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. 2022 Aug 13;63(Supplement_1):i54-i60.
doi: 10.1093/jrr/rrac029.

Estimation of 'dose-depth' profile in the surface layers of a quartz-containing tile from the former Hiroshima University building indicates the possible presence of beta-irradiation from residual radioactivity after A-bombing

Valeriy Stepanenko  1 , Andrey Kaprin  2 , Sergey Ivanov  1 , Peter Shegay  2 , Hitoshi Sato  3 , Shin Toyoda  4 , Noriyuki Kawano  5 , Nariaki Fujimoto  6 , Satoru Endo  7 , Viktoria Bogacheva  1 , Timofey Kolyzhenkov  1 , Artem Khailov  1 , Kassym Zhumadilov  8 , Aidana Zhumalina  8 , Dana Yerimbetova  8 , Masaharu Hoshi  6
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Estimation of 'dose-depth' profile in the surface layers of a quartz-containing tile from the former Hiroshima University building indicates the possible presence of beta-irradiation from residual radioactivity after A-bombing

Valeriy Stepanenko et al. J Radiat Res. .

Abstract

The problem of differentiating between primary irradiation and exposure due to residual radioactivity following A-bombing (including beta-exposure), is the subject of special attention and discussions in order to understand the health effects following the Hiroshima and Nagasaki A-bombings, especially among newcomers to cities soon after the detonations. In this work, the method of single quartz grain luminescence retrospective dosimetry was applied for a retrospective estimation of the 'dose-depth' profile in a quartz-containing tile extracted from the building of former Hiroshima University (HU), which was a 'witness' of the Hiroshima atomic bombing on the 6 August 1945. It has been shown that results of retrospective estimates of the 'dose-depth' profile using the method of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) from inclusions of quartz grains in very thin layers of the sample, in combination with the calculations of the 'dose-depth' profile using the Monte Carlo method, indicates the possible presence of beta irradiation of thin layers of the sample located near the surface of the tile facing the air, where there is no electronic equilibrium from gamma radiation.

Keywords: A-bombing; Hiroshima; beta-irradiation; depth-dose profile in quartz-containing samples; optically-stimulated retrospective luminescence dosimetry; residual radioactivity.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Results of OSL measurements of accumulated absorbed dose (D, mGy) of gamma-beta irradiation (vertical axis) vs the depth in the analyzed sample (mm, horizontal axis). The background dose has been subtracted. Sample: roof tile from the former building of HU. Point ‘0’ on the horizontal axis corresponds to the surface of the tile facing the air.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Results of the Monte-Carlo calculation of the ‘dose-depth’ profile in the layers of the studied tile. D—absorbed dose, in mGy. Depth in the tile is indicated on horizontal axis (mm). Point ‘0’ on horizontal axis corresponds to the surface of the tile facing the air.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Comparison between the results of OSL measurements (filled diamonds) of the accumulated absorbed dose (D, mGy) and those obtained by the Monte-Carlo calculation of the ‘dose-depth’ profile in the layers of tile (filled squares); both versus the depth in the analyzed sample (mm, horizontal axis).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Results of measurements of the ‘dose-depth’ profile in assemblies of Al2O3:C crystals irradiated by beta-particles from a 90Sr/90Y source. Vertical axis–dose (relative units). Horizontal axis–depth (mm) in assemblies of Al2O3:C crystals.
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