Completed Projects in the Russian Health Studies Program
Completed Direction 1 Population Studies Under the JCCRER
Project 1.2a: Data Preservation and Scanning
Principal Investigators:
R.F.: Nikolai Startsev, Urals Research Center for Radiation
Medicine
U.S.: Donna Cragle, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education
Description: This was a data preservation/records
management project focused on establishing a document imaging
system at URCRM for preserving valuable medical records of
residents of the Southern Urals region exposed to radiation
due to the operations at Mayak and environmental releases
from there. These documents contain information from 1951
to the present with details on medical examinations, individual
dose measurements, addresses, causes of death, and other data
necessary for epidemiologic studies and dose reconstruction.
Results: Computer scanning equipment was installed.
Scanning, verification, indexing, and creation of a computer
database of the scanned documents were completed.
Date completed: September 2005.
Completed Direction 2 Worker Studies Under the JCCRER
Project 2.1: Metabolism and
Dosimetry of Plutonium Industrial Compounds
Principal Investigators:
R.F.: Valentin
Khokhryakov, Southern Urals Biophysics Institute
U.S.: Ronald
E. Filipy, Washington State University Tri-Cities
Brief Description: This project was the first collaborative
dosimetric project between scientists of the two countries.
The project began as a one-year feasibility study to compare
the two autopsy programs and progressed to a five-year project
with the objective of combining and jointly analyzing the
actinide metabolism data collected by the two registries:
the Dosimetric Registry of the Mayak Production Association
(DRMPA) and the United States Transuranium and Uranium Registries
(USTUR). The first priority task of the feasibility study
involved a series of sample exchanges to verify that no systematic
differences were present in the analytical results obtained
by both Registries. The results of the laboratory intercomparisons
led to the conclusion that the data accumulated by both registries
are reliable, correct, and can be used in joint investigations
of actinide metabolism in humans. The primary objective of
Phase 2 of Project 2.1 was to combine the data accumulated
by both registries, create a joint database, and perform a
mutual analysis of the unique information regarding the metabolism
and dosimetry of plutonium and americium in the human body.
Results to date: High priority tasks involving the
metabolism study and biokinetic modeling were begun during
the project. The first important dosimetric finding was made
regarding the systemic distribution of plutonium and 241-Am
in humans: liver diseases were shown to affect the distribution
of plutonium in the body, suggesting a translocation of the
actinides from the liver to the skeleton. A comparative analysis
of the SUBI lung model used at Mayak for dose assessment with
the ICRP 66 model showed an advantage of the SUBI dosimetric
lung model after long periods (10 and more years) of inhalation.
The SUBI laboratory has since obtained modern instrumentation
and reagents and updated radiochemical methods. The whole
body counter from the Rocky Flats Plant became operational
for measurements of actinides body burden in the Mayak workers.
Date completed: March 2000
Project 2.3: The Deterministic
Effects of Occupational Exposure (Funded by the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission)
Principal Investigators:
R.F.: Nadezda
Okladnikova, Southern Urals Biophysics Institute
U.S.: Niel Wald, University
of Pittsburgh
Brief Description: The main aim of this project was
to validate the current dose-response models for acute exposure
and develop new dose-response models for chronic exposure
to external gamma rays and/or incorporated Pu-239.
Results to date: The study resulted in the development
and establishment of the clinical-dosimetry database for 591
Mayak workers. This database included demographic, medical,
and dosimetry information for 60 cases of acute radiation
syndrome (ARS), 207 cases of chronic radiation sickness (CRS),
121 cases of plutonium pneumosclerosis, and 209 workers, who
were not diagnosed with an occupational disease (control group).
The procedure of performing quality control of the database
was developed and carried out to compare the completeness
and correspondence of the primary data with the information
contained in the database. A code book containing the guidance
for coding the primary data was prepared. A library, including
"clear" standard data sets, was created. A data access agreement
was developed. The database includes data for more than 17,500
person-years of follow-up and consists of more than 3.5 million
individual data points. Vital status is known for 90.4% of
the workers. Individually measured external gamma doses are
available for 93.7% of the workers, and doses of internal
exposure are available for 32.5% of the workers who were exposed
to Pu-239 aerosols.
For more details, please refer to the following publications
in English:
- Claycamp HG, Sussman NB, Okladnikova ND, Azizova TV, Pesternikova
VS, Sumina MV, Teplyakov II. Classification of Chronic radiation
sickness cases using neural networks and classification
trees. Health Phys. 2001 Nov; 81(5): 522-529
- Claycamp HG, Sussman NB, Okladnikova ND, Azizova TV, Pesternikova
VS, Sumina MV, Teplyakov II. Classification of Chronic radiation
sickness cases using neural networks and classification
trees. Health Phys. 2001 Nov; 81(5): 522-529
- Scott BR, Lyzlov AF, Osovets SV. Evaluating the risk of
death via the hematopoietic syndrome mode for prolonged
exposure of nuclear workers to radiation delivered at very
low rates. Health Phys. 1998 May; 74(5): 545-53
- Okladnikova ND, Pesternikova VS, Sumina MV, Doshchenko
VN. Occupational diseases from radiation exposure at the
first nuclear plant in the USSR. Sci Total Environ. 1994
Mar 1; 142(1-2): 9-17
- Okladnikova ND, Claycamp HG, Azizova TV, Belyaeva ZD,
Pesternikova VS, Scott BR, Sumina MV, Teplyakov II, Boecker
BB, Vasilenko EK, Khokhryakov VF, Fevralyov AN, Schekhter-Levin
S, Wald N. Deterministic effects of occupational radiation
exposures in some workers of the first atomic plant. Medical
Radiology and Radiation Safety, 2001; 46(6): 84-93
Date completed: May 2002.
Project 2.9: Database Integration
Principal Investigators:
R.F.: Sergey Romanov, Southern Urals Biophysics Institute
and Evgeny Vasilenko, Mayak
U.S.: Eric Grant, Radiation Effects Research Foundation
Brief Description: The fundamental goal of this project
was to improve the quality and accessibility of the data needed
for studies of radiation health effects and dosimetry in Mayak
workers and the Ozersk population carried out by SUBI researchers
and their collaborators. This project was developed to combine
databases located in four different laboratories of two Russian
organizations so as to facilitate researcher access to data.
Much of this work has been accomplished through the creation
of a unified relational database that serves as the source
of primary data required for the radiation effects research
studies along with the development of easy-to-use tools for
accessing these data in formats needed by researchers. Efforts
included:
- The continued development of the data access tools with particular
emphasis on implementing requested features based on user feedback;
- Incorporation of additional data that has been identified for
inclusion into the unified database;
- Development of quality assurance and quality control procedures
for data contained in the unified database; and
- Technical support and administration of the existing database.
Results to date: Prior to the development of the unified
database, each of the four Russian laboratories involved in
studies of the Mayak worker and offspring cohorts independently
collected and organized their data in a manner unsuited for
joint studies. This project has led to significant progress
toward creating a unified, shared database in which each participating
group contributes and takes responsibility for the maintenance
and documentation for those data for which they have particular
expertise.
Date completed: September 2005.
Direction
3: Information Technologies and Decision Making Support
for Radiation Accidents and Health Effects from Radiation
Exposure
Under this direction, a United States-Russian Federation
Workshop on Responses to Radiation Accidents was conducted
in November 1996. Additionally, Dr. Vince McClelland of DOE's
Office of Nonproliferation and National Security is leading
new United States-Russian Joint efforts in Emergency Response.
Brief Description: The objective of Direction 3 is
to identify further areas of collaborative research in the
fields of accident consequence management and to facilitate
joint exercises.
This page was last updated on February 14, 2008
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