1. NAME and TITLE

RBD: U.S. Army Radiological Bioassay and Dosimetry Software Package, Version 4.1.

2. CONTRIBUTOR

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN.

3. CODING LANGUAGE and COMPUTER

Fortran, Basic, Clipper; IBMPC (C00632/IBMPC/00).

4. NATURE OF PROBLEM SOLVED

RBD computes the quantity of a radionuclide taken into the body by inhalation, ingestion, or uptake from a wound based on measurements of the retained activity in the body or its appearance in excreta; i.e., bioassay measurements. RBD evaluates both acute and chronic intakes. The package includes database programs for management of the bioassay data and the estimated intakes and radiation doses. Graphical inspection of the data and the computed response are available in the interactive mode.

5. METHOD OF SOLUTION

Estimates of intake are derived by convolution of biological response functions in the manner outlined in Publication 54 of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. Dose estimates are derived from the estimated intake using dose coefficients from Federal Guidance Report 11 (DLC-167/FGR-DOSE). Only the initial activity at the wound site is evaluated; i.e., no dose estimates are provided. See ORNL/TM-11858 for details.

6. RESTRICTIONS or LIMITATIONS

None noted.

7. TYPICAL RUNNING TIME

RBD can be run in either interactive or batch mode. Run times in batch mode depend upon the number of bioassay measurements, the nature of the intake (acute vs. chronic), and the number of individuals. On a 486/33 PC the calculations are typically a few seconds per individual. However, the computations for an individual with a lifetime set of bioassay data (an assumed chronic exposure) can approach several minutes.

8. COMPUTER HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

IBM PC or compatible with less than 4 MB of disk space are required; however, the space requirements will increase depending on the extent of the bioassay data.

9. COMPUTER SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

RBD was designed for use on PC's running DOS. The package consists of database and computational programs interconnected by a menuing program. The database programs were developed using Clipper (summer '87 version), the menu program and other user interface routines were written in MS BASIC using the MS PDS v7.1, and all computational programs were written using MS FORTRAN v5.1.

10. REFERENCE

K.F. Eckerman, R.C. Ward, and L.B. Maddox, "U.S. Army Radiological Bioassay and Dosimetry: The RBD Software Package," ORNL/TM-11858 (1993).

11. CONTENTS OF CODE PACKAGE

Included are the referenced document and a 3.5-in. DS/HD (1.44MB) diskette written in DOS compressed format for loading RBD onto a PC. Source code is not included.

12. DATE OF ABSTRACT

June 1995.