Institute of Radiation Protection

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Institute of Radiation Protection, Working Group Risk Analysis

Projects

Mechanistic modeling of cancer occurence in the Southern Urals

Funding institution: BMU/BfS
Code: St.Sch. 4479
Duration: 1.6.2005-30.6.2008
Scientific personel: M. Eidemüller, R. Meckbach and P. Jacob
Partner institutions: Urals Center of Radiation Medicine, Chelyabinsk and Southern Urals Biophysics Institute, Ozyorsk, Russia

Project description:

In this project the cohorts of population living along the contaminated Techa river and of workers of the Majak production facility in the South Urals are analyzed. The extended Techa river cohort comprises 30000 individuals which were exposed in the early 1950s to liquid radioactive wastes from plutonium production. The Mayak workers cohort comprises 22000 individuals which were exposed at their working places mainly to inhalated plutonium and to external radiation. The radiation exposure was reconstructed for each individual, allowing for an analysis of the radiation induced cancer risk at low and intermediate doses. Improved models of carcinogenesis are developed and radiobiological effects analyzed within this context.

RISC-RAD

Funding institution: EU
Duration: 1.1.2004-29.2.2008
Scientific personel: W. Friedland
Partner institutions: CEA, France (Coordinator) and 27 more partners in 11 European Coutries

Link: RISC-RAD

Project description:

Radiation protection requires a thorough understanding of low dose ionizing radiation. Currently extrapolation from high doses is necessary to estimate the effects of low doses. Furthermore, it is critically important to have an appreciation of the variation in individual responses to radiation among the human population. Present estimates of the risks from radiation exposure are based largely on the "average" individual in an exposed population. However, clinical observations of adverse reactions to radiotherapy indicate large variations in individual radiosensitivity. Quantification of risk requires the identification of new parameters taking into account these differences in radiation responses. Therefore, a detailed knowledge of the mechanisms by which radiation induces cancer is essential.
In this project, leading European research teams join competences to understand the various steps involved in the multistage process of radiation-induced tumorigenesis and to answer the following specific questions:

  • Who is at risk?
  • What are the mechanisms through which risk factors act?
  • When do the factors modifying risk exert their influence?
  • Is there a link between radiosensitivity of individuals (short term) and susceptibility to cancer (late after exposure) ?

We stress that the identification of genetic variables in the processing of radiation induced DNA damage is vital for re-evaluation of current radio-protective measures and the development of future protective procedures.

SOUL

Link: SOUL

Project description:

The aim of the SOUL project is to quantify risks of late health effects associated with low-dose rate exposure to plutonium, strontium and external gamma radiation. This will be done by improving, updating and analysing dosimetric and health data for the Mayak worker cohort (MWC), the extended Techa River cohort (ETRC) and the Techa River offspring cohort (TROC).

Key dosimetric elements include electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements of tooth enamel, photon spectra measurements, luminescence measurements of absorbed doses in bricks, measurements of strontium distributions in teeth, fluorescence in-situ hybridisation (FISH) measurements of chromosome aberrations, and modelling of internal doses of foetuses and infants. The dosimetric work aims to produce updated dose data bases Mayak Doses 2008 and Techa Doses 2008.

In order to increase statistical precision and validity, the number of individuals in the cohorts will be extended, and information on vital status and cause of death will be updated. In the TROC, cancer and cardiovascular disorders will be studied as late health effects following exposure early in life. Non-cancer effects will be studied in the ETRC. The pathogenesis of lung cancer in the MWC will be studied in order to improve the current knowledge. The MWC will be used to study cancer incidence, and mortality and morbidity of circulatory diseases such as myocardial infarction and stroke. In the studies, initial feasibility analyses will be followed if affirmative - by analyses that are based on longer follow-up and dosimetric data bases improved within the framework of SOUL.

Although SOUL is expected to give significant input to the understanding of radiation risks, Southern Urals radiation risk research has to be continued beyond the project mainly because a longer follow-up is needed to fully quantify lifetime risks. Part of the work in SOUL is dedicated to supporting such future analyses.

A large part of the funds requested is allocated for emerging and existing gaps within the Southern Urals radiation risk research.

SOUL is an integrated, multi-disciplinary project with an active participation of dosimetrists, operational health physicists, statisticians and epidemiologists. The research is fully coordinated with work being carried out in the Russian-American collaboration.

Retrospective Dosimetry for the population in emergency situations

Funding institution: BMU/BfS
Code: St.Sch. 4560
Duration: 1.09.2007-31.08.2010
Scientific personel: C. Woda, I. Fiedler, N. Semioshkina und A. Ulanovski

Project description:

There is a growing public concern about the accidental release of radionuclides into the environment through accidents in nuclear power plants, transport accidents and terrorist attacks with 'dirty bombs' (dispersion of radionuclides through the blast of conventional explosives). The dispersion of radionuclides by terrorist attacks aims, next to the direct destruction of human life and real assets, at causing panic in order to disrupt socio-economic structures.

In such large-scale emergency situations means of rapidly assessing the absorbed dose of exposed individuals are highly desirable. Such a retrospective assessment of doses can be achieved by luminescence measurements on suitable exposed materials.

This project thus aims at identifying and characterizing materials that are ubiquitously available and posses appropriate radiation sensitivity for use as emergency dosimeters. Such materials include chip cards, RFID's and electronic components in portable electronic devices (e.g. mobile phones, black berry handhelds, MP3 players etc.). Measurement protocols are to be developed which allow the estimation of individual doses above 10 mGy within one day. The radiation sensitivity in dependence of the photon energy is to be determined experimentally for the most adequate components.

In a second part of the project luminescence detectors are to be developed which can be placed in public buildings and places and for which doses above 10 mGy can be read out in one day. The radiation sensitivity in dependence of the photon energy is to be determined experimentally for the detector. A software program is to be developed which estimates the doses and uncertainties for exposed parts of the population, based on the measured doses from the TLD's, the meteorological conditions, the orography, the level of urbanisation and the incident spectrum of radionuclides. Case studies for two incidents (accident in a nuclear power plant and explosion of a 'dirty bomb') and different combinations of influencing parameters are to be calculated and the results presented to the BfS.

EURANOS

Project full name: European initiative to enhance our radiation emergency management and rehabilitation
Project Coordinator: Wolfgang Raskob, FZK
Funding institution: 6th Framework Programme of the European Commission
Scientific personel: C. Kaiser
Duration: 5 years, starting from April 2004
Partner institutions in work packages with GSF participation: HPA (U.K.), Risoe (DK), BfS (D), FZK (D)

Project description:

The multi-national EURANOS project integrates 17 national emergency management organisations with 33 research institutes. It brings together best practice, knowledge and technology to enhance the preparedness for Europe′s response to any radiation emergency and long term rehabilitation. The project is divided into three R&D ′Categories′ and a set of ′Demonstration′ activities. The R&D ′Categories′ are focused on

  1. emergency actions and countermeasures
  2. enhancement of decision support systems for operational application
  3. rehabilitation strategies and guidance.

Within the 2nd category GSF is leading the work package on ′Development and integration of inhabited area models′ and participates in the work package ′Food chain and agricultural countermeasures′.

For more than 20 years the GSF - Institute of Radiation Protection has actively developed radio-ecological models to assess the impact of nuclear emergencies. The aim of these models is to provide the ′best picture′ for decision making to avert health risks arising from external exposure by deposited aerosols and internal exposure through the food chain. The latest model generation, which is further developed in the EURANOS project, can integrate both measurement data and model results via data assimilation to improve the predictive power. At GSF the main activity is the new development of the Inhabited Areas Monitoring Module (IAMM), which will map the radioactive contamination in inhabited areas, where the dose rate is strongly influenced by the actual environment.

ERICA

Link: ERICA

Project description:

Radiation protection has traditionally focused in the last decades on the protection of man. However, the limitation to the consideration of the radiation exposure to humans is being increasingly questioned and the need for a sound scientific basis to assess and evaluate radiation exposures to flora and fauna, from both natural and artificial radionuclides is now recognised.

Within the ERICA project, an approach is developed to address scientific, managerial and societal issues concerned with the environmental effects of contaminants emitting ionising radiation, with emphasis on biota and ecosystems. The outcome of the project will allow the assessment and management of environmental risks from ionising radiation. This involves detailed consideration of:

  • Development of dosimetric models that enable the assessment of internal and external exposures of terrestrial and aquatic biota.
  • Development of models to estimate activity concentrations in aquatic and terrestrial reference animals and plants.
  • Investigation of the relationship between exposure to biota and possible effects. The activities are focused on four effect categories as morbidity, mortality, reduced reproductive success and mutation.
  • Development of an assessment tool that integrates assessment and evaluation of exposures to biota.

For application of the assessment tool, science-based managerial guidance, including methodologies for stakeholder involvement in assessments will be provided taking into account the feedback of possible end-users representing a range of different societal and scientific interests, who follow the project from its beginning.

NOTE

Funding institution: EU
Duration: 1.9.2006-31.8.2010
Scientific personel: W. Friedland
Partner institutions: STUK, Finland (Coordinator) and 17 more partners in 8 European countries and Canada

Link: NOTE

Project description:

The universality of the target theory of radiation-induced effects is challenged by observations on non-targeted effects such as bystander effects, genomic instability and adaptive response. Essential features of non-targeted effects are that they do not require direct nuclear exposure by radiation and they are particularly significant at low doses. This new evidence suggests a need for a new paradigm in radiation biology.

A better understanding of non-targeted effects may have important consequences for health risk assessment and, consequently, on radiation protection.

The general objectives of the NOTE (Non-targeted Effects of Ionizing Radiations) project are:

  • to investigate the mechanism of non-targeted effects, in particular, bystander effects, genomic instability and adaptive response;
  • to investigate if and how non-targeted effects modulate the cancer risk in the low dose region, and whether they relate to protective or harmful functions;
  • to investigate in ionising radiation can cause non-cancer diseases or beneficial effects at low and intermediate doses;
  • to investigate individual susceptibility and other factors modifying non-targeted responses;
  • to assess the relevance of non-targeted effects for radiation protection and to set the scientific basis for a modern, more realistic, radiation safety system;
  • to contribute to the conceptualisation of a new paradigm in radiation biology that would cover both the classical direct (DNA-targeted) and non-targeted (indirect) effects.