The 2024 annual meeting of the USTUR’s SAC was held April 25-26, 2024, in Richland, WA. The SAC has been an important part of the USTUR since its inception.
Office of Environment, Health, Safety & Security
June 4, 2024
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By: Joey Zhou (Office of Domestic and International Health Studies (EHSS-13)
The 2024 annual meeting of the USTUR’s SAC was held April 25-26, 2024, in Richland, WA. The SAC has been an important part of the USTUR since its inception. Annual meetings of the SAC bring together the USTUR faculty and staff, SAC members, the Department of Energy (DOE) representative, and interested people from the scientific community. This two-day meeting featured both operational and scientific presentations and provided time for SAC members to discuss the USTUR’s activities during the past year, and to make recommendations for the coming year. About 40 people attended the meeting in-person.
Background
The progenitor of what is now the USTUR was formally established in August 1968 as the National Plutonium Registry by the Hanford Environmental Health Foundation, a private non-profit organization, under contract to the United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). In 1992, the USTUR was transferred to Washington State University as a DOE grant program.
The research carried out by USTUR involves the study of the distribution, biokinetics, dose and possible biological effects of the actinide elements, including plutonium, uranium, americium, and thorium in persons with documented exposures to these elements. Tissues are collected at autopsy from volunteer donors with a history of exposure and are radiochemically analyzed to determine these actinide content. These data are used in conjunction with personal exposure and medical history to evaluate the movement, fate, and dosimetry of the actinides within the body and to assess possible biological effects. The USTUR is the only program that observes nuclear workers with verifiable estimates of tissue doses post-death in the world, and it serves as a national and international resource for testing and improving the application of excreta monitoring and other contemporary bioassay data to predict tissue dose rates measured at autopsy. The results of the radiochemical and dosimetric analysis provide the basis for validation or refinement of dose estimates used in epidemiologic studies, as well as to enhance biokinetic model structures and parameters.
For more information about USTUR, visit,
U.S. Transuranium and Uranium Registries | Washington State University (wsu.edu)
More About This Author
Joey Zhou is the USTUR Program Manager at the Office of Domestic and International Health Studies in DOE’s Office of Environment, Health, Safety and Security.