Chinese Journal of Radiological Health 2023;32(3):270-275

doi:10.13491/j.issn.1004-714X.2023.03.010

Assessment of americium retention in bone by measuring 241Am in the skull with a whole-body counter

Mengmeng WU 1 ; Wei WANG 1 ; Xiaodun LI 2 ; Ling CHEN 1

Affiliations

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Keywords

Whole-body counter; Skull; 241Am; Internal exposure

Country

China

Language

Chinese

Abstract

Objective To assess the retention of 241Am in the whole-body bone of worker by measuring the retention of 241Am in the skull. Methods A whole-body counter with high-purity germanium detector was used to measure the 59.5 keV full-energy peak count of 241Am in the skull. The efficiency of the measurement was calibrated by the digital skull phantom combined with the geometric model of the detector. The retention of 241Am in the worker’s skull was calculated. Results The proportion of skull dry weight relative to the whole-body bone dry weight was used as the coefficient to calculate the 241Am deposition in the whole-body bone from the measured activity of skull 241Am. Conclusion With the retention of 241Am in the skull and the proportion of skull dry weight, the retention of 241Am in the whole-body bone of the worker was calculated to be about 806 Bq.