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Introduction
This report contains information about the ingested Doses Received by the nearby
Population after the Chernobyl reactor accident. First, the report contains analysis of the
accident that includes, summery of the events and the consequences of the accident. It
and behavior of the deposited radionuclides. In addition, it covers the reaction of the
authorities and their management of the crises, which includes the evaluation of the
catastrophe, evacuation and the way they measure the contamination. Second, it
introduces some universal information about the Iodine and cesium, methods of
dosimetry, unites of exposure and dose. Third, it covers the ingestion doses received by
the nearby Population after the Chernobyl accident, by dividing the population into four
categories according to their role during and after the accident and their geographic
residence. While searching for report I found different point of views, for this, in order to
provide valued information; it may contain only reasonable and documented reports.
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Ingestion Doses Received by the nearby Population after the Chernobyl Accident
Content
Introduction
6- Ingested dose
A The liquidators
7-Conclusion
8- Work cited
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Banibaker
Ingestion Doses Received by the nearby Population after the Chernobyl Accident
Reactor number 4
carbon used in very pure form as moderator. A mixture of nitrogen and helium is
circulated between the graphite blocks to prevent oxidation of the graphite and to
improve the transmission of the heat produced by neutron interactions in the graphite
from the moderator to the fuel channel. The heat produced by the nuclear fission in this
type of reactor is used to boil water to generate the steam that drives the turbines of the
power station. Western nuclear experts have criticized this type of reactor for tow reasons
1) it lacks a containment structure and 2) it requires large quantities of graphite within its
core.
The accident
A test procedure was planned to produce sufficient energy to keep the coolant pumps
running in case of a loss of power until the emergency diesel generator was activated.
The safety systems were intentionally switched off to allow running the experiment. The
test requires the reactor to be powered down to 25 %of its capacity but for unknown
reasons, the reactor power level fell to less than 1 %. The power therefore had to be
slowly increased to reach 25%. However, within 30 seconds after the start of the test,
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there was an unexpected power surge resulted in halting the reactor’s emergency
shutdown which, within fractions of a second, the power level and temperature rose up to
A violent explosion smashed the 1000-tonne sealing cap on the reactor building. The fuel
rods melted due to high temperatures of 2000°C, Then the graphite covering of the
reactor blasts into flames. The radioactive fission products released during the core
There was controversy about the amount of radionuclide released. The estimate of the
released “source term” which means “accidental release of radioactive material from a
nuclear facility to the environment” was modified over the years due to different studies
and methods of measurements. The radiation released in the initial explosion Rose to an
altitude of (0.9 to 4.7) miles and went in two directions; east and southeast, whereas the
radiation released from the resulting fire stayed below 1.5 kilometers and headed
northwest (William R.) The release of radionuclide lasted for more than a week. The
composition and characteristics of the radioactive material in the cloud changed during its
passage due to many factors such as: wet and dry deposition, decay, chemical trans-
Changes in direction and strength of wind, rainfall, altitude, and the long duration of
emission resulted in asymmetrical and irregular deposition of source term over a large
area. The release of radioactive material to the atmosphere consisted of 1) gases such as
xenon, which escaped completely, and 2) aerosols such as cesium and tellurium and light
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fragmented fuel. Around 50 to 60% of the core inventory of iodine was released, which
was about 1760Bq, the total release of 137Cs was estimated to be 70 petabecquerel (PBq).
Low-level radiation release toke place in the following week and for up to 6 weeks after
the accident.
131
I and 137Cs are the most important radionuclides to concern about, because they are the
Half-
Nuclide Activity (PBq) Percent of inventory Activity (PBq)
life
33Xe 5.3 d 6 500 100 6500
131I 8.0 d 3 200 50 - 60 ~1760
134Cs 2.0 y 180 20 - 40 ~54
137Cs 30.0 y 280 20 - 40 ~85
132Te 78.0 h 2 700 25 - 60 ~1150
Radioactive contamination of the ground was found in every country of the northern
parameters, the particle sizes, and the event of rainfall. The largest particles, which were
primarily fuel particles, were deposited within 100 km of the reactor. Smaller particle
were carried by the wind to remote distances and were deposit primarily with rainfall.
137
Cs was selected to characterize the magnitude of the ground deposition for two reasons;
(1) it is easily measurable, and (2) it was the main contributor to the radiation doses
received by the population once the short-lived 131I had decayed. However, during the
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first weeks after the accident, most of the activity deposited on the ground consisted of
short-lived radionuclides, of which 131I was the most important radio biologically. Large
particles deposited in the near zone, contained fuel (U, Pu) refractory elements (Zr, Mo,
Ce and Np) and intermediate elements (Ru, Ba, Sr). The volatile elements (I, Te and Cs)
in the form of condensation-generated particles were more widely dispersed in the far
zone. The most highly contaminated area was the 30-km zone surrounding the reactor,
where 137Cs ground depositions generally exceeded 1 500 kBq/m2 ((Ba93). NEA)
and 134Cs-. 90Sr was mostly deposited in the near zone of the accident. The only area with
plutonium (239Pu) exceeding 4-kBq m-2 was located within the 30-km zone.
The ingested dose is affected by the behavior of the radionuclide, for this, it is wise to
look at the chemical and physical behavior and pathways of the radionuclide. Activities
characteristics of the radionuclides and 2) on the size and shape of particles and 3) on the
environment itself. For short-lived radionuclides, such as iodine isotopes (131I), the main
pathway of exposure of humans is the direct transfer of the amount deposited on leafy
vegetables that are consumed within a few days, or by indirect way through contaminated
milk. Long-term behavior is not applicable for131I, since it has a short physical half-life
of only 8 days.
137
Cs and 90Sr radionuclides are still contained in the upper soil layers and it needs10 to 25
years to be cleared from the soil. Contamination levels in soils decrease slowly, and
mostly by transfer to plants. Most of the decrease in the coming years will be at only the
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rate of the physical half-life of 137Cs. Forests can deliver large radiation doses through the
direct consumption of berries, mushrooms and other consumable products, and through
the industrial use of forest products. For example, migration of 137Cs in the forest
podzolic soils is prominent and the industrial use of such forest is rising. Drinking water
in the affected areas was weakly contaminated, less than 1Bq of 137Cs or 90Sr per liter
The Chernobyl accident took authorities by surprise as regards to its size, duration, and
far-reaching and wide spread contamination. As there were no guidelines for such an
accident and there was no previous experience to deal with such accident. The social and
psychological impacts of some official decisions on the public were not expected.
food led to inconsistent decisions and recommendations.. The extent of the tragedy was
equipment. For example, most of the dosimeters in the reactor had limited sensitivity of
1mR/s.There were only two dosimeters with abilities to measure high exposure of 1000
R/s, even those tow were not ready for use, access to one of them was blocked by the
explosion, and the other one broke when turned on. Thus, the reactor crew could only
ascertain that the radiation levels in most of the reactor building were above 4000 R/h
long half-life of 30 years. The contamination was measured by using the unit of activity
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either in Curies (Ci) or Becquerel’s (Bq) square per kilometer. They use the Geiger
counters to measure the contamination of the territories. The authorities estimate that a
person will receive 1.millisievert per year (mSv) if the area is contaminated with 5
Ci/km2. Only when soil contamination is over 5 Ci/km2 are people likely to absorb more
Evacuation
The town of Pripyat was evacuated within the first 36 hours after the accident. Then the
evacuation included all people in the 30-km zone around the reactor compound bringing
military personnel included the rinse of buildings, cleaning residential areas, removing
contaminated soil, cleaning roads and decontaminating water supplies. Special attention
was paid to schools, hospitals and other buildings used by large numbers of people. The
watered the streets in towns to suppress dust. The authorities distributed stable iodine in
an attempt to reduce thyroid doses to block radioactive uptake by the thyroid (Me92).
The political and social tension in the Soviet Union at that time complicates decision-
making; As a result, the Supreme Soviet did not adopt the NCRP proposal for lifetime
dose of 350-mSv intervention level for the relocation of population groups (Il87). Later, a
intervention levels.
radionuclides 137Cs, 90Sr, and 239Pu. As has been mentioned above, large areas were
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contaminated mainly by 137Cs and a ground contamination level by this radionuclide of 1
480 kBq/m2 was used as the intervention criterion for permanent resettlement of
population, and a level of 555 to 1480 kBq/m2 for temporary relocation. (NEA)
Iodine is absorbed completely and rapidly from the digestive system. The thyroid takes
up 0.3 of the amount in the blood stream. The biological half-life of iodine in the thyroid
is 120 days. Then it leaves the thyroid as organic iodine, which distributed in the body
with half-life of 12 days. The body excretes 0.1 of that amount and the rest goes back to
the blood stream. 131I decays to 131Xe stable (Turner). 40-100 mCi may produce thyroid
ablation (J.ringelstein). The usual adult dose of radioiodine to treat an overactive thyroid
to treat cancer of the thyroid is much larger, 1.1 to 7.4 gigabecquerels (30 to 200
millicurie). (Micromedex)
Iodine is short-lived radionuclide, for this, its effects start in the first month of the
accident. Thyroid abnormalities become detectable about four years after the accident,
this fact stands against the previous thinking that thyroid cancer may be detectable 6-8
years after irradiation in the six most contaminated regions of the Russian Federation, the
thyroid cancer incidence increased over time in adults. The incidence was 11 per 100 000
for women compared to 4 for the Russian Federation as a whole and 1.7 and 1.1
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respectively for men. There have been 800 cases of thyroid caner in children (WNA).
Cesium
Normal content of the body of cesium is 1.5-mg. the digestive system rapidly absorbs
Cesium compounds completely, 0.1 retained in one tissue with metabolic half-life is 2
days, and .9 retained in other tissue with metabolic half-life of 110 days. (Turner)
Cesium137 is the second volatile fission product that is biologically active. Cesium is long-
lived radionuclide with half-life of 30 years, if it gets its way to the body it stays in the
organs forever.
the exposure is known or, when the exposure is not known. Biodosimetry involves
the radiant energy emitted with a whole-body counter, or indirectly by measuring the
2-Physical dose estimate is a technique depends on Electron Spin resonance (ESR) for
radical
This technique is used for the detection of target molecules with a system of coupled
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antibodies and fluorochromes.
To understand the relation between exposure and dose, this is a review of the units for
Dose
Dose is the energy imparted or deposited in matter from any kind of radiation in any
Absorbed dose is a quantity of energy imparted by radiation to a unit mass of matter such
as tissue. Grays (Gy) is the unit of absorbed dose, where one gray produces a different
intensity of biological effects on tissue depending on the type of radiation (alpha, beta,
gamma, neutrons).
Roentgen (R) is the unit of exposure. Roentgen is the unit to measure gamma or x
The old unit for absorbed dose was RAD, One rad= 100 erg per gram. The new unit is
Dose Equivalent (H), (H=DQ) Is defined as the product of the absorbed dose (D) and a
quality factor Q which depends on the linear energy transfer (LET), This factor, whose
value varies between 1 and 20 depending on the type of radiation. The unit of Dose
equivalent is seivert (Sv) used with Gray. The older unit REM (roentgen-equivalent-man)
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was related to rad.
One seivert produces the same biological effect, irrespective of the type of radiation.
Effective dose:
Effective dose is the Sum of the "equivalent doses" to the various organs and tissues
multiplied by weighting factors reflecting the differing sensitivities of organs and tissues
to radiation. The weighting factor for each organ or tissue expresses the fractional
contribution of the risk of death or serious genetic defect from irradiation of that organ or
tissue to the total risk from uniform irradiation of the whole body. Seivert (Sv). Is the unit
of effective dose.
Collective dose
Total dose over a population group exposed to a given source. It represents the product of
the average dose to the individuals in the group by the number of persons comprising the
Since one Becquerel is small, unit it is helpful to know the multiples of the Becquerel
Ingested Dose
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Studying the Ingestion Doses Received by the nearby Population after the Chernobyl
Accident needs us to study the events lead to these doses, the effects of these doses, and
what we need to do to avoid such accidents in the future. The “nearby Population” is a
term needs to be clarified, for physical accidents, nearby means population that has direct
contact to the accidents, in contrast, in nuclear accidents; the nearby area means a large
area, which may extend far beyond the geographical location of “Chernobyl.” Nearby
population means millions of people who may ingest any quantity of radiation, for
example, the helicopter pilots who were in the sky throwing materials to cover the reactor
In general, around 8,400,000 people in Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia were exposed to the
radiation. About 155,000 sq. km of territories in the three countries were contaminated.
Agricultural areas covering nearly 52,000 sq. km were contaminated with cesium-137
and strontium-90, with 30-year and 28-year half-lives respectively. The exposure of the
population because of the accident took two main pathways. The first is the radiation
dose to the thyroid because of the concentration of iodine in the gland. The second is the
The authorities and scientists divided the contaminated areas into different categories
1-The first area was the nuclear complex itself; the worst and most contaminated of the
radioactive debris was accumulated inside the remaining of the reactor. The reactor itself
was covered with bags with sand, lead, and boric acid thrown off helicopters (around
5,000 tons during the week following the accident). A large concrete sarcophagus was
rapidly erected to seal off the reactor and its contents. The people who were exposed to
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radiation in this area are the staff workers and the liquidators. This group can be divided
into two groups 1- the first group was the people who were on the site of the reactor on
the night of the accident, this group includes the workers and the first responders to
extinguish the fire. These people were exposed with doses of several grays 2-The second
group was the people who were sent to liquidate the site, they worked at the site, in
towns, forests, and agricultural areas to clean these areas from radioactivity.
1-a) About 400 workers on the night of accident were on the site of the Chernobyl power
plant. They were subjected to the combined effect of radiation from several sources: (1)
external gamma/beta radiation from the radioactive cloud, the fragments of the damaged
reactor core scattered over the site and the radioactive particles deposited on the skin, and
All of the dosimeters worn by the workers were over-exposed and did not allow an
estimate of the doses received. Most of these were fire and rescue workers trying to bring
the accident under control, who were not fully aware of how dangerous the radiation
exposure.
However, information is available on the doses received by the 237 persons who were
hospitalized and diagnosed as suffering from acute radiation syndrome; the following
1)140 of these patients received whole-body doses from external irradiation in the range
1-2 Sv,2) 55people received doses between 2 and 4 Sv, 3) 21people received between 4
and 6 Sv, and 4) The remaining 21 people received doses between 6 and 16 Sv.
In addition, it was estimated from thyroid measurements that the thyroid dose from
inhalation would range up to about 20 Gy, with 173 individuals in the 0-1.2 Gy range and
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seven workers with thyroid doses greater than 11 Gy (UN88). Internal exposure of those
workers was mainly due to 131I and shorter-lived radionuclide, the median value of the
ratio of the internal thyroid dose to the external effective dose was estimated to be 0.3 Gy
per Sv. The doses resulting from intakes of other radionuclides were estimated to about
30 mSv for the early months following the accident and 85 mSv for committed dose
(UN00).
People 140 55 21 21
dose 1-2 Sv 2-4 Sv 4-6 Sv 6-16 Sv
Death results 0 1 7 20
Immediate result
Of these liquidators, 31 died (28 of them died from acute radiation exposure). Most of
these were fire and rescue workers trying to bring the accident under control, who were
Eight patients received skin dose in the range of 400-500 Gy. The eight patients had
b- The second group of liquidator was around 400,000 people. These people were
involved in clean-up operations at the reactor and within the 30-km zone surrounding the
reactor over the following years. The workers were all adults mostly males aged 20-45
years
For this group, doses were estimated from area radiation measurements, fortunately, The
registry data show that the average recorded doses in the three national registries of the
contaminated areas decreased from year to year, being about 170 mSv in 1986, 130 mSv
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in 1987, 30 mSv in 1988 and 15 mSv in 1989 (Se95a). It is, however, difficult to assess
the validity of the results as they have been reported since these statistics indicates that
the dose is known for only 52% of workers for the period 1986-1989, and 45% for the
first year, also these doses were reported more higher in previous reports. There was
uncertainty about the doses because of the methods of estimates. for example, 1) many
persons have falsely added their names to the list, even though they were not part of
liquidation, or 2) the dosimeter was incorrectly used, the doses, however, estimated by
physical dose estimate using electron spin resonance (ESR, found to be compatible with
2-Second category of the exposed population is the evacuees from the 30-km zone. The
assessment of the doses received by the evacuees was retrospectively estimated by thirty
thousand responses of the evacuees to questionnaires about the location where they
stayed, the types of houses in which they lived, the consumption of stable iodine, and
other activities (Li94). Those individuals were exposed to external irradiation from
radioactive materials transported by the cloud and deposited on the ground, as well as to
internal irradiation essentially due to the inhalation of radioactive materials in the cloud.
The average effective dose from external irradiation was estimated to be 17 mSv, with
individual values varying from 0.1 to 380 mSv (Li94). This estimate was coincide with
the absorbed dose of 20 mGy estimated by Electron Spin resonance (ESR) measurements
of sugar and exposure rate calculations (Na94). The absorbed dose for this group was
classified into: 1-Thyroid dose, the evacuees were exposed to internal irradiation arising
from 1) inhalation of contaminated air with radionuclides, especially 131I, during the first
weeks and from, 2) Consumption of contaminated foodstuffs, mainly cow's milk. After
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about one month, the cesium’s (134Cs and 137Cs) became predominant, and, after a few
years, 137Cs became the only radionuclide of importance for practical purposes. Thyroid
doses were estimated to have been, about one Gy for small children less than 3 years of
age at the time of the accident, and about 70 mGy for adult. (NEA)
2-Whole-body doses
The whole-body doses to the evacuees were mainly due to external exposure from
deposited 132Te/132I, 134Cs and 137Cs and short-lived radionuclides in the air. Whole-body
doses received from external irradiation prior to evacuation from the 30-km zone showed
In one methodology, the ingestion doses for selected areas within the 30 km were
reconstructed by using many variables. The calculation was performed for milk and leafy
vegetables and 137Cs. the dose varies according to the distance away from the site of
accident. Doses of five selected areas are shown in this table (Conrad et al).
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Area Distan Evacuati Total Extern Inhalation Ingestion dose
Chernobyl 15.2 7 38 6 20 12
3-Third category is those people, who were living outside the 30-km zone,
a) people who were living inside the former Soviet Union, About 270 000 people live
excess of 555 kBq/m2. Of this group are wood industry workers and other workers
living in wood houses received the highest doses. 1- The whole-body doses of the
population in contaminated areas, was received through two pathways: the exposure
to external irradiation from deposited radio nuclides (Iv95) and through the
mainly to the consumption of milk contaminated with 131I and in some cases due to
consumption of fresh contaminated food. Children have received the highest thyroid
doses with a range from negligible levels up to 40 Gy and an average close to one Gy
for children aged up to 7 years old. The whole-body doses for the 1986-1989-time
period were estimated to range from 5.0 to 250 mGy with an average of 40 mGy. In
utero thyroid doses were estimated through newborn in 1986and 1987. In a study in
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250 children, born between may 1986 and February 1987 in Belarus, thyroid doses
were estimated to range up to 4.3 Gy, with 135 children exposed to less than 0.3 Gy,
95 children between 0.3 and 1 Gy, and 20 children with doses greater than 1.Gy
(Ig99).
b) Populations who were living outside the former Soviet Union, The doses received by
populations outside the former Soviet Union were relatively low, and showed large
differences from one country to another depending mainly upon whether rainfall occurred
during the passage of the radioactive cloud. The whole-body doses received during the
first year following the accident generally ranged from 0.05 to 0.5 mGy in Europe, from
0.005 to 0.1 mGy in Asia, and of the order of 0.001 mGy in North America. (UN88).
* a small special group of 672 scientists have worked periodically inside the sarcophagus
for a number of years have initially estimated accumulated whole-body doses in the range
0.5 to 13 Gy (Se95a). Recalculation of the ingested doses for 50 workers, showed that
more than 20% of them received doses between 0.05 and 0.25 Sv and about 5% of them
received doses between 0.25 and 1.5 Sv (Sh97) Additional analysis by mean of FISH
technique for three of them resulted in doses 0.9, 2.0 and 2.7 Sv (Sh00)
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Conclusion
After the Chernobyl reactor accident, the population exposed to radiation from tow main
sources, first, the external sources from deposited radionuclide, inhalation, and second,
from radio-Cesium and Iodine that enters into the body through consumption of food.
The population exposed to radiation following the Chernobyl accident was categorized
(1) The staff of the nuclear power plant and workers who participated in clean-up
operations (referred to as "liquidators"). (2) The nearby residents who were evacuated
from the 30-km zone during the first two weeks after the accident ;( referred as
evacuees), (3) the residents of contaminated areas of the former Soviet Union, and (4) the
1- The most exposed people were the firefighters and the plant staff during the first days
of the accident. Most of the dose received by the workers resulted from external
irradiation from the fuel fragments and radioactive particles deposited on various
surfaces. Twenty-eight people of this group died from acute radiation syndrome.
2-Prior to evacuation, the evacuees were exposed to external irradiation from radioactive
materials transported by the cloud and deposited on the ground, as well as to internal
3-the residents of the contaminated areas, defined as those with 137Cs deposition levels
areas over the following years, have come essentially from external exposure due to
134Cs and 137Cs deposited on the soil and internal exposure due to contamination of
food stuffs by these two isotopes. T132e and Iodine131 played a major role in the first week
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after the accident, and then after one month, the radioactive cesium (134Cs and 137Cs)
4-Populations outside the former Soviet Union received low doses and showed large
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Works Cited
1-(Ba93) M.I. Balonov, Overview of Doses to the Soviet Population from the Chernobyl
Accident and the Protective Actions Applied, the Chernobyl Papers, 1:23-45, Ed. S.E.
3-(Iv95) N.P. Ivanova et al., Population Doses in Russia from Plutonium Fallout
4-(Il87) L.A. Ilyin and A.O. Pavlovskij, Radiological Consequences of the Chernobyl
Accident in the Soviet Union and Measures Taken to Mitigate Their Impact, IAEA
Bulletin 4, 1987.
6-Konrad et al (a new approach to assess the doses to the population in the 30 km-zone
External Gamma Doses of Population Evacuated after the Chernobyl Accident, Health
8-(Me92) F.A. Mettler et al., Administration of Stable Iodine to the Population around
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the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, J. Radiol. Prot., 12(3):159-165, 1992.
9-(Micromedex : http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/drug-information/DR20272143-652,
1994.
10-(Na94). Nakajima, Estimation of absorbed dose to evacuees at Pripyat city using Esr
measurements of sugar and exposure rate calculations. Appl radiat. Isot. 45(1): 113-120
(1994).
13- (Sh97), V.F. Shikalov, A.F. Usatiy, L.V. Kozlova et al. Medical and dosimetric
database for the liquidators from the Kurchatov Institute, International Congress on the
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2000, Report to the general Assembly, with Scientific Annexes. Volume II, Effects.
Livermorehttp://www.llnl.gov/str/Robison22
20-(WNO)www.world-nuclear.org/education/ne/ne6.html
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