PLUTONIUM
D-11
APPENDIX D
stochastic risk when the whole body is uniformly irradiated for occupational exposures under certain
conditions (ICRP 1977). Tissue weighting factors for selected tissues are listed in Table D-4.
The ICRU (1980), ICRP (1984), and NCRP (1985) now recommend
that the rad, roentgen, curie, and rem
be replaced by the SI units: gray (Gy), Coulomb per kilogram (C/kg), Becquerel (Bq), and sievert (Sv),
respectively. The relationship between the customary units and the international system of units (SI) for
radiological quantities is shown in Table D-5.
Table D-4. Tissue Weighting Factors for Calculating Effective Dose
Equivalent and Effective Dose for Selected Tissues
Tissue Weighting factor
Tissue
NCRP115/ ICRP60
NRC/ICRP26
Bladder
0.05
–
Bone
marrow
0.12
0.12
Bone surface
0.01
0.03
Breast
0.05
0.15
Colon
0.12
–
Esophagus
0.05
–
Gonads
0.20
0.25
Liver
0.05
–
Lung
0.12
0.12
Ovary
–
Skin
0.01
–
Stomach
0.12
–
Thyroid
0.05
0.03
Remainder
0.05
0.30
Total
1.00
1.00
ICRP60 = International Commission on Radiological Protection, 1990 Recommendations of the ICRP
NCRP115 = National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. 1993. Risk Estimates for Radiation Protection,
Report 115. Bethesda, Maryland
NRC = Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Title 10, Code
of Federal Regulations, Part 20
PLUTONIUM
D-12
APPENDIX D
Table D-5. Comparison of Common and SI Units for Radiation Quantities
Customary
Quantity
units
Definition
SI units
Definition
Activity (A)
Absorbed dose (D)
Absorbed dose rate
(Ď)
Dose equivalent
(H)
Dose equivalent
rate ()
Effective dose
Equivalent dose
(H)
Linear energy
transfer (LET)
curie (Ci)
3.7x10
10
transformations s
-1
becquerel (Bq)
s
-1
rad (rad)
10
-2
Jkg
-1
gray (Gy)
Jkg
-1
rad per second
(rad s
-1
)
10
-2
Jkg
-1
s
-1
gray per second
(Gy s
-1
)
Jkg
-1
s
-1
rem
10
-2
Jkg
-1
sievert (Sv)
Jkg
-1
rem per second
(rem s
-1
)
10
-2
Jkg
-1
s
-1
sievert per second
(Sv s
-1
)
Jkg
-1
s
-1
rem
10
-2
Jkg
-1
sievert (Sv)
Jkg
-1
rem
10
-2
Jkg
-1
sievert (Sv)
Jkg
-1
kiloelectron volts
1.602x10
-10
Jm
-1
kiloelectron volts
1.602x10
-10
Jm
-1
per micrometer
(keV μm
-1
)
per micrometer
(keV μm
-1
)
Jkg
-1
= Joules per kilogram; Jkg
-1
s
-1
= Joules per kilogram per second; Jm
-1
=
Joules per meter; s
-1
= per second
PLUTONIUM
D-13
APPENDIX D
REFERENCES FOR APPENDIX D
ATSDR. 1990a. Toxicological profile for thorium. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Public Health Service. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Atlanta, GA.
ATSDR. 1990b. Toxicological profile for radium. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Public Health Service. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Atlanta, GA.
ATSDR. 1990c. Toxicological profile for radon. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Public Health Service. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Atlanta, GA.
ATSDR. 1999. Toxicological profile for uranium. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Public Health Service. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Atlanta, GA.
BEIR III. 1980. The effects on populations of exposure to low levels of ionizing radiation. Committee
on the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiations, National Research Council. Washington, DC:
National
Academy Press.
BEIR IV. 1988. Health risks of radon and other internally deposited alpha emitters. Committee on the
Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiations, National Research Council. Washington, DC: National
Academy Press.
BEIR V. 1988. Health effects of exposure to low levels of ionizing radiation.
Committee on the
Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiations, National Research Council. Washington, DC: National
Academy Press.
Brodsky A. 1996. Review of radiation risks and uranium toxicity with application to decisions
associated with decommissioning clean-up criteria. Hebron,Connecticut: RSA Publications.
Cember H. 1996. Introduction to health physics. New York., NY: McGraw Hill.
Early P, Razzak M, Sodee D. 1979. Nuclear medicine technology. 2nd ed. St. Louis: C.V. Mosby
Company.
Eichholz G. 1982. Environmental aspects of nuclear power.
Ann Arbor, MI: Ann Arbor Science.
Hendee W. 1973. Radioactive isotopes in biological research. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons.
Hobbs C, McClellan R. 1986. Radiation and radioactive materials. In: Doull J, et al., eds. Casarett and
Doull's Toxicology. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 497-530.
ICRP. 1977. International Commission on Radiological Protection.
Recommendations of the
International Commission on Radiological Protection. ICRP Publication 26. Vol 1. No. 3. Oxford:
Pergamon Press.
ICRP. 1979. International Commission on Radiological Protection. Limits for intakes of radionuclides
by workers. ICRP Publication 20. Vol. 3. No. 1-4. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
ICRP. 1979. Limits for Intakes of Radionuclides by Workers. Publication 30. International
Commission on Radiological Protection. Pergamon Press.