External dose estimates for Dolon village: application of the U.S./Russian joint methodology

Abstract

Methods to estimate external dose from radioactive fallout from nuclear tests have for many years depended on two types of data: measurements of exposure rate in air and an empirically derived power function to describe the change in exposure rate with time, Over the last four years, a working group with American and Russian participation has developed a bi-national joint methodology that offers an improved capability for estimating external dose. In this method, external dose is estimated using exposure rate functions derived from data from American nuclear tests similar in construction to SNTS (Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site) devices. For example, in this paper, we derive doses for test #1 (August 29, 1949) at the SNTS using an exposure rate function for the U.S. TRINITY test. For the case of test #1, the average external dose for a person in Dolon is estimated to have been about 0.5 Gy compared to 1 to 2 Gy estimated in other work. This prediction agrees better with reported EPR measurements in teeth from village residents and with measurements of TL signals in bricks from Dolon buildings. This report presents the basic elements of the joint methodology model for estimation of external dose received from SNTS fallout.