The radiological consequences of notional accidental releases of radioactivity from fast breeder reactors: sensitivity to the dose-effect relationships adopted for early biological effects

This study considered the sensitivity to the dose-response relationships adopted for the estimation of early biological effects from notional accidental releases of radioactivity from fast breeder reactors. Two distinct aspects were considered: the sensitivity of the predicted consequences to variation in the dose-mortality relationships for irradiation of the bone marrow and the lung; and the influence of simple supportive medical treatment in reducing the incidence of early deaths in the exposed population. The numbers of early effects estimated in the initial study were relatively insensitive to variation in the dose-mortality relationships within the bounds proposed. The few exceptions concerned releases of particular nuclide composition, and the variation in the predicted consequences could be around an order of magnitude; the absolute numbers of effects however were in general small when the sensitivity was most pronounced. The reduction in the incidence of early deaths when using simple supportive treatment varied markedly with the nuclide composition of the release. Areas of uncertainty were identified where further research and investigation might most profitably be directed with a view to improving the reliability of the dose-effect relationships adopted and hence of the predicted consequences of the release considered. (author)