State Scientific Center of the Russian Federation — Federal Medical Biophysical Center Named after A.I. Burnazyan of FMBA of Russia: 75 Years on Guard of People's Health

The article presents the history of creation, formation and development of the State Scientific Center of the Russian Federation — Federal Medical Biophysical Center named after A.I. Burnazyan of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of Russia (A.I. Burnazyan Federal Biophysical Center, the Center). The Institute of Biophysics of USSR Ministry of Health and Clinical Hospital № 6, predecessors of the Center, were engaged in the elimination of medical and sanitary consequences of Chernobyl Radiation Accident (1986). The main directions of activities of the A.I. Burnazian Federal Medical Biophysical Center — the flagship institution of Russian health care in the field of biophysics, radiation and nuclear medicine are considered. The perspectives of scientific activity of the Center related to solving actual problems of modern radiobiology, radiation safety and biomedical technologies are outlined. It is concluded that it is expedient to create the Disaster Medicine Service of the Federal Medical and Biomedical Agency of Russia.

METHOD FOR ESTIMATING THE MEASURED EXPOSURE RATE OVER THE THYROID CORRESPONDING TO CERTAIN LEVELS OF THE ABSORBED DOSE IN THE THYROID FOR THE PUBLIC IN THE EARLY PERIOD AFTER A LARGE RADIATION ACCIDENT

In case of a large radiation accident at the nuclear power station the most important radiation hazard for the public is internal exposure to the thyroid from radioiodine. The IAEA standard published in 2013 and accounting the experience of the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents, recommends that, in the first 1-6 days after an inhalation intake of radioiodine the exposure rate over the thyroid be measured for the public and be guided by the following operational criteria: (a) 0.5 μSv · h-1 for children under the age of 7 years, and (b) 2 μSv ·h-1 for children over 7 years and adults. These operational criteria are indicative estimates corresponding to the dose range 100–200 mGy in the thyroid for all age groups. However, a wider range of thyroid doses and a more detailed breakdown of children into five age groups according to the recommendations of the ICRP are of interest. The purpose of this paper is to develop a method for estimating the values of the measured exposure rate over the thyroid corresponding to certain levels of the absorbed dose in the thyroid for members of the public of different ages for various conditions of inhalation of radioiodine intake and times of measurement in the early period after a radiation accident. According to the method developed in the paper for the committed absorbed dose 100-200 mGy in the thyroid the exposure rates over the thyroid were calculated depending upon the time of inhalation intake after the accident and the time span between the moment of intake and the moment of measurement, which were equal to: 0.6– 4 μSv ·h-1 - for children of 1 year and 4–27 μSv · h-1 – for adults. These values are significantly higher than those recommended by the IAEA Standard 0.5 μSv · h-1 and 2 μSv · h-1, respectively. It is important to stress that the IAEA recommendations provide conservative estimates of the measured exposure rate over the thyroid in order to maximize the coverage of critical group of the public for further dosimetric and medical examination. For example, for some options of the time of radioiodine inhalation intake and the time of measurement, the IAEA recommended the values of the exposure rate over the thyroid that can lead to an overestimation of the absorbed dose in the thyroid gland by a factor of up to 10.

The design of X-band EPR cavity with narrow detection aperture for in vivo fingernail dosimetry after accidental exposure to ionizing radiation

For the purpose of assessing the radiation dose of the victims involved in the nuclear emergency or radiation accident, a new type of X-band EPR resonant cavity for in vivo fingernail EPR dosimetry was designed and a homemade EPR spectrometer for in vivo fingernail detection was constructed. The microwave resonant mode of the cavity was rectangular TE101, and there was a narrow aperture for fingernail detection opened on the cavity’s wall at the position of high detection sensitivity. The DPPH dot sample and the fingernail samples were measured based on the in vivo fingernail EPR spectrometer. The measurements of the DPPH dot sample verified the preliminary functional applicable of the EPR spectrometer and illustrated the microwave power and modulation response features. The fingernails after irradiation by gamma-ray were measured and the radiation-induced signal was acquired. The results indicated that the cavity and the in vivo EPR dosimeter instrument was able to detect the radiation-induced signal in irradiated fingernail, and preliminarily verified the basic function of the instrument and its potential for emergency dose estimate after a radiation accident.