Assessment and comparison of cancer risks associated with medical and occupational exposure to radiation

The objective of the study was to estimate cancer risk for female and male workers of nuclear plants who were exposed to occupational radiation and underwent multiple X-ray imaging procedures. For this purpose ICRP risk models (Publication 103) and national medical and demographic data were used. For estimating adverse health effect of radiation such measures of risk as lifetime attributable risk of all solid cancers and leukemias and lifetime attributable risk fraction were used. Since the fraction of radiation risk from radiologic diagnostic procedures in studied scenarios is 20-30% of total risk, there is a need of estimating risk associated with both occupational radiation exposure and multiple CT imaging procedures, and optimizing radiation protection of the workers. Results of study and developed technique for estimating risks of multiple exposure to radiation serve as background for resolution of problems on optimization of radiation protection for the workers exposed to occupational radiation and underwent multiple CT imaging.