Dose reconstruction for residents living in 60Co-contaminated rebar buildings

The first 60Co-contaminated rebar building was discovered in Taipei city in 1992. As of 18 July 1997, 144 buildings with 1,327 housing units were confirmed to contain 60Co-contaminated rebars. All these reinforced concrete buildings were constructed between 1982 and 1984. Thousands of residents have been exposed to ionizing radiation of various degrees. Preliminary assessments by the Atomic Energy Council showed that the accumulated maximal doses ranged from a few mSv to several Sv. The purpose of this work was to reconstruct more reliable individual doses for epidemiologic and medical uses. This reconstruction provided the best estimated doses as well as conceivable upper and lower bounds. The variation of residential day-life activities by individual members in a family was considered according to their sex, age, profession, etc. Intensive data on exposure rates were collected using thermoluminescent dosimeters positioned at 1 m height and 1 m x 1 m intersections with additional measurements at special locations such as bed, sofa, dining table, etc. Thermoluminescent dosimeter measurements were performed in all 24 residences studied in this work. This showed that the Atomic Energy Council maximal doses were 2-6 times higher than the present best estimated doses. Among all family members, elders and housewives received the highest doses; children received the lowest doses. The difference in doses among all family members belonging to different cohort categories is within a factor of two.