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USTUR 0679: Los Alamos — Inhalation — 239Pu — Not Chelated
Intake
This registrant worked as a health protection worker in a plutonium facility from 1946 to 1952 and plutonium chemical operator from 1952 to 1981. He was involved in five known incidents during this time.
1951: The registrant had high nasal swipes: 468/157 cpm. The cause of the high count is unknown. The air count was 0.0030 cpm/L and the registrant was wearing a respirator.
1951: Hanford skull material caught on fire when reagent was added to the pot in the skull dissolver Drybox.
1952: The sight glass was forced off of an evaporator and contaminated Pu solution spread throughout the room.
1958: Approximately 1 to 5 gallons of plutonium solution in hydrochloric acid were spilled on the floor. The glass had broken and the acid corroded a hole through the steel casing on a glass-lined, steam-jacketed evaporator. When steam was turned into the jacket, the solution was heated and blew out of the hole.
1968: The registrant punctured the distal portion of the left index finger on a metal sliver while cleaning a solution storage tank. The wound was monitored negative for Pu.
Health Physics
During his approximately 35-y employment period, 224 Pu urine measurements were reported. Ten chest counts, conducted between 1970 and 1981, range from 0.3 nCi to 0.7 nCi 241Am. The 241Am MDA from 1980 to 1984 was 0.31 nCi. There is some indication that this MDA may have also applied to measurements taken in the 1970s1.
Over the course of his career, the registrant received 49.6 rem deep, 8.76 rem neutron, and 71.31 rem skin dose from external sources. The worksite also estimated that between 1947 and 1991, he received 60 rem total integrated effective dose equivalent from internally deposited 239Pu and 0.8 rem from
238Pu. This analysis estimated that the registrant’s first 239Pu deposition occurred in 1947 and that his first 238Pu deposition occurred in 1973.
In the following figures, the MDA reported in the OCAS technical basis document1 has been divided by two and plotted with the urinary excretion data. The data plotted at 1.0e-4 pCi/d are at a nominal value, represent values initially reported as zero.
Figure 1. Data prior to 1967 are total Pu alpha measurements plotted as 239/240Pu. Some fraction of the detected activity is 238Pu. Red data points have a reported validation key of H or I. An explanation of these key codes could not be found.
Figure 2. Red data points have a reported validation key of D or T. An explanation of these key codes could not be found.
Autopsy and Pathology
The registrant developed Alzheimer’s disease and died at age 71 y of pneumonia.
To use USTUR narrative data, please cite:
USTUR 0679: Los Alamos — Inhalation — 239Pu — Not Chelated: Narrative. United States Transuranium and Uranium Registries. 15 May 2009. Washington State University: College of Pharmacy. Accessed 23 November 2009. Available at: http://www.ustur.wsu.edu/Case_Studies/Narratives/0679_Narrative.php.
References
1. Technical Basis Document for the Los Alamos National Laboratory – Occupational Internal Dose. Revision 0. ORAUT-TKBS-0010-5. December 21, 2004.
This page was last updated on May 15, 2009. usturwebmaster@tricity.wsu.edu