This case-control study nested in the French cohort of uranium miners provides an opportunity to take account of silicosis and smoking in the assessment of the relation between radon and lung cancer. The study includes 100 miners who died of lung cancer and 500 matched controls born within the same period of birth and of the same age at the time of death of the matching case. Data on radon exposure are obtained from individual monitoring of the miners, and data on smoking come from medical records and interviews. To identify cases of silicosis among the 600 miners surveyed, appraisals carried out as part of the compensation process for occupational diseases are used. Statistical analyses are based on a conditional logistic regression, and the linear model for excess relative risk was used to model the risk of death due to lung cancer according to cumulative radon exposure. The percentage of missing data on silicotic status is less than 20%. The study reveals a significant association between the relative risk of lung cancer and silicosis (ORsilicosis = 3.6; 95% CI: 1.4-8.9), and the relation between radon and lung cancer persists after adjusting for smoking and silicotic status (ERRradon per WLM = 1.0%; 95% CI: 0.1-3.5%). Radon, cigarette smoking and silicotic status appear to be three factors that each have a specific effect on the risk of lung cancer. This study reminds us of the complexity involved in assessing occupational risks in the case of multiple sources of exposure.

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To support patient management of possible radiation casualties in case of a radiological or a nuclear event, the Defence Radiation Protection Service (SPRA) is able, 24 h a day, to supply intervention means in France and overseas if requested by military authorities or civilian institutions. SPRA has developed mobile laboratories for the diagnosis of internal radionuclide contamination. The mission of this mobile unit is to study health and environment risks linked to radiological hazards for exposed people: workers, soldiers and also civilians. The mobile laboratories are able to be deployed in all types of nuclear or radiological events, and give the results of analysis to physicians and authorities in a short time. The vehicles are fully equipped to detect and to survey exposure to alpha, beta and gamma emitters for the supervision of people exposed to ionising radiation, by whole body counting or analysis of biological samples. Environmental survey by analysis of wipes, soil, water, vegetation or air filters can also be achieved.

Estimation of the dose received by accidentally irradiated victims is based on a tripod: clinical, biological, and physical dosimetry. The DosiKit system is an operational and mobile biodosimetry device allowing the measurement of external irradiation directly on the site of a radiological accident. This tool is based on capillary blood sample and hair follicle collection. The aim is to obtain a whole-body and local-surface dose assessment. This paper is about the technical evaluation of the DosiKit; the analytical process and scientific validation are briefly described. The Toulon exercise scenario was based on a major accident involving the reactor of a nuclear attack submarine. The design of the scenario made it impossible for several players (firefighters, medical team) to leave the area for a long time, and they were potentially exposed to high dose rates. The DosiKit system was fully integrated into a deployable radiological emergency laboratory, and the response to operational needs was very satisfactory.

Article published by EDP Sciences and available at http://www.radioprotection.org or http://dx

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We report on the Ile Longue strategic site and descrihe the medical and dosimetric monitoring of nuclear submarine crews. Over the past eleven years, dosimetric resnlts of nuclear submarine crews have been gathered. We have compared these results to those of workers employed hy ouîside enterprises and the directorate of naval constructions. During this period, neither the crew members nor the workers have heen over-exposed. Considering each group, we show a more or less distinct diminution of equivalent doses. IntroductionLe sous-marin par sa forme, sa couleur et le milieu dans lequel il évolue, a de tout temps dégagé une aura de puissance et inspiré des sentiments de respect et de mystère. Cette image a été confortée dans le public par de nombreux écrivains dont le célèbre Jules Verne. Les conditions et les doctrines d'utilisation se sont certes modifiées avec les progrès technologiques et l'émergence de l'ère de l'atome, mais il n'existe pas d'arme, de bâtiment de guerre, qui n'ait fait l'objet d'un effort plus constant de la part des nations maritimes. La valeur et l'intérêt de ce type de bâtiment de combat n'ont jamais été remis en cause. Depuis plus de trente ans les sous-marins nucléaires lanceurs d'engins (SNLE) sont la composante principale de la force stratégique française. Ces SNLE, enchaînant à la mer des patrouilles de 'Médecin en chef spécialiyte dii service de hanté dch arniéch,

In the event of a radiological accident involving external exposure of one or more victims and potential high doses, it is essential to know the dose distribution within the body in order to sort the victims according to the severity of the irradiation and then to take them to the most suitable medical facilities. However, there are currently few techniques that can be rapidly deployed on field and capable of characterizing an irradiation. Therefore, a numerical simulation tool has been designed. It can be implemented by a doctor/physicist pairing, projected within a limited time as close as possible to the irradiation accident and emergency response teams. Called SEED (Simulation of External Exposures & Dosimetry), this tool (dedicated to dose reconstruction in case of external exposure) allows a rapid modeling of the irradiation scene and a visual exchange with the victims and witnesses of the event. The user can navigate in three dimensions in the accident scene thanks to a graphical user interface including a "first person" camera. To validate the performance of the SEED tool, two dosimetric benchmarking exercises were performed. The first consisted in comparing the dose value provided by SEED to that given by a reference calculation code: MCNPX. The purpose of the second validation was to perform an experiment irradiating a physical dummy equipped with dosimeters and to reconstruct this irradiation using SEED. These two validation protocols have shown satisfactory results with mean difference less than 2% and 12% for the first and second exercises, respectively. They confirm that this new tool is able to provide useful information to medical teams in charge of dosimetric triage in case of a major external exposure event.