Radiological Terrorism
REB’s Research Program on Radiological and Nuclear Threats is conducted in the framework of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) biodefense research initiative. Dosimetry studies are the largest component of the REB program, having several goals that include developing, improving and testing methods to improve dose assessments from radioactive fallout and from radioactive materials released to the environment from accidents or damaged nuclear facilities. In this context, development implies refining, testing, and improving established analytic dose assessment methods, as well as testing the viability of some completely new measurement-based techniques.
Current dosimetry studies include:
- Improvement or development of biodosimetry: use of human tooth enamel for retrospective dose estimation by means of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) techniques.
- Radionuclide Studies: Environmental Transfer, Metabolism, and Countermeasure Effectiveness.
Fallout Studies: Developing a Worldwide Database on Contamination and Improving Dose Estimation Techniques for application to studies in Kazakhstan and in the Marshall Islands.
- Chornobyl-Based Studies: Expanding Knowledge About Low-Dose Exposures Following Destruction of Nuclear Facilities
In addition to dosimetry studies, the REB’s research program on radiological terrorism includes activities in the areas of epidemiology, risk assessment, and training.
Epidemiological studies
The findings from REB’s epidemiological studies (including cancer and other serious health outcomes) of the atomic bomb survivors, and in population groups exposed to fallout from the Chornobyl accident and from nuclear weapons tests in Kazakhstan provide valuable information about late effects following radiological terrorist events in young persons and in persons of all ages. The epidemiological studies in Chornobyl and Kazakhstan will provide risk estimates for cancer and other chronic diseases following exposure to fallout.
Uncertainty of risk
Sources of uncertainty in risk estimation are identified and evaluated.
Train younger scientists
Expertise in radiation epidemiology and dosimetry is limited, and experts in radiation sciences are increasingly retiring. A major emphasis of REB’s efforts is to train a new generation of younger scientists in radiation epidemiology, dosimetry, and statistics.
Kazakhstan Study
Chornobyl Studies
Radiation Epidemiology Course
