Radiation accidents: a conference review

Since 1940, 98 separate accidents in which persons have been injured by accidental exposure to ionizing radiation have been recorded worldwide. Among these were 14 criticality accidents with 5 fatalities, none of which occurred after 1965. Since 1965, the majority of accidents have been caused by exposure to such radiation devices as machines or sources, sometimes producing localized burns with no fatalities (48 accidents), but sometimes producing total-body irradiation resulting in 9 fatalities (20 accidents). This experience, including details of medical management, was reviewed at a conference convened by the Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site, a unit of the Medical and Health Sciences Division operated for the US Department of Energy by Oak Ridge Associated Universities, to address the topic, The Medical Basis for Radiation Accident Preparedness. The conference, which was held on Oct. 18-20, 1979, in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is reviewed in this article