Re: Russian Criticality accident

[Andy Hull <hull@mail.sep.bnl.gov>]

If I recall correctly, the unfortunate victim of a criticality accident many
years ago at an enriched uranium waste recovery facility at Wood River,
Rhode Island  received a dose of about 5,000 rad.  The incident happened
early of a Sunday evening and he died shortly after arriving at a Providence
hospital (some 50 miles away) at about midnight.

Andy Hull
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Upton,NY 11973
516-344-4210


At 10:05 AM 6/25/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Radsafers:
>
>Table 15.1 in "The Health Physics and Radiological
>Health Handbook", p. 602, notes that for the 'Acute
>Radiation Syndrome', 'Nervous System' effects are
>expected 'above 50 Gy'.
>
>In this case, where transient incapacitation seems
>to have been indicated, 5,000 rads would be possible.
>A better reference, discussing such issues as
>transient compared with permanent incapacitation as
>a function of whole body dose, would be "Military
>Radiobiology" by Jim Conklin and Richard Walker.
>
>In my opinion, the rapid onset of death while
>undergoing "heroic" medical intervention procedures
>indicates substantially more than 5,000 rad whole body 
>dose (possibly greater than 10,000 rad partial
>body dose, including the brain).  This assumes
>the 42 year old victim was in generally good health
>and that no combined injury parameters, such as trauma
>from burns/explosive forces/projectiles occurred at the
>accident scene.
>
>S.,
>
>MikeG.
>
>At 09:03 AM 6/25/97 -0500, you wrote:
>>At 08:25 1997-06-25 -0500, you wrote:
>>>
>>>Boyd Rose has made the comment that the report of the accident contains
>>>some interesting statements. One further one is the reported dose of 600
>>>roentgens of neutron radiation. ...
>
>
>Michael P. Grissom
>Asst Dir (ES&H)
>SLAC
>Phone: (415) 926-2346
>Fax:   (415) 926-3030
>E-mail: mikeg@slac.stanford.edu
>
>