History and current developments of RERF dosimetry

Studies of the health effects among Japanese atomic bomb survivors, including radiation-induced carcinogenesis, necessitate accurate radiation dose estimates for individual survivors from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. Efforts toward this goal commenced shortly after the bombings in 1945, resulting in a series of dosimetry systems developed over the years to calculate survivor doses for a roster currently numbering 135 852 survivors. These systems estimate a survivor's dose based on data such as the survivor's location and shielding by structures such as houses. This paper focuses on a series of systems created over the years, first by US groups and later by binational US-Japan groups, with particular emphasis on the most recent dosimetry systems: Dosimetry System 2002 and DS02 Revision 1. Furthermore, we discuss the latest advancement, the J45 phantoms, which introduces a new system of anthropomorphic phantoms for calculations of dose to specific organs of the human body with consideration of body self-shielding and has been in development over the last few years.