RADIOLOGICAL EFFECTS AFTER INHALATION OF HIGHLY RADIOACTIVE FUEL-PARTICLES PRODUCED BY THE CHERNOBYL ACCIDENT

A short review is presented of the results of long-standing research i nto the hot particles released into the environment after the Chernoby l accident, and their radiobiological significance. Due to the lack of direct measurements of hot particles in the lung, a conceptual method , has been developed to estimate integral lung intake from measurement s of soil contamination. The significance of the beta component of the radiation from hot particles has been reconsidered because this compo nent may give rise to preconditions for oncogenic effects. A modificat ion factor F has been introduced, which is defined as the ratio of ave rage risks for different conditions of irradiation. It is shown that l inear dose-effect models give the same results for uniform and point i rradiation. Over the dose range 0.1 to 2 Gy it was found that a hot pa rticle gives a higher risk of oncogenic detriment than the correspondi ng uniform dose distribution (F > 1). The corresponding modification f actor shows a maximum value of 5 at similar to 0.6 Gy.