Bioassay and Internal Dosimetry Users Group (BIDUG)
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) , Office of Worker Safety and Health Policy (HSS-14) (formerly EH-52, Office of Worker Protection Programs and Hazards Management) sponsored the Bioassay and Internal Dosimetry Users Group (BIDUG, pronounced BYE-dug) as a vehicle for communication and coordination among DOE facilities and DOE contractors. BIDUG is part of the Environment, Safety, and Health Systems product line at PNNL Check out the DOELAP Accreditation User Forum at the above link.
Bidug News
February 3, 2004: Eugene H. (Gene) Carbaugh presented " The Plutonium Reality Show: Super Class Y vs. Class W and Class Y. A Contest of Bioassay and Internal Dosimetry."
November 5, 2001: Dan Strom and Jay MacLellan published Evaluation of Eight Decision Rules for Low-Level Radioactivity Counting. an article in Health Physics that documents difficulties with the ANSI N13.30-1996 formula for decision level.
July 27, 2001: Workshop on Internal Dosimetry of Radionuclides, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the European Commission, September 9–12, 2002, New College, Oxford, United Kingdom.
November 10, 2000: Jay MacLellan's abstract and presentation to the BAER conference is posted here.
September 6, 2000: ABHP Course materials by Tom La Bone are now available. The BIDUG web site is pleased to host Tom's 142 page document describing the New ICRP Respiratory Tract and Systemic Models. Also available for downloading are Appendices 1, 2, 3, and 6: lungdep66.pas , a Pascal program with three supporting MathCad files: pu239sDecays.mcd , functions.mcd , and iodine.mcd.
April 21, 2000: The Hanford Internal Dosimetry Program is pleased to announce that the two manuals which most of its technical basis documentation are now available on the worldwide web and can be viewed or downloaded in an Adobe.pdf format. The manuals and their addresses are: Methods and Models of the Hanford Internal Dosimetry Program, PNNL-MA-860 (January 2003) and Hanford Internal Dosimetry Project Manual, PNL-MA-552 (2003) It is the intent of the Hanford Internal Dosimetry Program to maintain these websites as the electronic controlled copy version of these manuals.
January 13, 2000: the Inspector General has recommended consolidation of DOE in-vitro bioassay analysis under one nation wide contract as a cost saving measure. BIDUG members are urged to participate on a committee to help formulate technical requirements of such a contract.
An inconsequential Y2K bug in report headers printed by CINDY has been reported. The dose computations are not effected. Canberra is aware of the problem and may post information at http://www.canberra.com/ The Radiation Information Network at Idaho State University proivides a comprehensive overview of related issues at: Health Physics Y2K Information
MacLellan, J.A.; Strom, D.J. Traditional Formulas For Decision Level Are Wrong For Small Numbers of Counts PNNL-SA-32146. Proceedings of the 45th Annual Conference on Bioassay, Analytical, and Environmental Radiochemistry, October 18-22, Gaithersburg, MD. Bioassay, Analytical, and Environmental Radiochemistry Conference 45; 1999. New Work; more detail.
Traditional Formulas For Decision Level Are Wrong For Small Numbers of Counts A 10 minute platform paper presented at the Health Physics Society (HPS) Annual Meeting on June 30, 1999 in Philadelphia.
"Introduction to Bayesian Statistics," Professional Enrichment Program Th-2 (Revised and Corrected 7/2/99), contains all materials from "Traditional Formulas For Decision Level Are Wrong For Small Numbers of Counts" [above] with much additional material. Presented as a 2-hour PEP Lecture at the Philadephia HPS meeting.
On October 27-28, 1998, EH-52 sponsored a Bioassay/Internal Dosimetry Workshop in Gathersburg, MD.
On April 3, 1998, the Energy Facility Contractors Group (EFCOG) Executive Committee fully endorsed the idea of creating a users group for internal dosimetry and radiobioassay and indicated that their respective organizations would fully support participation. BIDUG was sanctioned at the May, 1998 meeting of the Radiological Protection Working Group (RPWG) chaired by Joe Graf of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Formal organization of BIDUG is underway, including a charter and operating procedures.
* ANSI/HPS N13.30-1996, Performance Criteria for Radiobioassay, equates MDA with Currie's (1968) detection level, LD, and DL with curries critical level, LC. Some Bayesian statisticians have argued that these equations are not true, since, for example, one may have a decision level that differs from Currie's LC. There was consensus on what constituted correct use of DL and MDA, as shown above. Figure adapted from Rick Brake of Los Alamos National Laboratory.
BIDUG Technical Resources
- EFCOG attendees identified more than 20 Issues related to radiobioassay and internal dosimetry that need further work.
- Links of Interest to BIDUG Members
- Essential Reading for BIDUG Members
Search the BIDUG web site:
For more information contact:
Daniel J. Strom, Ph.D., CHP(Visit Dan's home page, or send Dan an eMail message now) Radiological Sciences and Engineering Group Energy and Environment Directorate Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Battelle Boulevard, PO Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352-0999 USA Telephone: (509) 375-2626 FAX: (509) 375-2019
PNNL-SA-30137, Revised: 23 October 2007