Radiation Health Physics to Assure Radiation Safety and Protection of the Public and Personnel: Case Study of the SRC-FMBC

Purpose: To describe, based on our original innovative developments, the role of radiation health physics in assuring radiation safety and protection of a) the public living near operating, decommissed and remediated radiation hazardous facilities and sites; and b) nuclear wor- kers .

Material and methods: The objects of the study included radiation hazardous facilities at different stages of the life cycle (operating, decommissioned, remediated), nuclear and uranium legacy sites, where samples of environmental and marine media (water, soil, vegetation, algae, bottom sediments) were collected, as well as local foodstuffs and drinking water. The samples were examined using dosimetric, radiometric, gamma-spectrometric and radiochemical methods. When studying the health status of the public living in the vicinity of these facilities, methods of radiation epidemiology were used, supplemented by our original innovative development of the health assessment.

Results: The conducted long-term studies allowed not only characterizing the facilities and sites under study, but also identification the features of the spatial and temporal distribution of radioactive materials including at the nuclear legacy sites. The presence of large volumes of artificially contaminated soils has been detected, which in some cases are classified as radioactive waste in terms of their activity values. It has been shown that man-made contamination spreads into ground waters as well as into local areas of coastal marine waters. The results of public health monitoring allow us to state that radiation hazardous facilities in Russia are operating safely. Five innovative hardware, methodological and dosimetric complexes have been created to support radiation safety of workers.

Conclusions: The radiation health physics is the radiation safety science developed by some generations of scientists and professionals of the SRC-FMBC. Today, this science helps to support the whole cycle of medical and health physics safety of nuclear workers and the public living in the areas affected by nuclear facilities – from the science based development to its implementation in practice.

The interdisciplinary approach implemented in the SRC-FMBC helps to comprehensively solve many difficult tasks of radiation safety and protection of the public and workers.