Modelling of radiation effects in marine organisms

Background and Objective

In 2008, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) introduced its own radiation protection scheme for the environment. For this purpose, reference animals and plants (RAP) were defined. The list of RAPs includes deer, rat, duck, bee, worm, pine, and grass for the terrestrial environment; trout, flatfish, crab, frog, and seaweed for the aquatic environment. ICRP Publication 108 presented computational models for all RAPs that were used to calculate the absorbed fraction and corresponding dose coefficients for 75 radionuclides.Based on the simplicity with which the initial models calculated/estimated radiation effects on humans, all models for RAPs were defined with simple, mostly ellipsoidal bodies. This simplistic approach is very effective in terms of time, labor, and cost savings in application, but undermines the anatomical accuracy of dosimetric calculations.In this project, we will develop anatomically detailed models for marine reference species. These will allow improvement of dose estimation.

Approach

We develop anatomically detailed mathematical models for marine reference species. Together with Monte Carlo codes for ionizing particle transport, dose conversion coefficients are calculated for typical exposure scenarios.

Data and Methods

The results will be in the form of dose conversion coefficients that can be used to estimate the dose to marine species in typical exposure scenarios.

Our Research Questions

• How can the estimation of radiation dose in marine species be improved?
• How can the uncertainty of dose estimation in marine species be reduced?
• Are marine species protected?

Preliminary Results

The first model for a fish eye lens as been successefully concluded and published. The results show that in the Baltic, the Cs-137 activities dont present anny risk for the Baltic fish vision. 
In case of an accidental release of radionulids, the calculated conversion coefficients can be rapidly used for new estimation of the risk.

New models for other organs and species are being planned.

Determination of dose conversion coefficients that allow us to have a realistic estimation of the dose for reference marine species.