During their occupational activities in space, astronauts are exposed to ionising radiation from natural radiation sources present in this environment. They are, however, not usually classified as being occupationally exposed in the sense of the general ICRP system for radiation protection of workers applied on Earth. The exposure assessment and risk-related approach described in this report is clearly restricted to the special situation in space, and should not be applied to any other exposure situation on Earth. The report describes the terms and methods used to assess the radiation exposure of astronauts, and provides data for the assessment of organ doses. Chapter 1 describes the specific situation of astronauts in space, and the differences in the radiation fields compared with those on Earth. In Chapter 2, the radiation fields in space are described in detail, including galactic cosmic radiation, radiation from the Sun and its special solar particle events, and the radiation belts surrounding the Earth. Chapter 3 deals with the quantities used in radiological protection, describing the Publication 103 (ICRP, 2007) system of dose quantities, and subsequently presenting the special approach for applications in space; due to the strong contribution of heavy ions in the radiation field, radiation weighting is based on the radiation quality factor, Q, instead of the radiation weighting factor, wR. In Chapter 4, the methods of fluence and dose measurement in space are described, including instrumentation for fluence measurements, radiation spectrometry, and area and individual monitoring. The use of biomarkers for the assessment of mission doses is also described. The methods of determining quantities describing the radiation fields within a spacecraft are given in Chapter 5. Radiation transport calculations are the most important tool. Some physical data used in radiation transport codes are presented, and the various codes used for calculations in high-energy radiation fields in space are described. Results of calculations and measurements of radiation fields in spacecraft are given. Some data for shielding possibilities are also presented. Chapter 6 addresses methods of determining mean absorbed doses and dose equivalents in organs and tissues of the human body. Calculated conversion coefficients of fluence to mean absorbed dose in an organ or tissue are given for heavy ions up to Z=28 for energies from 10 MeV/u to 100 GeV/u. For the same set of ions and ion energies, mean quality factors in organs and tissues are presented using, on the one hand, the Q(L) function defined in Publication 60 (ICRP, 1991), and, on the other hand, a Q function proposed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Doses in the body obtained by measurements are compared with results from calculations, and biodosimetric measurements for the assessment of mission doses are also presented. In Chapter 7, operational measures are considered for assessment of the exposure of astronauts during space missions. This includes prefli...

The aim of the working group has been to bring together, in particular from European research groups, the available, preferably published, experimental data and results of calculations, together with detailed descriptions of the methods of measurement and calculation. The purpose is to provide a dataset for all European Union Member States for the assessment of individual doses and/or to assess the validity of different approaches, and to provide an input to technical recommendations by the Article 31 group of experts and the European Commission. The radiation protection quantity of interest is effective dose, E (ISO), but the comparison of measurement results obtained by different methods or groups, and comparison of measurement results and the results of calculations, is done in terms of the operational quantity ambient dose equivalent, H*(10). The final report giving the results of the investigations will be published by the European Commission Directorate General Transport and Energy. This paper gives a preview of the report.

Operation of the machine has already been described (Delaney and McAulay, 1959) . Scintillation techniques were used. Sample to he dated was converted to methyl alcohol and mixed with a liquid scintillator. The scintillator cell was of fused silica, in the form of a cylinder of volume 50 ml, 10 ml of methanol being added to 40 ml liquid scintillator. The scintillator cell was viewed by two photomultipliers working in coincidence. The background counting rate was reduced by massive screening and by pulse-height selection.Reference sample counting rate was 20.3 ± 0.18 counts/mm. above a background of 13.6 ± 0.11 counts/ min. For reference sample 120-yr-old oak wood was used. Counting period was 17 hors. Some of the samples were cournted more than once, as a check on the consistency of the machine's r.mning, but limited time made it unpractical to adopt this as a standard pro-edure for all samples. After the 1959 radiocarbon conference at Groningen.. counts were carried out on the oxalic-acid reference sample issued by the U. S. Bureau of Standards (NBS ) , taking 95 / of its activity to he the "recent standard." Our former reference sample had yielded a contemporary count rate lower by ca. 1% than the count rate from the oxalic acid. Our earliest datings (D-1, D-22,. D-28 to l)-32, D-34, D-46 and D-68 to D-701, most of which had already been published l Delaney and McAulay, 1959). are based on our old standard, the remainder are based on the new. The difference between the standards is, in any case, a small one and no substantial change of date would result from recalculating dates based on the former standard. Pretreatment was by successive boiling in acid, alkali and acid again, in the case of the archaeologic samples. Bog samples were untreated, in view of the evidence of Overbeck and others (1957) that no particular advantage was obtained by removing the humus fraction from raised-bog peat.ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A study of byssinosis and other respiratory symptoms in 2,528 flax workers aged 35 years and over in Northern Ireland is reported. This represented 82-5 % of the total available population.Only 3 % of workers were not seen because of absence or a refusal to co-operate. Workers were interviewed using a questionnaire based on the Questionnaire on Respiratory Symptoms (Medical Research Council, 1960a) with additional questions relating to respiratory symptoms at work.Byssinosis was found in workers in all stages of the industry, though its prevalence was highest in flax preparers; wet spinners and wet polishers did not appear to be at serious risk of developing the condition. When the effects of other relevant factors had been allowed for, e.g., age, duration of employment, and smoking habits, differences between the prevalence in the two sexes were found to be very small. The associations between byssinosis and the age of workers and their durations of employment in flax-preparing occupations were complex, and it was thought that a selective discharge of affected workers before the study might, in part at least, explain the absence of marked associations between these variables.Marked associations were found between both chronic bronchitis and exertional dyspnoea and the type of occupation in the mill. Workers in the early preparing occupations had a considerably higher prevalence of these conditions than expected on a null hypothesis. There were also marked associations between byssinosis and bronchitis, and between byssinosis and dyspnoea. The possible importance of these associations with regard to the aetiology of byssinosis is discussed, and it is suggested that byssinosis represents an acute, specific effect of certain textile dusts on the respiratory system, superimposed on a non-specific chronic bronchitic process.

Presents a radiocaesium deposition pattern over Ireland resulting from the Chernobyl accident. Contaminated grassland soils from over 110 sites were analysed using gamma ray spectrometry. 134Cs, 137Cs and 40K were measured in all samples. The Chernobyl 137Cs was identified using an initial Chernobyl fallout 137Cs to 134Cs ratio of 1.90. The results show a mean deposition level of 3.2 kBq m-2 of 137Cs due to Chernobyl. The range of deposition was from 0.3 to 14.2 kBq m-2. The distribution pattern is presented both on a National Grid sub-zone basis and a higher resolution shaded map. A similarly shaded map shows the rainfall levels responsible for most of the washout. It is pointed out that some areas on both east and west coasts with maximum rainfall did not have maximum caesium deposition. In other areas a better correlation between rainfall and caesium deposition exists. A mean figure for the pre-Chernobyl 137Cs in surface soil is provided.