Assessment of Radiation Risk in the Families of Reactor Industry Workers

The results of a study of the state of the reproduction function in the families of workers at the Industrial Association Mayak who began work during the startup period (1948–1953) and were subjected to pre- and post-marriage occupational exposure to radiation are presented. The main characteristics of the reproductive cycle, pregnancy outcomes and pre-reproductive mortality of progeny over groups of families as functions of the irradiation conditions are analyzed. It is shown that the main modifier of the selection rate of nonviable genotypes in worker families is external irradiation by γ-rays. No non-stochastic effects of irradiation were found even though workers suffered excessive irradiation at the start of the reproductive period. The stochastic effects of irradiation manifested in the form of a decrease of the average number of children surviving to reproductive age as well as in reliable differences in an unfavorable outcome of pregnancy of irradiated mothers. The increase in the rate of adverse outcomes of pregnancy correlates with the increase in the dose due to external γ-radiation sources.