A review of radiation accidents involving whole body exposure and the relevance to the LDsub(50/60) for man

Two accidents, one in the USA, the other in Yugoslavia, both involving exposure to neutrons as well as γ-rays, are identified as possibly satisfying the criteria of uniformity of dose, magnitude of dose and dose rate necessary to provide useful information on the value of LDsub(50/60) for man. The symptomatology of the exposed individuals is discussed in terms of the published doses. Detailed examination of the dosimetry for these two accidents revealed possible ambiguities and a thorough re-examination has been carried out, the results of which are reported in detail in the Appendix. This indicates considerable and largely unresolvable uncertainty in the magnitude of the dose to exposed individuals when expressed as the low LET equivalent dose in bone marrow. It is also shown that the relationship between severity of effects and dose to exposed individuals is not the same for both accidents and it is argued that the experience from the Yugoslavian accident is more relevant to the determination of the sensitivity to radiation of an exposed human population. The uncertainty of current knowledge of man's sensitivity to the acute effects of exposure to ionising radiation is discussed. (author)