A comparative study of radiological threat environments and radiation control.

摘要

Radiation Control Programs (RCPs) differ from state to state as does their integration with public health agencies. The purpose of this study was threefold: to describe and compare across states the environmental radiological attributes of RCPs, to describe how these programs are organized structurally within state government, and to identify if RCPs differ structurally in environments of differing radiological attributes. Publicly available information from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and state agency websites was used to determine both the environmental attributes and the different approaches states use to organize RCPs.;States were grouped based on environmental attributes by employing a principle components analysis and then a hierarchical cluster analysis. Three predominant clusters were found which included 39 of the 50 states. RCP structure was described in terms of formalization (the amount of regulation and legislation in place to guide radiation control activities), standardization (the number of operational or subprograms that are carried out within a state), and centralization (the number of state and federal agencies that control one or more of the RCP operational areas or subprograms). To test the differences between the organizational structures of the RCPs in differing radiological environments, a Pearson's chi-square significance test was used.;The forgoing test failed to reject the null hypothesis that RCPs do not differ structurally in environments of differing radiological attributes in all but one aspect of organizational structure, formalization. Formalization was found to be significantly different across the three predominate clusters.;Keywords: Radiation Control, Organizational Structure, Preparedness, Public Health, Radiological, Accident