| dc.description.abstract | Security efforts at airports have increased globally to prevent terrorist attacks, but
it might be possible to use an aircraft as a radiological dispersion device. By placing
210Po in the environmental control system of a Boeing 767-300, the aerosol will circulate
throughout the aircraft using the circulation pattern of the aircraft. The ventilation
effectiveness in aircraft cabins is a critical factor for minimizing the exposure of
passengers to airborne contaminants, since the ventilation system circulates the air more
effectively than just stirred settling. Seats located at the center of the plane, D, have the
best circulation while seats C and E have the worst circulation.
With an initial concentration of 1.66 x 10-4 mg/m3 of 210Po delivered
instantaneously into the cabin of a Boeing 767-300 by the ventilation system, passengers
seated in seat D will have inhaled an activity of 11.6 MBq while passengers seated in C
and E will have inhaled an average of 15.0 MBq over 2000 seconds (33.3 min.).
Without the circulation system, all passengers regardless of seat location would have
inhaled an activity of 15.9 MBq. Although the percent change between seat C with
circulation and seat C without circulation is only 27%, the increase in survival rates is exponential. The median survival time after an uptake of 3 – 26 MBq is expected to be
between 180 and 500 days. | en |
