training and neutron activation analysis (NAA), respectively. NAA is present in nearly half (117) these research reactors where it is a major research and teaching component. Although there are many reports and research articles detailing the safety procedures at power re-actors and government-run research facilities, few if any reports have been published specifically for NAA labs. In particular NAA can yield a wide variety of exposures due to different types of samples and neutron fluences. Unlike any other type of radiation laboratory where workers and researchers deal with typically only one or two types of radiation sources, an NAA lab can contain a large variety of radioactive isotopes as a result of activa-tion products with varying degrees of half-lives and with different strengths of gamma-rays and beta particles. Recently the IAEA has developed specific on-line training modules for NAA with one of them being on radiation protection. The goal was to provide Terminal Training Objectives: provide radiation protection protocols in an NAA lab; and Enabling Training Objectives: identify sources of radiation in an NAA lab and provide procedures for execution of safety protocols. Along with these IAEA guidelines we will also present specific procedures initiated at The University of Texas at Austin Nuclear Engineering Teaching Lab for the many undergraduate and graduate students, staff researchers and faculty members. Some of these procedures can be depicted in the figure below.

190

Figure 1. Overall NAA Sample Management from Irradiation to Storage

191

CALCULATION OF THE AMBIENT DOSE EQUIVALENT DURING NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS PROCEDURE

Ki-Man Lee, Gwang-Min Sun

Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, 989-11 Daedeok-daero, Daejeon, Korea


NAA (Neutron Activation Analysis) is a method for the qualitative and quantitative determination of elements based on the measurement of characteristic radiation from radionuclides formed by irradiating materials using neutrons. NAA is recognized as the primary method and used all around the world because of its accuracy and reliability. In the procedure of NAA, analysts are routinely exposed to radiation because they directly handle the activated materials such as the wire, foil, powder sample and vessel. In the NAA laboratory at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), we have tried to reduce the radiation exposure level during analysis work. In this study, the ambient dose equivalent during the NAA procedure is calculated for a safety assessment. The ambient dose equivalent H*(10) is recommended by the ICRP as the operational quantity for assessing the effec-tive dose in area monitoring [1]. The ambient dose equivalent is calculated using a general purpose Monte Carlo particle transport simulation code PHITS (Particle and Heavy Ion Transport Code System) version 3.02. PHITS automatically generates an input file of the DCHAIN-SP program by using a t-dchain tally, and DCHAIN-SP can calculate the time variation of ambient dose equivalent H*(10) rate at 1 m away from the activated target during neutron irradiation and cooling time. In the simulation, a solid sample and a neutron flux monitoring wire in the vessel are considered as targets for activation. The conditions of the NAA irradiation hole in HANARO (High-flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor), thermal energy and source power of 1.4×1014 n/cm2·sec, are taken into account for the neutron source input. The neutron irradiation time is set from 1 minute to 1 hour depending on the half-life of the element. Simulations are conducted by changing the target elements and the cooling time, finally the database on the time variation of ambient dose equivalent H*(10) for each target element is built. These re-sults will be used for a safety assessment, and appropriate measures will be suggested depending on the type of sample.

Reference

[1] International Commission on Radiological Protection, The 2007 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection, ICRP Publication 103, 2007.

192

RADIATION-INDUCED LENS OPACITIES IN THE RADIOSENSTITIVE PTCH1+/- MICE: INITIAL RESULTS

FROM THE LDLENSRAD PROJECT

Mariateresa Mancuso1, Ilaria De Stefano1,2, Paola Giardullo1,2, Simona Leonardi1, Arianna Casciati1, Francesca Antonelli1, Mirella Tanori1, Emanuela Pasquali1, Barbara Tanno1,

Gabriele Babini3, Anna Saran1, Simonetta Pazzaglia1, and LDLensRad Consortium

1Laboratory of Biomedical Technologies, Agenzia Nazionale per le Nuove Tecnologie, l’Energia e lo Sviluppo Economico Sostenibile (ENEA), Rome, Italy

2Department of Radiation Physics, Guglielmo Marconi University, Rome, Italy 3Department of Physics, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy

e-mail:

[email protected]

Development of cataract represents one of the harmful long-term effects of radiation exposure. The LD-LensRad project aims at investigating key research questions on this topic such as: the mechanisms in-volved in radiation-induced cataractogenesis at low dose, including the role of miRNAs; the impact of dose, dose-rate and age; the role of genetic background in radio-induced cataractogenesis. Recently, work at ENEA has validated Patched1 heterozygous (Ptch1+/-) mice, characterized by aberrant activation of the Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling pathway, as a relevant mouse model of radiation-induced cataract. These mice develop cataract with a very high incidence (45.2%) and short latency after irradiation with 3 Gy of X-rays, when radiation is delivered during the early stage of postnatal lens development. At ENEA, under the LDLensRad project, mice have been irradiated at postnatal day 2, the age of peak susceptibility to ra-diation lens injury in this strain, and at 10 weeks, in order to investigate the age effect. Groups of 20 Ptch1+/- mice of both sexes, bred on two different genetic backgrounds (CD1 and C57BL/6J), have been whole-body irradiated (60Co) at doses of 0, 0.5, 1 and 2 Gy with dose rates of 0.3 or 0.063 Gy/min. Follow up of mice by Scheimpflug imaging is in course on a monthly basis, up to 18 mths post irradiation, allowing a quantitative analysis of the lens density and an unbiased statistical evaluation. Initial data show a key role of both age at exposure and genetic background in radiation sensitivity in the lens. In addition, to provide a compre-hensive description of the radiation effect on the lens, short-term analyses will be carried out to highlight early molecular changes possibly related to the late pathogenic consequences. Outcomes are anticipated to provide information on molecular mechanisms governing differential sensitivities. Preliminary results will be presented and discussed.


193

AGE, GENETIC BACKGROUND AND DOSE MEDIATE RATES OF RADIATION-INDUCED CATARACT IN PTCH1+/- MICE

Ilaria De Stefano1,2, Paola Giardullo1,2, Emanuela Pasquali1, Barbara Tanno1, Gabriele Babini3, Simona Leonardi1, Arianna Casciati1, Francesca Antonelli1, Mirella Tanori1, Anna Saran1,

LDLensRad Consorzium4, Simonetta Pazzaglia1 and Mariateresa Mancuso1

1Laboratory of Biomedical Technologies, Agenzia Nazionale per le Nuove Tecnologie, l’Energia e lo Sviluppo Economico Sostenibile (ENEA), Rome, Italy

2Department of Radiation Physics, Guglielmo Marconi University, Rome, Italy 3Department of Physics, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy

4LDLensRad: Towards a full mechanistic understanding of low dose radiation induced cataracts. Parterns: Public Health England (PHE), Agenzia Nazionale per le Nuove Tecnologie, l’Energia e lo Sviluppo Economico Sostenibile

(ENEA), Helmholtz Zentrum München ( HMGU), Durham University (DU), Oxford Brookes Uuniversity (OBU)


Cataract development represents one of the harmful long-term effects of radiation exposure. The EU project LDLensRad aims at investigating key research questions on this topic, including: how does low dose radiation cause cataracts; is there a dose rate effect, and how does genetic background influence cataract development after radiation exposure.

To this aim Ptch1+/- mice, characterized by aberrant activation of the Sonic hedgehog signalling pathway, bred on two different genetic backgrounds (CD1 and C57Bl/6), were whole-body irradiated with 2, 1 and 0.5 Gy of γ-rays (60Co) at postnatal day 2 (P2) or 10 weeks of age. Radiation doses were delivered with two dose rates, i.e. 0.3 or 0.063 Gy/min. Quantitative analysis of the lens density by Scheimpflug imaging was carried out on each mouse on a monthly basis, and it will continue up to 18 months post irradiation, in order to track the appearance and development of cataracts.

Preliminary results show that CD1-Ptch1+/- mice irradiated at P2 with 2 Gy of γ-rays, delivered with both dose-rates, develop cataract with high incidence and short latency. By varying the genetic background hosting the Ptch1 mutation, radio-induced cataractogenesis is deeply inhibited with no cataract appearance to date in C57Bl/6-Ptch1+/- mice at all doses examined. Importantly, when mice were irradiated at 10 weeks of age, regard-less of genotype, genetic background, dose, and dose rate, no variation in the lens opacity has been measured by Scheimpflug analysis, at least during 9 months of examination.

Our results show that both age at irradiation and genetic background significantly contribute to alter the risk for developing cataract and, importantly, suggest the existence of a threshold of 2 Gy for cataract induction in the Ptch1 mouse model.


194

RADIOPROTECTION OF ENDOTHELIAL CELLS BY RESVERATROL

Al Massarani Ghassan, Khalil Ayman

Atomic Energy Commission of Syria (AECS), Radiation Medicine Department, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic

e-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Background: Radioprotectors are compounds that protect against radiation injury when given prior to radiation exposure. Studies based on epidemiological and experimental evidences showed that the Res-veratrol (RSV) has antioxidant properties, antitumor activity, anti-inflammatory, cardioprotective, and ra-dioprotective among other interesting activities. Our objective was to evaluated the radioprotective effect of orally administered of RSV on the endothelial cells in irradiated rats.

Methods: Male Wistar rats (6 rats/group) were divided into four groups: rats in first group were control animals, rats in the second group were orally administered only 100 mg/kg of RSV every day for 60 days, (3) rats in group 3 were exposed to acute whole-body irradiation with a single dose of 2 Gy (dose rate 100 mGy/min), and group 4 as group 2, but followed by whole-body irradiation. Rats in control group and irra-diation group were given distilled water. Circulating endothelial cells (CEC CD146 positive) in all group were counted following CD146-based immune-magnetic separation one day after the end of the experiments.

Results: The CEC count was significantly decreased at one day after single dose of 2

Gy compared to control group (mean ± SEM: 17±3 cells/ml vs 165±39 cells/ml, p≤0.05). Originally, we ob-served a significant increase in the number of CEC in irradiated rats pretreated with RSV compared to irra-diated group (mean ± SEM: 50±5 cells/ml vs 17±3 cells/ml, p≤0.05). This increase, one day after irradiation, does not reach normal levels of CEC in non-irradiated rats.

Conclusion: The pretreatment with RSV can counteract the decrease of CEC counts caused by acute whole-body irradiation in rats. Thus, RSV exerts a radioprotective effect on endothelial cells. This result supports the use of RSV as a radioprotector with the potential for radiotherapy application.

195

EVALUATION OF ALANINE RESPONSE TO GAMMA-RAYS USING ESR SPECTROSCOPY

Ki Tek Han1, Jeho Min1, and Han-Ki Jang1

1Koraean Association for Radiation Application, 17, Baekak 1-gil, Jeongup-si, Jeollabuk-do, Korea


Electron spin resonance(ESR) is one of the physical detection methods and has been various fields related to radiation dosimetry [1-2]. Especially, alanine/ESR system is the most well-known substance as free radical dosim-eter. Also, alanine/ESR system is recommended by the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) as a standard for high dose measurements [3].

In this study, alanine samples were irradiated with 137Cs and 60Co gamma rays with absorbed dose range from 1 to 10 Gy to evaluate low level gamma-ray detection using alanine/ESR system. To evaluate the system, various ex-periments were performed, such as linearity, reproducibility and energy dependence. In order to more efficiently measure low activity gamma-rays, 1 pellet and 4 pellets setup were used. Detection point was set in the centre of the lowest alanine sample. In the case of 4 pellets setup, the position of the alanine samples was changed in order to minimize the uncertainty due to the deviation of each sample.

As a results, the relationship between the measured ESR responses and the activity of 137Cs and 60Co gamma-rays were obtained. The responses of alanine/ESR were increased linearly by increasing activity of 137Cs and 60Co gam-ma rays. And calculated uncertainties were 4.61% and 2.26% respectively. In addition, response curves were com-pared to confirm energy dependence of the system. It is confirmed that there is a difference according to energy in the low level range.

Further studies are planned to measure responses of various photon beam and electron beam using alanine/ESR system to evaluate energy dependence in detail. And also, experiment for alanine/ESR response according to dose rates of each sources will be performed.

Acknowledgement: This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MEST) (NRF-2014M2B8A3032609).

References: [1] Fattibene P., Trompier F., Wieser A., Brai M., Ciesielski B. Angelis C. De, Monaca S. D., Garcia T., Gustafsson H., Hole E. O., Juniewicz M., Krefft K., Longo A., Leveque P., Lund E., Marrale M, Michalec B., Miezwinska G., Rao J. L., Alexander A. Romanyukha, Tuner H., EPR dosimetry intercomparison using smart phone touch screen glass, Radiat. Environ. Biophys. (2014) 53:311-320. [2] Reyes R. A., Alexander Romanyukha, Trompier F., Mtichell C. A., Clairand I., De T., Benevides L. A., Swartz H. M., Elecotron paramagnetic resonance in human fingernails: the sponge model implication, Radiat. Environ. Biophys. (2008) 47:515-526. [3] International Atomic Energy Agency, Assessment and management of ageging of major nuclear power plant components important to safty: In-containment instrumentation and control cables, IAEA-TECDOC-1188 (2000) 1:39.

196

mBQ, ACCELERATOR AND ELI-NP EXPERIMENTS THAT COULD SHED A CLEARER LIGHT ON THE BIOLOGICAL

EFFECTS OF IONISING RADIATION

Radu A. Vasilache1, Romul Mircea Mărgineanu2, Mihaela Bacalum2, Mihai Straticiuc2, Mihai Radu2, Sorin Bercea2

1Canberra Packard SRL, 18 Clejani St., Bucharest 5, Romania

2Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering (NIPNE), 30 Reactorului St., Bucharest - Magurele, Romania


Lately, there is mounting evidence that shows that the failures of the LNT model, still used as a basis for radiological protection decisions. Trying to clarify the dose – effect relationships, a lot of epidemiological and environmental studies have been dedicated to the effects of low level exposure on humans and ani-mals, either in relation to contaminated sites or in relation to high background areas. Unfortunately, in such studies the doses cannot be measured very accurately and estimates, sometimes far – fetched, have to be made. Alternatively to such studies, a series of in vitro or even in vivo studies have been developed, which allow for a much more accurate dosimetry – see, for instance, the experiments described by Dr. Antonella Tabocchini at RPW Oxford 2016.

Along this line we are proposing a series of experiments which make use of the current Romanian research infrastructure and which would allow us to describe dose – effects relationships over a very wide range of doses and, most notably, dose rates. There are two remarkable research facilities that allow the experi-mentation at the two ends of the dose rate range: the microBq laboratory, which is situated in a deep salt mine and allows us to make experiments in a background as low as 3 nGy/h, whilst at the other end of the range the new ELI-NP facility allows experimentation at dose rates in the range of 1015 Gy/s or even higher. In both cases, experiments can be done with radiation with various LET so even more light can be shed on how a living organism will respond to dose in various circumstances.

Experimentation towards this goal has already started, for the moment making use of the accelerator fa-cilities at NIPNE (the 3 MeV TandetronTM accelerator and the TR19 cyclotron). The present paper shows the results obtained so far and a road map for what is to follow.

References: 1. Mihaela Bacalum, Mihai Straticiuc, Radu Vasilache, Mihai Radu, “Biological Effects of Proton Beam on Cell Cultures – From IFIN-HH Actuality to ELI-NP Perspective”, APSAC 2017 Conference, Dubrovnik, Croatia 2. Radu A. Vasilache, Maria – Ana Popovici, Mihai Straticiuc, Mihai Radu, Andreea Groza, “The development of a novel array detector for overcoming the dosimetry challenges of measuring in very short pulsed charged particle beams - the ELIDOSE project”, MICROS 2017, Venice, Italy

197

THE USE OF Γ-H2AX AND CYTOGENETIC ENDPOINTS AS BIOMARK-ERS OF LOW DOSE EXPOSURE IN INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY

Martha Habibi1, Georgia Terzoudi1, Panagiotis Karyofyllis2, Aggeliki Nikolakopoulou1, Nikolaos Kollaros2, Irene Mastorakou2, Vassilis Voudris2

1Laboratory of Health Physics, Radiobiology & Cytogenetics, Institute of Nuclear & Radiological Science and Technology, Energy & Safety,

National Centre for Scientific Research “Demokritos”, Athens, Greece

2Department of Invasive Cardiology, Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, Athens, Greece


Little is known about the effect of reportedly low ionizing radiation doses, such as those very often delivered to patients in interventional cardiology. As the use of interventional cardiac procedures is being constantly in-creasing, there is a growing concern about the safety of physicians and patients regarding radiation protection issues and late health effects. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of potential biomarkers of low dose exposure following interventional cardiac procedures based on different molecular and cytogenetic end-points. Specifically, lymphocytes from whole blood samples were collected from 12 patients and 5 interventional cardiologists, and DNA damage/repair biomarkers such as γ-H2AX foci, dicentric chromosomes and micronuclei were studied following their exposure during the interventional cardiac procedure. The results obtained showed a higher number than the baseline of all three endpoints studied for all patients after their medical exposure. How-ever, among the three biomarkers used, theγ-H2AX foci demonstrated a positive correlation with the effective dose delivered to the patients. Furthermore, 24 hours after exposure, residual γH2AX foci were still detectable in irradiated lymphocytes, and their decline varied significantly among the different individuals. The remaining foci were in some cases 2.8% of initial, whereas in other cases 65.6% of initial foci could be still visualised 24 hours after exposure. In conclusion, this study illustrates a clear advantage of the use of γH2AX foci over the conven-tional dicentric and micronuclei assays after low dose exposure in interventional cardiac procedures, as well as a variability in the kinetics of the γH2AX foci among the different individuals. The possible mechanism underlying these results will be discussed.

Acknowledgements: The authors acknowledge funding from the Hellenic Cardiological Society.

198

RADIATION EFFECTS OF THERAPEUTIC HADRON BEAMS: PARTRAC SIMULATIONS LINKED WITH PHITS RADIATION

TRANSPORT CALCULATIONS

Werner Friedland1, Pavel Kundrát1, Janine Becker1 and Markus Eidemüller1

1Institute of Radiation Protection, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany


Track structures and resulting DNA damage in human cells have been simulated with the biophysical Mon-te Carlo code PARTRAC for hadron particles from hydrogen up to neon ions with 0.25–512 MeV/u energy [1,2], corresponding to linear energy transfer (LET) values from 0.3 up to 1500 keV/µm. The simulations show that protons and helium ions induce more DNA damage than heavier ions do at the same LET. With increasing LET, less DNA strand breaks are formed per unit dose, but due to their clustering the yields of double-strand breaks (DSB) increase, up to saturation around 300 keV/µm. Individual DSB tend to cluster as well, such DSB clusters peak around 500 keV/µm, while DSB multiplicities per cluster steadily increase with LET. Simulations on subsequent DNA repair via the NHEJ pathway and formation of chromosomal aberrations have been started.

The setup of these simulations is different from the conditions of hadron therapy: under proton therapy the target volume and nearby organs at risk see protons with a wide distribution of energies and LET val-ues, and for carbon ion therapy, the contribution of fragments form nuclear reactions of the primary beam may also play some role. In order to utilize these simulated results for hadron therapy conditions, the radi-ation transport code PHITS [3] has been used to provide data on energetic particles of proton and carbon ion beams. Distributions of ion energies and LET values of the primary as well as secondary particles have been determined in mm-sized slabs along the penetration depth, complemented by individual particle data passing through a set of layers.

To determine diverse DNA damage endpoints under these irradiation conditions, high-order polynomial and spline functions have been fitted to various results of PARTRAC calculations. Folding these fit func-tions with energy or LET distributions of ions from PHITS calculations provides penetration-depth de-pendent data on radiation effects. First results for 80 MeV proton beams show up to 25fold enhanced numbers of short DNA fragments about 0.4 mm behind the Bragg peak with sixfold enhanced dose at 50.7 mm compared to the entrance region (0-5 mm). Further calculations for higher proton energies and carbon ions are ongoing with consideration of chromosomal aberrations (dicentrics) as further endpoint; results will be presented at the meeting.

References: 1.Friedland et al. 2017 Sci Rep 7:45161 2. Friedland et al. 2018 Radiat Prot Dosim submitted 3. Sato et al. 2013 J Nucl Sci Technol 50:913

199

ESTIMATION OF THE 131I EXCRETION RATE IN A THYROID CARCINOMA PATIENT

Jaeryong Yoo1, Min-Seok Park1, Tae-Eun Kwon1, Seongjae Jang1,

Wi-Ho Ha1, Sunhoo Park1, Young Woo Jin1

1Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences (KIRAMS)


A surgical excision of the thyroid gland is often performed in thyroid carcinoma patients, and residual thyroid cancer cells are then removed by the administration of a radioisotope (iodine-131). The 131I is deposited in the thyroid gland where residual thyroid cells are destroyed by the emitted beta-rays. The range of the radioactivity resulting from the administration of the 131I is from 100 to 200 mCi1). However, the retention fraction of the 131I differs between thyroid carcinoma patients, in whom almost all of the thyroid has been removed, and a healthy person. This means that the 131I excretion rate will be different in patients with a thyroid condition compared to healthy individuals. It is therefore important to determine the committed effective dose (CED) between a thyroid carcinoma patient and a healthy person2). For the thyroid carcinoma patient, there are no information for resid-ual fraction of the thyroid. If the CED is calculated using dose conversion coefficient for healthy person, the CED could be over-estimation. In this respect, for the assessment of the CED resulting from the 131I administration, the 131I excretion rate of a thyroid carcinoma patient was estimated by whole body counting (WBC). The subject was a 38-year-old male who underwent surgery and was then administered 180 mCi of the 131I. WBC commenced after six days and occurred regularly for three months. The deposition of the 131I occurred not only in the thyroid but was also distributed over the whole body, with the 131I present in extracellular fluid. As a result of the WBC, six days after the administration of the 131I the radioactivity had dramatically decreased to about 0.02% of the amount initially administered (from 6.7 109 Bq to 1,2 107 Bq). The CED estimated by Integrated Modules for Bioas-say Assessment (IMBA) professional plus software considering the WBC result of the thyroid carcinoma patient was approximately 1 Sv. Furthermore, the whole body absorbed dose estimated by the dicentric chromosome assay (DCA) method was about 0.44 (95% CI, 0.19 – 0.76) Gy. In summary, the retention of radioactive iodine in the human body, which was regulated by the excretion rate, was the dominant factor controlling the CED. For the adequate assessment of the CED due to 131I administration, a consideration of the thyroid condition (normal, hyperthyroidism or thyroid carcinoma etc.) and estimation of the excretion rate is required.

References 1. ICRP. Release of patients after therapy with unsealed radionuclides. ICRP Publication 94. Ann. ICRP 34(2), 2004. 2. ICRP. Individual monitoring for internal exposure of workers. ICRP Publication 78. Ann. ICRP 27(3/4), 1997.

200

INDIRECT MONITORING OF SPANISH WORKERS EXPOSED TO INTAKES OF ENRICHED URANIUM APPLYING BIOASSAY

AND ALPHA SPECTROMETRY TECHNIQUE

I. Sierra, C. Hernández, P. Albendea and M. A. López

CIEMAT, Bioelimination Laboratory, Internal dosimetry. Avda. Complutense, 40, 28040 Madrid, Spain


Protecting workers against risks of incorporated uranium compounds requires the monitoring of potential intakes and/or the quantification of actual intakes and exposures. In vitro bioassay methods quantify ura-nium in excreta reaching low activity levels. This is especially important when the radionuclides are incor-porated into the body through the inhalation route and when the radionuclides are insoluble compounds, because the excretion of uranium isotopes is very slow.

There are three indirect techniques of measurement applied to quantify uranium in urine in CIEMAT Bioe-limination Laboratory: Kinetic Phosphorescence Analysis, Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry and Alpha Spectrometry (AS). AS technique is the most commonly used for monitoring alpha-emitting ra-dionuclides in Internal Dosimetry Services. It provides isotopic information and low Minimum Detectable Activity (MDA) values (≤ 0.50 mBq/sample). However, this technique requires radiochemical separation of the selected isotopes from the matrix prior the measurement and long counting times (300.000 seconds). The analytical method is based on the co-precipitation of radionuclides and isolation by anion exchange chromatography. Finally, electrodeposited sources are prepared and counted by AS.

Quality assurance of the obtained results include the annual participation in international intercomparison exercises organized by the French association Procorad as well as German institution BfS (Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz). CIEMAT Bioelimination Laboratory is accredited according to ISO/IEC 17025 since 2012.

This work presents the radiochemical method applied in Bioelimination Laboratory to quantify natural and enriched uranium activity in 24 hours urine samples by Alpha Spectrometry to Spanish industry workers. 100-130 samples are measured every year since 2014; more than 100 workers are monitored based on a scenario of chronic inhalation of enriched uranium. A methodology of dose evaluation based on IDEAS Guidelines [1] and ISO 16638-Part 1 is established. Assessment of intakes and internal doses are performed following ICRP Publications 78 and 119[2].

References 1.- C.M. Castellani, J.W. Marsh, C. Hurtgen, E. Blanchardon, P. Berard, A. Giussani, M.A. López. IDEAS Guidelines (Version 2) for the Estimation of Committed Doses from Incorporation Monitoring Data. EURADOS Report 2013-01. Braunschweig (2013) 2.- M.A. López, S. Sierra, I. Sierra, C. Hernández, A. Pérez. Dose Assessment of workers long term exposed to chronic intakes of enriched uranium. Oral Communication HEIR 2018.

201

EXTREMITY DOSIMETRY IN NUCLEAR MEDICINE AND LABORATORY DIAGNOSTICS DEPARTMENTS

Marija Surić Mihić1, Jerko Šiško1, Lucija Glavak2, Luka Pavelić1 and Ivica Prlić1


2University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science, Department of Physics, Bijenička cesta 32, Zagreb, Croatia


Routine monitoring of doses to the hands and skin of staff manipulating unsealed radioactive sources for diag-nostic procedures in nuclear medicine (NM) and laboratory diagnostics (LD) was not required by law in Croatia until June 2018. In order to estimate equivalent doses to the skin and hands of exposed workers and investigate potential exposures above the dose limits, we conducted Hp(0.07) measurements using ring termoluminiscent dosimeters in one Croatian clinical hospital. The workers were instructed to wear a ring dosimeter on the base of the index finger of their non-dominant hand, palm side (NM) or on the base of the index finger of the hand closer to the radioactive source, palm side (LD). The individual monitoring was performed for one year with a one-month monitoring period.

The results for exposed workers in NM showed that 30 % of monitored workers received equivalent doses to the hands and skin above 1/10 of the annual dose limit but there were no values over annual dose limits, although one worker received values approaching the dose limits. A dose higher than 3/10 of the annual dose limit in one month was measured once. In LD, 88 % of monitored workers received equivalent doses to the hands and skin above 1/10 of annual dose limit and one worker exceeded the annual dose limit. A significant number of zero doses was measured in both groups for workers who in other measuring periods received doses higher than the recording level (4.2 mSv), which indicates that in zero dose periods dosimeters may not have been used. That could lead to the conclusion that dose limits may have been exceeded in both groups although not recorded.

The results confirmed that exposed workers in NM and LD are to be classified as category A workers due to a liability to receive significant exposure of hands while manipulating unsealed radioactive sources as well as due to the risk of internal or accidental exposure. The dose constraints for exposed workers in NM and LM need to be established to optimize radiation protection and lower the received doses. Staff in NM and LD should be moti-vated to wear a ring dosimeter so that measured doses could be reliable and results of routine monitoring could identify potentially bad practices and help undertake actions to eliminate it.

202

SETTING UP A SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMME REGARDING INTERNAL DOSE ASSESSMENTS FOR ACCELERATOR FACILITIES – CHALLENGES TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE

WITH DOSE CONSTRAINTS

Christopher L Rääf 1 and Anja J Almén,1,2

1 Department of Medical Radiation Physics, Translational Medicine Malmö, Lund University, 2015 02 Malmö, Sweden

2Radiation Physics, Skåne University Hospital, Malmö/Lund SE-205 02 Sweden


Assessing internal dose to workers and the general public inside and outside accelerator facilities is a challenge because the intake of radionuclides as well as the time pattern of the intakes are difficult to estimate. It may also be laborious to determine which nuclides are relevant and their relative contribution to the radiation dose to the exposed persons. The radionuclide intake may also be highly individual. The uncertainties in the intake patterns and the large individual variations render theoretical calculations of internal doses highly uncertain. Thus, measurements of specific organ uptake or whole body counting of radionuclides (WBC) need to be made to verify their presence and determine if exposed persons exceed different types of dose restrictions or even the dose limits for normal operation as well as emergency sit-uations.

In this presentation, data for some nuclides important for the European Spallation Source (ESS) facility, Sweden, will be presented in the context of WBC. In addition to neutrons, a variety of radionuclides gener-ated from nuclear reaction processes have to be considered for occupational exposures, the more promi-nent and thus relevant being e.g. the pure beta emitters P-32, S-25 and C14, as well as the gamma emitters Be-7, Al-29 and Cl-39.

A WBC monitoring program should be designed to follow general requirements for MDD, which in Sweden is set at 0.25 mSv per year considering all nuclides. Therefore, it is indispensable to have knowledge of the critical limit (CL) and minimal detectable activities (MDA) for measurements. For various intake patterns (chronic or acute), assuming mainly intakes by inhalation, generic minimum detectable committed doses from each nuclide, MDD can be derived from the CL and MDA values for the specific WBC set up.

The investigated high-resolution gamma whole-body counter (123% efficiency at 1332.5 keV) has a CL of 32, 2.5 and 4.5 Bq for the gamma emitters Be-7, Al-29 and Cl-39. It is found that committed doses of 0.35 mSv from Be-7 can potentially pass undetected by the system with annual measurements of workers exposed by inhalation. This WBC can therefore handle the current exposure levels provided that workers are monitored more than once a year. For emergency measurements of the public in connection with a suspected airborne release the CLs of the activation products of Ta-182, Hf-172 and W-187 are 11, 65 and 12 Bq respectively. This translates into CL of committed doses 7 d upon intake of 0.21, 2.9 and 0.45·10-3 mSv for adult members of the public. These calculations exemplify the need for in-depth assessment of source terms and optimised frequency for WBC assays in this context

203

THE NEW PERSPECTIVES IN THE COMBINATION OF RADIOPROTEC-TOR AND NOS INHIBITOR IN THE NUCLEAR MEDICINE

Marina Filimonova, Victoria Makarchuk, Ekaterina Chesnakova, Alina Samsonova, Tatiana Korneeva, Ludmila Shevchenko, Alexandr Filimonov

A. Tsyb Medical Radiological Research Centre – branch of the National Medical Research Radiological Centre of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Russia, Obninsk, 249036, Korolev st. 4


Modern cancer therapy is a long-term controlled process including combined methods and radiotherapy. Despite significant progress in improving radiological techniques and methods of radiotherapy planning, non-malignant tissues often present in the tumor irradiation zone, that leads to serious complications for patients, sometimes incompatible with life.

Preventive use of radioprotector is able to reduce the manifestation of such complications. However, the only one approved radioprotector amifostin is toxic in effective doses, hardly tolerated by patients and has significant contraindications.

Earlier in the experimental model of tumors radiotherapy we showed that NOS inhibitors with the properties of hypoxic radioprotectors in non-toxic doses are able to effectively protect normal tissues in the irradiation zone without reducing the effectiveness of radiotherapy.

The combined use of the NOS inhibitor named T1023 and the known serotoninergic radioprotector mexamine provides a significant increase of the radioprotective efficacy in minimal radioprotective doses. Preventive ad-ministration of NOS inhibitor in a dose of 1/12 LD16 and mexamine in a minimal radioprotective dose of 5 mg/kg before irradiation (gamma radiation of 60Co, dose rate 10 mGy/s) synergistically increased their radioprotective effectiveness according to the criteria of 30-day animal survival, the survival of endogenous and exogenous col-ony-forming cells of the bone marrow of irradiated mice. For the mice F1 (CBA´C57BL6j), irradiated in an absolutely lethal dose of 9 Gy, the DRF was 1,73 (1,53-1,95), and the DRF on the criterion of survival of exogenous CFU-D-8 of mice, irradiated in a dose of 6 Gy, reached the value of 3.02 (2,12¸4,11), the synergies ratio was 2,14 (1,34¸3,39).

We have shown that the NOS inhibitor does not affect the acute toxicity of mexamine. It was noted, that NOS inhibitor administration before the injection of toxic doses of mexamine was accompanied by a pronounced increase in hypoxia (darkening of eyeballs, mucous membranes and skin), not observed in animals receiving only mexamine in equivalent doses.

This indicates a high potential of this combination for the induction of transient tissue hypoxia.

The data obtained open new perspectives for the creation of effective and safe pharmacological radiation protection, in particular, for the development of new effective means of preventing complications in radiation oncology.

Acknowledgements: this work was carried out with partial funding by Russian Fund of Fundamental Investigations and Kaluga Region (Grant№16-44-400256).

204

THE STUDY ON THE RELEASE LIMIT IMPROVEMENT FOR GASEOUS AND LIQIUD RADIOACTIVE WASTES

Song Jae Yoo, Ho Jung Go, Myung Sub Song, Hyeong-ki Shin

Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, 62 Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34142, Republic of Korea


The release to environment of gaseous and liquid radioactive wastes generated during the operation of nuclear and radiation facilities are regulated by the nuclear safety legislation in terms of radioactivity con-centrations at the exhaust and drainage. The radioactivity concentration limit to release to the environ-ment was derived based on effective dose limit to the general public for each radionuclide. For inhalation of airborne particulates, the radioactivity concentration limits were derived from derived air concentra-tions. Conversion of the derived air concentrations to the radioactivity concentration limits was made considering difference between radiation workers and the general public; difference of dose limits to the workers and the general public (1/20), differences of breathing rate and active time (1/3), and difference of dose conversion coefficients according to age group (1/2). Therefore, radioactivity concentration limits were lower than derived air concentrations by a factor of 120. For ingestion of radioactive materials, the radioactivity concentration limits were derived from annual limits of intake of the worker assuming in-take rate of 0.73 m3/yr (reference man of ICRP 23). The similar approach was used to derive radioactivity concentration limits; difference of dose limits to the workers and the general public (1/20) and difference of dose conversion coefficients according to age group (1/2). However, the above methodology was not a clear reflection of the characteristics of the representative person recommended by the ICRP. Therefore, in this study, recalculation of release limits was performed using inhalation data of six age-groups in ICRP 89 and dose conversion factors in ICRP 67, 69 and 71. Finally, recalculated release limits for major radio-nuclides were compared with preexistence release limits. In addition, the atmospheric diffusion factor for several distances using the Gaussian plume model applicable to radiation facilities was presented.

205

PILOT STUDY OF RADIATION DOSE TO THE MAXIMUM INDIVIDUAL DUE TO AIRBORNE RADIONUCLIDES DURING DECOMMISSIONING ACTIVITIES OF A NUCLEAR FACILITY

Tae Gwan Do, Seung Woo Ji, Jung Hwan Jang, Jin O Lee, Kwang Pyo Kim*



Korean government decided permanent shutdown of Kori #1 in 2016. Article 5 of the NSSC (Nuclear Safety and Security Commission) Notice No.2015-8 states that radiation dose to the general public should be evaluated and reported during normal decommissioning activities. As a preliminary study, radiation dose to the general public due to the airborne radionuclides during normal decommissioning activities was evaluated. Radiation doses were estimated to the maximum exposed individual for conservative evaluation. Normal decommissioning activities for the radiation dose evaluation in this study included segmentation of non-activated stainless steel, segmen-tation of activated reactor, waste handling, surface cleaning operations, final chemical decontamination, in-situ chemical decontamination, removal of bioshield, radiation survey, and removal of concrete areas. Radionuclide inventory, including activation products by components and concrete and deposited surface contamination were considered. Exposure pathways include external exposures due to radioactive cloud and ground surface deposition and internal exposures due to inhalation and ingestion. It was assumed that maximum individual resided at site boundary, 700 m from a nuclear power plant. Atmospheric dispersion factors and deposition fac-tors were evaluated based on meteorological data at a nuclear site. The highest radiation dose was 0.045 �Sv/yr for segmentation of non-activated stainless steel. It was followed by surface cleaning operations (0.002 �Sv/yr), segmentation of activated reactor (3.5´10-4 �Sv/yr), and in-situ chemical decontamination (1.4´10-4 �Sv/yr). Total radiation dose was 0.048 �Sv/yr, which was much less than dose limit (0.25 mSv/yr) to the general public. The established dose assessment method can be used during decommission of a NPP in Korea.

Reference: [1] IAEA, “Safety Assessment for Decommissioning of a Nuclear Power Plant”, International Atomic Energy Agency SRS-77 (2002), [2] NRC, “Technology, Safety and Costs of Decommissioning a Reference Pressurized Water Reactor Power Station”, U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission NUREG/CR-0130 (1978)

206

DEVELOPMENT OF TRACKING PROGRAM FOR RADIOACTIVE WASTE FROM DECOMMISSIONING OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES

Ji Young Song, Jin Ho Park, Hyun Woo Kim, Kwang Pyo Kim



Management of radioactive waste produced during decommissioning of nuclear facilites is important for the protection of human being and the environment from ionizing radiation. To protect human being and the environment from radioactive waste, radioactive waste information should be maintained and tracked not only at present but also in the future. Therefore, a tracking system should be developed and imple-mented. However, there is no such waste management system for decommissioning of nuclear power plants in Korea. The objective of this study was to develop tracking program for decommissioning radioac-tive waste management. The development procedure of the tracking system is as follows; (1) investigation of data items for radioactive waste management, (2) design of database, function, and interface, and (3) development of tracking program for decommissioning radioacitve waste based on designed content. To derive data items for radioactive waste management, regulatory framework and existing radioactive waste management program was investigated and analyzed. As a result, total 220 data items were de-rived. Additionally, design of database, function, and interface was performed. Conceptual structure de-sign, logical structure design, and physical structure design were made for the database design based on data items derived in the previous step. Functional design was made through software requirement specifications. The principal concepts of the tracking program included tracking radioactive waste from the cradle to the grave and monitoring mass balance of radioactive waste in treatment facility. Interface was designed using user friendly design. Based on the principal concepts of the program and develop-ment procedures, computer program for radioactive waste tracking has been developed. The developed radioactive waste tracking program can be used for decommissioning of nuclear power plants in Korea. In addition, this development procedure and experience can contribute to establish management system for decommissioning radioactive waste at the national level.

Acknowledgements: This work was supported by KETEP and MOTIE of the Republic of Korea (No. 20171510300580).

References: [1] IAEA, “Predisposal Management of Radioactive Waste from Nuclear Power Plants and Research Reac-tors”, International Atomic Energy Agency SSG-40 (2012), [2] IAEA, “Waste Inventory Record Keeping System (WIRKS) for the Management and Disposal of Radioactive Waste”, International Atomic Energy Agency TECDOC-1222 (2012)

207

OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO WORKERS AT NORM INDUSTRIES

Jung Hwan Jang, Ki Hoon Kim, Kwang Pyo Kim*

1 Kyung Hee University, 1732 Deokyoungdaero, Giheung-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, Korea

e-mail: *[email protected]

A law of Natural Radiation Safety Management Act (NRSMA) was enacted in Korea for protection against ionizing radiation from minerals, raw materials, byproducts, etc. There are a variety of industrial activities handling natu-rally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs) in Korea. However, comprehensive analysis of occupational expo-sure at NORM industries in Korea is insufficient. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate the evaluation results of exposure level at NORM industries. The objective of this study was to analyse occupational exposure to workers at NORM industries in Korea. In NRSMA, the registered workers are regulated by dose limit of 20 mSv/y, while the unregistered workers are regulated by dose limit of 1 mSv/y for occupational exposure. The dose limit of workers at NORM industries applies the graded approach, which is consistent with the recommendations of IAEA BSS 115 [1]. Radiation doses to workers in the NORM industries vary depending on work type, working time, and work place environment. The main industrial processes were selected for radiological safety evaluation by analysing the material handling processes at NORM industries. Internal and external exposure pathways were identified by considering industrial processes and work environment. Four different NORM industries were selected for this study. They included zircon handling industry, phosphate handling industry, cement manufacturing industry, and coal burning industry. Information associated with occupational exposure for the NORM industries in Korea was collected. Based on the collected data, occupational exposures for the NORM industries were analysed. The col-lected data included work processes, working conditions, and direct measurement data including external dose rates and airborne particulate properties. The results of analysis showed that the workers in the NORM industries reviewed in this study received radiation dose below the dose limit of the general public (1 mSv/year). Radiation doses to workers widely ranged 3.58´10-4 - 6.30´10-1 mSv/y depending on NORM industries, work process and con-dition, and radiological characteristics. The highest radiation dose was estimated at zircon industry. However, the estimate was 0.63 mSv/year. The difference in radiation doses can be mainly attributed to the different airborne particulate concentration and radioactivity concentration in the particulates. This study results can be used to protect workers in NORM industries.

Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the Nuclear Safety Research Program through the Korea Foun-dation Of Nuclear Safety (KoFONS) using the financial resource granted by the Nuclear Safety and Security Com-mission(NSSC) of the Republic of Korea. (No. 1805016).

References: [1] IAEA. 1996. International Basic Safety Standards for Protection against Ionizing Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources. IAEA BSS 115.

208

POSSIBILITY OF NOS-INHIBITOR TO ATTENUATE BONE MARROW SYNDROME OF ACUTE RADIATION SICKNESS

Viktoriya Makarchuk, Marina Filimonova, Lyudmila Shevchenko, Alexander Filimonov, Olga Izmest’eva, Ekaterina Chesnakova, Tatiana Korneeva,

Alina Samsonova, Anatoly Lychagin

A. Tsyb Medical Radiological Research Center – branch of the National Medical Research Radiological Center of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Russia, Obninsk


Modification of nitric oxide (NO) synthesis in organism is a promising approach to modulate its radioresis-tance [1, 2]. We synthesized a number of N,S-substituted isothiourea derivatives with NOS-inhibitory ac-tivity and studied their acute toxicological parameters. One of them compound T1023 possess significant radioprotective potency – single injection of 75 mg/kg T1023 (1/4 LD16) 30 minutes prior to total �-irradia-tion significantly protect hemapoietic system and increase survival of mice irradiated in medullary dose range. In this study we estimated influence of T1023 on bone marrow and peripheral blood of irradiated and non-irradiated mice.

Male F1 (CBA×C57Bl6j) mice were exposed to � -radiation with dose rate 10 mGy/s. Quantity of cells in bone marrow and peripheral blood was estimated using automatic hematology analyzer Abacus Junior Vet (Di-atron, Austria).

Injection of 75 mg/kg T1023 prior to irradiation increased restoration of bone marrow cellularity. In period from 2 to 8 days after irradiation quantity of cariocytes in control mice increased 1,7-fold, while in mice receiving T1023 – 3-fold. At the same time T1023 injection decreased depletion in all peripheral blood cell populations, the more significantly - in monocytes, granulocytes and platelets populations. Such T1023 influence on bone marrow peripheral blood of irradiated animals can explain its ability to attenuate infec-tious, inflammatory and hemorrhagic complications of acute radiation syndrome.

Single injection of 75 mg/kg T1023 to non-irradiated animals significantly decreased quantity of bone mar-row cells and simultaneously increased quantity of granulocytes and monocytes in peripheral blood. Bone marrow cellularity decrease was not due to cytotoxic T1023 effect. These results indicate the T1023 ability to increase mobilization of mature cells in bone marrow and to stimulate their output in peripheral blood. We found such an effect interesting for studying T1023 not only as a radioprotector but also as a radio-mitigator.

Acknowledgements: the reported study was funded by Russian Foundation for Basic Research according to the re-search project �18-34-00372.

References: 1. Liebmann J., DeLica A.M., Ciffin D. et al. In vivo radiation protection by nitric oxide modulation // Cancer Res. 1994. V.54. N.13. P.3365-3368., 2.Greenberger J.S., Clump D., Kagan V. et al. Strategies for discovery of small mole-cule radiation protectors and radiation mitigators // Front. Oncol. 2012. V.1. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2011.00059.

209

SIMULATION OF SURVIVAL BIAS IN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SURVEY BY REANALYZING J-EPISODE

AND HANFORD WORKERS

Hiroshige Furuta1, Akemi Nishide1, Shin’ichi Kudo1, Keiko Yoshimoto1, Shin Saigusa1

1Institute of Radiation Epidemiology, Radiation Effects Association, Tokyo, Japan


BACKGROUND: Japanese Epidemiological Study on Low-Dose Radiation Effects (J-EPISODE) has high-quality dose data and data on cause of death, as well as lifestyle data such as smoking for a part of it.

Although the inception of radiation exposures began in 1957, the follow-up period of the cohort was 1991 to 2010, which was one of the weaknesses. The average follow-up period was 14 years, the total observation was 3 million person-years, and the population was decreased by 10% at the end of follow-up, indicating that the statistical power was not sufficient. There was also the possibility of a suvival bias due to the cohort setting in 1991.

In addition, the new cohort to be set in 2019, which employed opt-in method for informed consent, might have a selection bias, because the subjects are restricted to survivors and consentees might be in good health.

OBJECTIVES: To simulate survival bias by reanalysing J-EPISODE and Hanford workers and assess the possible impact of survival bias.

MATERIALS & METHODS: The micro data set of ”Hanford Workers Cohort Study Follow-up Through 1994” at the Comprehensive Epidemiological Data Resources (CEDR) was used for comparison with J-EPISODE.

Mortality of all cancers excluding leukaemia was taken as an end point. Poisson regression was applied for the Hanford male workers and J-EPISODE by changing observation period, to clarify the effects of survival bias.

Also windows approach regarding dose rate and age at exposure was applied for both cohorts, in order to clarify the structure of each cohort and passible causes of survival bias.

RESULTS: The simulation results of estimated survival bias under several assumptions indicated that the direc-tions of the bias were not constant. The possible causes of the differences were discusses in line with birth co-horts and trends of annual exposure dose.

Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank the US Department of Energy (DOE) for providing publically available datasets at CEDR. This study was funded by Nuclear Regulation Authority, Japan.

210

A PILOT STUDY OF RADIOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCE RESULTING FROM MULTI-UNIT ACCIDENT

Jae Kwon, Jin O Lee, Tae Gwan Do, Kwang Pyo Kim*

Kyung Hee University, 1732 Deokyoungdaero, Giheung-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, Korea

e-mail: *[email protected]

Fukushima nuclear power plant (NPP) accident occurred in the north-eastern part of Japan in 2011. At that time, the accidents occurred simultaneously in two units. Due to the accident, there has been a global interest in the multi-unit accident. In the case of the Republic of Korea, there are more than 5 NPPs at all sites. Therefore, it is necessary to analyse the consequence of multi-unit accident and to establish an emergency response plan reflecting that consequence. In this study, the analysis of the multi-unit ac-cident on the pilot site was performed using RASCAL computer code. In order to analyse the multi-unit accident consequence, it is necessary to select an accident scenario, radioactive material release path-way, meteorological data, and merging of source-term. All of the such data are not available in Korea now. Therefore, this pilot study was performed with such data for the Surry NPP site. Surry NPP site has 2 units of PWR, same as most NPPs in Korea. LOCA (Loss of Coolant Accident) and LTSBO (Long-Term Station Black Out) were assumed as an accident scenario at each unit [1, 2]. Leakage to the atmosphere through the containment was assumed at a release path of radioactive materials. The meteorological data at the Surry NPP site was provided by the sub module of RASCAL computer code. Finally, the evaluated source-term of LOCA and LTSBO through the above process was merged. As a result of the assumed accident, 1.1x107 Bq of radioactive material was released into the atmosphere. The maximum TEDE (Total Effective Dose Equiva-lent) values were estimated to be 1.3x10-2 Sv at a distance of 0.56 km (exclusion area boundary), 2.0x10-3 Sv at distance of 3 km (precautionary action zone) and 1.2x10-3 Sv at the distance of 5 km (urgent protective action planning zone). The maximum radius for protective action (10 mSv according to generic intervention level of IAEA) such as sheltering was estimated to be about 650 m. This study can contribute to establish an emergency response plan as well as determining the satisfaction of dose criteria in the future.

Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the Nuclear Safety Research Program through the Korea Foundation of Nuclear Safety (KOFONS), granted financial resource from the Multi-Unit Risk Research Group(MURRG), Republic of Korea (No. 1705001).

References: [1] NRC, “Accident Source Terms for Light-Water Nuclear Power Plants.”, U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commis-sion NUREG-1465 (1995), [2] NRC, “State-of-the-Art Reactor Consequence Analyses (SOARCA) Report.”, U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission NUREG-1935 (2012)

211

DEVELOPMENT OF REMEDIATION ACTIVITIES FOR RADIOACTIVELY CONTAMINATED SITES

AT THE “SARY-UZEN” TESTING GROUND

Krivitskiy P.E., Aidarkhanov, Umarov

Branch “Institute of Radiation Safety and Ecology” RSE NNC RK, Kurchatov city, Kazakhstan

E-mail: [email protected]

The Semipalatinsk test site (STS) is a world-known place where the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) held a large number of all nuclear tests during 1949 - 1989. At the moment, most of the work on investigation of radiation state of the STS is completed. Radioactively contaminated sites with an explicit excess of radiation safety standards have been identified along with conditionally background territories. Therefore, the next logical action should be the work on planning and carrying out remediation of the STS territory.

One of the first steps taken in this regard was the development of measures for remediation of radioactively contaminated sites at the “Sary-Uzen” testing ground.

There were 2 types of sites identified – the site with radioactive contamination exceeding the minimum signifi-cant specific activity and the site without it. In turn, sites with radioactive contamination are subdivided into 2 subtypes: with present-day surface deformation (the presence of “cavity”) and without it.

The volume of radioactive material is determined at each type of site. The volume of radioactive materials at the sites without present-day surface deformation was calculated based on the data of its areal distribution and the depth of occurrence not exceeding 20 cm. Radioactive contamination at the sites with deformation was divided into 2 zones: zone of dump and zone of surface fallout. In a case of surface fallouts, the determination of volume was carried out in the same way as at the sites without deformation. 3D models of contamination were designed based on soil profiles and topographic survey to determine the volume in dump.

Hereafter, remediation activities were selected for each type of site. Radioactive materials disposal and storage in radioactive waste storage facility will be most effective for sites without present-day surface deformation. Placement of radioactive materials into “cavity” itself and construct a protective shelter so to ensure the safety of being near this site and to prevent the possibility of radioactive materials transfer was proposed for sites with deformation.

The implementation of proposed remediation measures for radioactively contaminated sites at the “Sary-Uzen” testing ground will improve radiation situation, including at the STS in general.

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SPECIATION OF TECHNOGENIC RADIONUCLIDES IN WATER BODIES OF SEMIPALATINSK TEST SITE

Zh.Ye. Zhapasheva, A.K. Aidarkhanova

Branch «Institute of Radiation Safety and Ecology» of the RSE NNC RK, Kurchatov city, Kazakhstan


Behaviour of radioactive elements near radioactively-contaminated territories, rate of migration and in-tensity, impact on public health become highly topical scientific and practical issue. Territory of the former Semipalatinsk Test Site (STS) perfectly fits for studying radionuclides behaviour in all environmental com-ponents, in particular, in water.

Radionuclides can migrate with water, contaminating water ecosystem, including bottom sediments, coastline ground and vegetation. As we know, 3Н can migrate with water far beyond the STS testing sites. As the result of researching Shagan river, being the main waterway of the STS, high concentrations of 3Нwere registered all along the river channel. This rises a necessity to study transfer of such radionuclides as 90Sr, 137Cs and 239+240Pu , found in significant amounts in many of STS water objects, with surface water. Mobility and migration ability of radionuclides in water depends on their speciations. Speciations serve as the main factor, affecting mechanisms of radionuclides transfer and migration.

The aim of this work is to determine speciations of artificial radionuclides in water objects of STS using cascade filtration method. To find different speciations of radionuclides a cascade of the following 6 filters was chosen: 10 m (prefiltration), 1 m (separates coarse suspensions), 0.45 m (suspended matters), 0.1 m (pseudocolloids), 0.007 m (coarse colloids), a 0.003 m fraction was determined as a dissolved form.

Water courses from the tunnels № 104, 503, 504 and 609, located at the territory of «Degelen» testing site having dynamic water environment were researched. These water courses serve as the main sources of radioactive contamination take out of the tunnel cavities. According to distribution pattern of radionu-clides speciations in the water studied, 90Sr and 137Cs mainly migrate by means of dissolved compounds. According to results of determining 239+240Pu speciations, in water of the tunnel № 609 this radionuclide was mainly found to be dissolved, while in watercourse from the tunnel№504 239+240Pu was found in form of coarse suspension.

Upon the results of previously conducted researches on 90Sr concentrations in surface waters of «Degelen» site this radionuclide was found be highly mobile and being capable to travel several hundreds of kilome-tres with water. However, considering the results of determining 137Cs and 239+240Pu speciations, being also found in soluble form, one should keep in mind the fact that their migration ability will be higher than it was expected before.

Data on species of technogenic radionuclides in water may serve as a basis for developing practical rec-ommendations in future to assess radioecological status around STS, predict the level of content and migration of radionuclides in ecosystem components at STS and nearby areas.

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CONFIDENCE ESTIMATION FOR THE METHODS OF TRITIUM DETERMINING IN SOILS OF SEMIPALATINSK TEST SITE

Z.B. Serzhanova, A.K. Aidarkhanova, O.N. Lyakhova, L.V. Timonova

Branch «Institute of Radiation Safety and Ecology» of the RSE NNC RK, Kurchatov city, Kazakhstan


The contamination of soil with tritium is an issue of quite a wide circle of interest in radioecology, since soil is the primary link in biological chain.

As the result of nuclear tests conducted at the territory of the Semipalatinsk Test Site (STS) a lot of 3Н was formed. This radionuclide can be found in any environmental object including soil. According to results of researches con-ducted, 3Нcan be found in the STS soil both in free water and in bound form.

A specific peculiarity of the STS soils is presence of a special form there – crystalline bound 3Н, being accumulated on light elements as the result of activation at the moment of explosions at the STS.

To study concentrations of various 3Нspeciations in the STS soils a method was developed that allows to deter-mine each 3Нspeciation, including crystalline bound 3Н. According to this method speciations of 3Н is the STS soils are determined using distillation and autoclave decomposition methods.

Validation of the method developed called for assessment of its reliability and optimization given peculiarities of the STS. For this purpose a series of experiments was conducted. During experiment 3Н isotopic tracer was spiked into the background sample. Further its yield was assessed using the methods of distillation and autoclave de-composition. 3Н isotopic tracer was spiked into samples with different matrix arrangement as follows – «back-ground» soil, zeolite, SiO2 (sand) and NaCl. Specific activity of 3Н isotopic tracer 100, 1000, 10 000 and 100 000 Bq/l. At each stage of the experiment a blank experiment was conducted. All the experiments were conducted in several repetitions.

As the result of conducted experimental works, the efficiency of distillation method was found to be 70 – 98%. Assessing the autoclave decomposition method the yield of 3Н isotopic tracer was found to be 27 – 48%. At that there was found no impact of matrix structure and different activity values of isotopic tracer on the process of 3Нextraction by means of distillation and autoclave decomposition.

To optimize the autoclave decomposition method a series of experiments was conducted. These experiments were conducted to find some more effective reagent and to decrease losses while preparing samples. The rea-sons for 3Н losses during autoclave decomposition were found to be related to incomplete opening of the matrix and peculiarities in analysis process. It was found experimentally, that to improve the efficiency and optimize the method it is necessary to change the ratios of reagents and to skip centrifuging treatment stage.

Optimized autoclave decomposition method was tested on soils of the «Experimental Field» to assess concen-trations of bound 3Нspeciations in soil. Obtained results show that optimized method allows for complete de-composition of soil whereby the efficiency of the method increased 1,6 times.

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CHARACTER OF RADIONUCLIDE CONTAMINATION OF NATURAL LAKES AT THE TERRITORY OF SEMIPALATINSK TEST SITE

Almira Aidarkhanova, Ainur Mamyrbaeva

Institute of Radiation Safety and Ecology of the National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan,

Kurchatov city, Kazakhstan, [email protected]

A weighty part of water bodies at the territory of the Semipalatinsk Test Site (the STS) consists of natural lakes. Lakes have a different area from several tens of sq. m to several sq. km. Water of most of the lakes have a high salinity (from 10 to 120 g/l). The lakes are closed, have neither inflows nor outflows, don’t con-nect with groundwater. Some of these lakes dry up in the middle of summer. The lakes locate throughout the test site: at the territory of test sites (for example, Zhangyldy Lake on the «Sary-Uzen» site, Solenoye Lake, the External reservoir of the «Atomic» Lake on the «Balapan» site); in direct proximity of the test sites, i.e. in the zone of their impact (for example, Zhynyldy and Kotansor lakes near the «Sary-Uzen» site, Kishkenorsor, Shunkursor and others lakes near the «Balapan» site, Lake Zhaksytuz on the border of the «Experimental Field» site, etc.); on the plumes of radioactive fallouts and at «conditionally» clean territo-ries. The lakes have different levels of radioactive contamination, it depends on the location these lakes.

Content of artificial radionuclides in water of the lakes is below the detection limit, i.e. less than 0,01 Bq/l for 137Cs, or below the intervention level for 3Н (n*102 Bq/l), 90Sr (n*10-2 Bq/l) and 239+240Pu (n*10-3 Bq/l). An exception is Kishkensor lake, in water of that content of 3Н n*105 Bq/l was registered and it’s two orders of magnitude higher than the intervention level. The results of hydrogeological researches show that this radionuclide contamination results from inflow of contaminated with 3Нgroundwater out of the bore-holes of the «Balapan» site.

Content of artificial radionuclides in bottom sediments of the lakes is up to 200 Bq/kg for 137Cs, and up to 10 Bq/kg for 241Am, 90Sr and 239+240Pu, except for the lakes locate at «conditionally» clean territories. There the content of artificial radionuclides are below the detection limit. Another exception is the External res-ervoir of the «Atomic» Lake – content of radionuclides in its sediments are as follows: 137Cs – (5±0,5)*103 Bq/kg, 241Am – (0,25±0,025)*103 Bq/kg, 90Sr – (0,28±0,028)*103 Bq/kg and 239+240Pu – (1,2±0,1)*103 Bq/kg.

Upon the results of archive data analysis the main contributors to contamination of the External reser-voir of the «Atomic» Lake were found to be the tests of 1954 and 1965, while for the Kishkensor lake these were the tests of 1951 and 1954.

To proof this information, additional researches of the distribution of radionuclide contamination in the depth of sediments based on dating method were conducted. For this purpose, using content of natural radionuclide 40Кin sediments of 137Cs content was calculated by the mass fraction of lithogenous frac-tion [1]. As the result in both cases two clear maximums of 137Cs content were found, that proof the ver-sion about the sources of the sediments’ contamination.

1. S.B. Gulin, L.V. Gulina, I.G. Sidororv. Determining the age of bottom sediments using 137Cs and 40К // Proceedings of Sevastopol National University of Nuclear Energy and Industry, pp. 56–62.

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PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM AN OIL SHALE DEPOSIT IN SWEDEN REMAINS FROM 2ND WORLD WAR

Rimon Thomas1, Elis Holm1, Eva Forssell-Aronsson1, Francisco Piñero García1, Juan Mantero Cabrera1, Mats Isaksson1

1Department of Radiation Physics, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden


During 2nd world war there was shortage of oil in Sweden and one of the assets available were oil shales which could be used to extract oil. The oil production is achieved by heating the shales to sufficiently high temperatures in an inert atmosphere where a thermal decomposition process starts (pyrolysis), the resulting vapor is cooled down and the oil is extracted. In 1942 the annual production of oil shale reached 100,000 cubic meters. Produc-tion of oil shale seized in 1966 and the remaining shales were deposited in an area in central Sweden reaching ap-proximately 100m in height and still to this day some parts in the pile is undergoing pyrolysis causing temperature inside the deposit to reach more than hundreds of degrees Celsius. The oil shale used contained elevated concen-trations of uranium making it a NORM (Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials) waste and when the oil shale deposit finally cools down precipitation could start to leach out the NORM into the surrounding environment. It is therefore important to estimate the content of NORM in the deposit pile, and also to conduct external dose measurements as some parts of the pile are used as an art exhibition and for recreational purposes. To that aim a preliminary study was conducted in the area to get an overview of the radiological impact in this NORM waste.

Samples taken for this study included soil cores of 45 cm depth, moss growing on the top of the deposit, hare droppings found in the area and surface water from a nearby lake. There was also a concern for the people living nearby this deposit site in the city of Kumla located 6 km from this area, so hair samples from a barber shop were collected. The soil cores were divided in different sections and analyzed by gamma (238U and 232Th decay series and 40K) and alpha spectroscopy (U, Th and Po isotopes) to study the radionuclide concentration along the depth. Water, hair and hare droppings were measured through alpha spectroscopy.

Analyzed cores showed 238U ranging from 0.44 to 1.62 Bq/g with an average of 1.26 Bq/g. For comparison, the av-erage 238U activity concentration in Swedish soil is 0.07 Bq/g for 0-50 cm depth (Evans, 1983). It was found that the average ratio of 234U/ 238U in the cores were 0.95 with a max value of 1 and average ratio of 210Po/ 238U were 1.13 and max value was 1.34. The results from the external dose survey showed that the dose above the ground ranged from 0.112 to 1.200 µSv/h.

The results obtained from this preliminary study shows that the uranium concentration in the remaining oil shale are about twenty times the average concentration found in Swedish soil. It is also seen that the concentration is increasing with depth and that a more severe disequilibrium in the 238U decay chain exists along the depth.

References: Evans, S. (1983). Uranium, thorium and radium in soil and crops – Calculations of transfer factors. Studsvik: Swed-ish University of Agricultural Sciences

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RESIDENTIAL RADON EXPOSURE AND LUNG CANCER RATE IN BLAGOEVGRAD DISTRICT OF BULGARIA

Nina Chobanova1*, Kremena Ivanova1*, Zdenka Stojanovska2, Bistra Kunovska1, Trayan Atanasov3

1National Centre of Radiobiology and Radiation Protection, 3 Sv. Georgi Sofiiski st, Sofia1606, Bulgaria

2Faculty of Medical Sciences, Goce Delcev, University, 1 0-AKrste Misirkovst, P.O. Box 201,Stip 2000, Republic of Macedonia

3 Bulgarian National Cancer Register, Plovdivsko pole str.6, Sofia, Bulgaria


Residential radon exposure is the principal source of exposure to ionizing radiation in most country. Although research into indoor radon concentrations and lung cancer rate is actively conducted through Europe, similar research is lacking in Bulgaria.

The objective of the survey was to assess the association between residential radon levels and inci-dence and mortality due to lung cancer in Blagoevgrad district. This region is distinguished by the natural geological features of its territory as well as by long-term and the large activities of uranium mines and uranium-processing companies.

In the survey, long-term (1 to 3 month) indoor radon measurements were made in roughly 1173 homes in the region. The concentration measurement of radon is performed in ground floors of habitable building.

Data for lung cancer are available from the Bulgarian National Cancer Registry. The cases are coded ac-cording to the International classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10, C 33-34). The lung cancer data for Blagoevgrad district are analysed and compared to those of the country for the period 1995-2012. The new lung cancer cases are 2369, of which 87.7% in men for the analysed period in Blagoevgrad district. There are 1810 lung cancer deaths, of which 84.4% in men.

The results suggest that one of the key factors for preventing the risk of lung cancer is to identify areas with high level of radon and encourage population to take action to reduce the risk from indoor radon exposure.

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MODEL DEVELOPMENT AND CALCULATION FOR THE KOREAN-SPE-CIFIC RADIATION-INDUCED CANCER RISK

Sukhoon Kim1, Seunghee Lee1,2, Keonmin Kim1, Hyejin Kim1, Seok-Jung Han3

1 FNC Technology Co., Ltd., Heungdeok IT Valley Bldg. 32F, 13, Heungdeok 1-ro, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, 16954 KOREA (Rep. of)

2 Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, KOREA (Rep. of)

3 Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, 1045 Daedeok-daero, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34057 KOREA (Rep. of)


As part of developing the Korean model for assessing the late health effect due to radiation exposure, in the as-pect of application feasibility as the reference model, we had reviewed the latest cancer models that are most widely used worldwide: the NUREG/CR-4214 (1993), the BEIR VII (2006), the UNSCEAR (2006), the ICRP 103 (2007), and the U.S. EPA (2011). [1] Through this comparative review, we selected the US EPA (2011) [2] as the most appro-priate reference model since it was based on epidemiological data and implemented a number of extensions and modifications to the BEIR VII (2006) approach. However, the leukemia incidence model included in the US EPA (2011) was derived from leukemia mortality, rather than incidence, data of the Japanese atomic bomb survivor. For improving this generic limitation, we tentatively determine to develop the leukemia model on the basis of the leukemia incidence data as presented in the W-L. Hsu, et al. (2013) [3]. Using the Korean population statistics (e.g. cancer incidence, mortality and survival rates), a set of lifetime attributable risk (LAR) calculations is performed in accordance with the Korean-specific cancer risk model developed in this study, and the results are compared with the LAR values separately calculated by the BEIR VII (2006) model. This study can provide a basis for devel-oping a radiation-induced cancer risk model and Level 3 PSA code reflecting the unique characteristics of Korea in the future.

References: [1] S. Lee, J. Kim, and S. Han, A Comparative Review of Radiation-induced Cancer Risk Models, Journal of Radiation Protection and Research, 42(2), pp.130~140, 2017. [2] U.S. EPA, EPA Radiogenic Cancer Risk Models and Projections for the U.S. Population, EPA 402-R-11-001, 2011. [3] W-L. Hsu, et al., The Incidence of Leukemia, Lymphoma and Multiple Myeloma among Atomic Bomb Survivors: 1950–2001; Radiat Res 179, pp.361~382, 2013.

Acknowledgment: This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant (No. 2017M2A8A4015292) funded by the Korean government (MSIP: Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning).

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PERSONALISED EFFECTIVE DOSIMETRY FOR RADIATION RISK ASSESSMENT AND CLINICAL APPLICATION

Hisanori Fukunaga1,2, Akinari Yokoya3, Karl T. Butterworth1, Kevin M. Prise1

1Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology, Queen’s University Belfast, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 7AE, UK.

2Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan.

3Tokai Quantum Beam Science Center, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, 2-4 Shirakata, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1106, Japan.


Conventionally, radiation risk assessment has been based on the concept of effective dose, based on population effects, which does not account for the individual genetic diversity and uses only the type of radiation and characteristics of each organ or tissue being irradiated. In this study, we aim to develop a novel concept of personalized effective dose, which does take into consideration the genetic variation of individual radiation sensitivity, for more accurate radiation risk assessment and precision cancer medicine.

The Integrative Japanese Genome Variation Database (iJGVD, available at https://ijgvd.megabank.tohoku.ac.jp/) is a database based on whole genome sequencing of more than 150,000 healthy individuals in the northeastern part of Japan, including Fukushima, site of the 2011 nuclear exposures. Using this database, we investigated individuals who have single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with the risk of developing radiation pneumonitis and patients or heterozygous carriers of DNA repair disorders to under-stand genetic diversity of radiation sensitivity and to identify the rigorous predictors of radiation sensitiv-ity.

Our results indicated that the genetic diversity of radiation sensitivity is greater than expected, suggesting that the conventional approach to radiation protection could be insufficient. The results also implicated the potential genetic biomarkers associated with individual radiation sensitivity.

We believe now is the time to start to define a future personalized approach in the radiological field, such as personalized radiation dosimetry. From the medical implications of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, such a radiogenomic and personalized dose concept should be developed for next-step insights into its utilization in advanced radiation therapies and radiological protection.

References: 1. Fukunaga H, Yokoya A. Low-dose radiation risk and individual variation in radiation sensitivity in Fukushi-ma. J Radiat Res. 2016; 57: 98-100, 2. Fukunaga H, Yokoya A, Taki Y. Now Is the Time to Consider Personalized Effective Dose. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2016; 96: 479-80, 3. Fukunaga H, Yokoya A, Taki Y, Prise KM. Radiobiological Implica-tions of Fukushima Nuclear Accident for Personalized Medical Approach. Tohoku J Exp Med. 2017; 242:77-81.

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THE STORE PLATFORM FOR DATA AND RESOURCE SHARING IN RADIATION BIOLOGY, RADIOECOLOGY AND EPIDEMIOLOGY

Ulrike Kulka1, Michael Gruenberger2, Mandy Birschwilks1, Bernd Grosche1, Shin Saigusa3, Gayle Woloschak4,

Soile Tapio5, Nick Beresford6, Balazs Madas7, Ursula Oestreicher1 and Paul Schofield2

1Bundesamt fuer Strahlenschutz (BfS), Ingolstaedter Landstrasse 1, 85764 Oberschleissheim, Germany 2University of Cambridge, Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, Downing Street, UK

3National Institute of Radiological Sciences, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba-shi, 263-8555 Japan

4Departments of Radiation Oncology, Radiology, and Cell and Molecular Biology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University 303 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL 60611

5Helmholtz Centre Munich, Ingolstaedter Landstr. 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany 6Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, CEH Lancaster, Lancaster Environment Centre,

Library Av., Bailrigg, Lancaster, LA1 4AP, UK 7Environmental Physics Department, MTA Centre for Energy Research,

H-1121 Budapest, Konkoly-Thege Miklós út 29-33, Hungary


The primary data produced in the course of publicly-funded science represents a common asset for society as much as the analysed and interpreted results. Recent years have seen widespread agreement that such data should be accessible by scientists and the public. Open access publication has been the focus of much attention. However, the public availability of primary data requires the establishment of governance and a sharing infra-structure. International guidelines have been established for open data (FAIR) and transparent publication (TOP).

Availability and reuse of primary scientific data increases the accountability, reproducibility and value of publicly funded science and assures that research resources developed with public funds become readily available to the broader research community ultimately to the benefit of the public. Furthermore, journals and funders are increasingly requiring that all study data are made openly available. In response to these needs, in radiation pro-tection research we have developed the STORE data sharing platform, initially funded under the European Com-mission’s EURATOM programme. STORE permits users to upload and share data; users can maintain control over data dissemination through Creative Commons licensing. The data structure in STORE is centred on the study which is a top level directory.

Within a study there are datasets and within these there can be individual files or data elements, which can be of any type or size and annotated with standard metadata Each dataset and data item are assigned a STORE ID and a DOI. STORE currently contains about 100 studies and more than 3000 individual data elements, which range from epidemiology data, through images to proteomics and raw mass spectroscopy data. STORE is compliant with the FAIR data principles and is registered with r3Data, the ELIXIR/EBI-based MIRIAM register of persistent identifiers, and the FAIR sharing initiative.

STORE (http://www.storedb.org) is open and free to investigators and to funding agencies as a central repository for data sharing.

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Editors · 4 SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE Simon Boufﬂer, United Kingdom, MELODI, chair-president Ivica Prlic, Croatia, IMROH – host, vice chair MELODI Sisko Salomaa, Finland