LUNG-CANCER RISK DUE TO EXPOSURE TO INCORPORATED PLUTONIUM

An epidemiological study has been carried out among 1,479 male workers who started working at the ''Mayak'' Production Association in 1948-1 958 and were exposed to external gamma radiation and plutonium aerosol s. Lung cancer mortality for the follow-up period 1948-1993 has been a nalyzed. No statistically significant association of lung cancer morta lity and external gamma-ray dose has been revealed in the range of acc umulated doses of 0.2-5.5 Gy. Association of lung cancer mortality and the dose of alpha-particle radiation to the lung is statistically sig nificant. In the dose range below 30 Sv, this association can be descr ibed in terms of a linear nonthreshold function. Lifetime lung cancer risk in the dose range below 30 Sv is 1.21 x 10(-2) Sv(-1). (C) 1998 b y Radiation Research Society.