Radiation Protection Dosimetry Vol. 111, No. 1 © Oxford University Press 2004; all rights reserved
A case study of the long-term retention of 137Cs after inhalation of high temperature reactor fuel element ash

Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, S, D-52425 Jülich, Germany
* Corresponding author: m.schlaeger{at}fz.juelich.de
In 1987, a worker was internally contaminated with 137Cs as a result of an accident during the handling of high temperature reactor fuel element ash. In the long-term follow-up monitoring an unusual retention behaviour was found. The observed time dependence of caesium retention does not agree with the standard models of ICRP Publication 30. The present case can be better explained by assuming an intake of a mixture of type F and type S compounds. However, experimental data can be best described by a four-exponential retention function with two long-lived components, which was used as an ad hoc model for dose calculation. The resulting dose is compared with doses calculated on the basis of ICRP Publication 66.