The 1st Nuclear Test in the former USSR of 29 August 1949: Comparison of individual dose estimates by modeling with EPR retrospective dosimetry and luminescence retrospective dosimetry data for Dolon village, Kazakhstan

Three methods of individual dose reconstruction, namely dose calculations based on the available archive data and on the individual questioning of inhabitants, EPR dosimetry in human tooth enamel, and retrospective luminescence dosimetry (RLD) with quartz inclusions in the bricks were applied for assessment of accumulated external doses in Dolon village (Kazakhstan), which is one of the most affected settlements as a result of 29.08.1949 nuclear test at Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. Dose values obtained by EPR and RLD methods were compared with computed dose values. The available data on soil contamination with 137Cs and Pu239+240 in the vicinity and inside Dolon village were used for interpretation of the results of comparison. Based on a calculated value of 2260 mGy for the dose in the air along the central axis of the trace located NW of Dolon, the doses in the air over whole village and for the south-eastern part of the village containing the RLD sampling points were estimated as 775±40 and 645±70mGy, respectively, the latter correlates well with the RLD dose value of 460±92mGy. The “upper level” of the mean “shielding and behavior” factor of dose reduction for inhabitants of Dolon village was estimated as 0.28±0.07; this was performed by comparing the individual EPR tooth enamel doses with the calculated mean dose for the settlement. The individual dose estimates by EPR dosimetry were compared with individual dose values obtained by modeling. Uncertainties of the calculated individual doses were evaluated using Monte Carlo simulations. The individual dose estimates by EPR method are lower in comparison with mean computed doses and with RLD data, but they are in a good consistency with computed individual dose values in Dolon village based on the results of individual questioning with account of individual “shielding and behavior” factors.