Time History of Biological Response to Ionizing Radiation
Abstract
Exposure of personnel to initial ionizing radiation from a nuclear air or surface burst can cause both prompt and delayed casualties. Their percentages and times to incapacitation (or combat ineffectiveness, in a military sense) after exposure can be of major significance in military operations. Although adequate data are lacking for the determination of dose-effect relationships vs time after exposure, quantitative estimates are needed nevertheless for guidance in battlefield predictions and decision-making. Available nuclear-accident data and other data on human exposures are used to obtain curves to represent the estimated time history of the acute radiation syndrome as a function of dose received in a very short time. The sources of data are clinical records of nuclear accident casualties from 1945 to 1958, follow up records of radiotherapy patients, and casualty studies on the atomic explosions at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Emphasis is put on the time after exposure of the onset of the initial stage of radiation sickness (nausea, vomiting, malaise, etc.), duration of the initial stage, start and duration of the following asymptomatic latent period, time of onset of the second (or manifest illness) stage, and time of eventual recuperation or death. The estimated time history is depicted graphically with two other time histories for comparison. Analytical expressions are derived for the three time histories for use in estimating any of these syndrome times or periods.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 05, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0626996
Entities
People
- Endel Laumets
Organizations
- Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory