I1.4. Consider a city of 1 million inhabitants. (a) How many of these will at so
ID: 282624 • Letter: I
Question
I1.4. Consider a city of 1 million inhabitants. (a) How many of these will at some point die of "natural" cancer? (b) Suppose a radiation accident nearby is releasing radioactivity into the atmosphere of the city. How largea dose of radiation per person would cause an additional ten thousand deaths from cancer among the population? (What assumption are you making in that calculation?) (c) Suppose that amount of radiation is actually released. If you are the mayor of that city will you order the entire city evacuated? Discuss the key issues involvedExplanation / Answer
a. Estimation of death due to natural cancer is about 20 % of the population.
Population = 1, 000,000
Thus, 20% of 1,000,000= 200,000.
b. Linear hypothesis is considered: 1 rem dose of radiation per person.
Additional deaths due to radioactive exposure= 10,000.
Dose of radioactivity causing 10,000 deaths out of 1,000,000, due to radiation exposure
1000,000/10,000= 100 rem per person.
c. Evacuation plan during radiation accident:
Precautionary action zone (PAZ).