Cumulative dose assessment using thermoluminescence properties of porcelain isolators as evidence of a severe radiation accident in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia, 1978.

The cumulated absorbed doses in four electric porcelain isolators collected at the site of the "Kraton-3" underground nuclear explosion in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia, were evaluated using the thermoluminescence technique. The doses attributable to the accidental radioactive release from the explosion ranged from 1.2 to 10 Gy; the maximal value was detected for the isolator collected near the "Kraton-3" borehole. The measured thermoluminescence doses for two of the four samples analyzed are in reasonable agreement with the estimates of external gamma dose presented by earlier investigators of the site.