Selected Presentations
2015 Scientific Advisory Committee Meeting
2014 SAC Recommendations & 2015 USTUR Overview – Tolmachev, S.Y.
The SAC’s recommendations from last year’s meeting, and the way the USTUR addressed each recommendation, were presented. This was followed by an overview of 2015 activities, which included: our grant renewal, a summary of NHRTR accomplishments, radiochemistry and health physics database updates, visits from DOE officials, and research that was underway.
Administrative & Financial Developments – Bedell, M.
Budgetary information such as salary increases, personnel support, monthly expenditures, and grant funding were summarized.
USTUR Registrant Statistics – McComish, S.L.
As of the SAC meeting, the USTUR had 403 living and deceased Registrants. Statistics including age and years of follow-up were presented, and recent donations were briefly described.
Health Physics Database Progress Report – Avtandilashvili, M.
Progress toward entering data from each Registrant’s dosimetry file into the USTUR’s electronic Health Physics Database was summarized. As of August, 72,142 records from 160 cases had been entered into the database. A record was a single piece of information from the dosimetry file, such as a urine measurement, a lung count, a dosimeter readout, or an incident that may have resulted in an intake.
National Human Radiobiology Tissue Repository – McComish, S.L.
As of August 2015, 20,289 parent samples had been logged into the THEMIS inventory database. Inventoried samples included USTUR and ANL tissues, and USTUR acid-dissolved tissues, histological slides, and planchets.
Radiochemistry Progress Report – Tabatadze, G.
Operation of the radiochemistry laboratory was described. Topics included tissue analyses, equipment upgrades, facility maintenance, and validation of the USTUR’s ability to detect high-fired plutonium oxide.
WSU Grad Certificate Program in Radiation Protection – Stansbury, P.
A graduate certificate program in radiation protection is under development at WSU Tri-Cities. Most of the courses have been approved, 10 students have completed the “Intro to Radiological Sciences” course, and the ability to offer courses via distance learning is being pursued.
From Single Bone to Skeleton – Tolmachev, S.Y.
Half of the bones from a whole-body donation are radiochemically analyzed, whereas only a few from partial-body donations are available for analysis. Thus the known activity of a whole-body donor’s individual bones relative to the activity of the entire skeleton can be used to identify which bone from a partial-body donation provides the best estimate of total skeletal activity. In this presentation, the use of the patella to estimate the total skeletal activity is explored.
0837: Modeling Multiple Intakes- Avtandilashvili, M.
A step-by-step dose assessment for a Registrant with multiple plutonium intakes was illustrated. The dose assessment used the Integrated Modules for Bioassay Analysis software (IMBA) to fit urine analyses, in-vivo lung counts, and post-mortem tissue concentrations.
Uranium Missing Dose – McComish, S.L.
There exists a possibility that USTUR Registrants who were exposed to plutonium also worked with and had intakes of uranium. This presentation explores the question: should we analyze tissues from plutonium workers for uranium or just for plutonium/americium?
FY2016 Research & Operation – Tolmachev, S.Y.
The USTUR’s research and operational goals for the next year were summarized. They included: maximizing scientific research at the USTUR, publishing scientific papers, accepting and analyzing donated tissues, celebration of the Registries’ 50th anniversary, and population of databases.
Discussion: USTUR in 2016 and Beyond
A discussion about the USTUR’s vision for the next 5 to 10 years was facilitated, and input from meeting participants was encouraged.