An unfortunate industrial worker accidently inhales a smallparticle of plutonium

Question

An unfortunate industrial worker accidently inhales a smallparticle of plutonium oxide. Assume the particle has a constantdecay of 100Ci where 1Ci = 3.70 x 1010 decays/s.The isotope emits an 5.45 MeV alpha particle. Over a period of 14days, what will be the RAD and REM dose absorbed by the worker dueto the inhaled plutonium compound? Assume that the alpha particlesare 100% absorbed in a 10 gram region of the lung tissue and thatthe RBE of the alpha particles is 15.0

given: 1eV = 1.60 x 10-19J
           1 RAD= .0100 J/kg

Explanation / Answer

the total energy absorbed by the tissue over aperiof of14 days        E = (5.45 MeV /decay)(100Ci)( 3.70 x 1010 decays/sec) * 14 *24 *3600sec          if E' be theenergy in Joules               E' = E eV * (1.60 x 10-19J/eV ) Dose in RADS = RBE (E' / 10*10^-3 kg) Dose in REM = (10-2J/kg)dose in RADS.                     

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