Notes For Applied Health Physics (Tae Young Kong)

Notes for Applied Health Physics Topics
Tae Young Kong
1.
Statistics and other mathematics

a.
pdf's and cdfs
Reference: Probability density function. Available at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probability_density_function
In probability theory, a probability density function (pdf) is a function that describes the relative
likelihood for this random variable to take on a given value. The probability of the random
variable falling within a particular range of values is given by the integral of this variables density
over that range - that is, it is given by the area under the density function but above the
horizontal axis and between the lowest and greatest values of the range. The probability density
function is nonnegative everywhere, and its integral over the entire space is equal to one.
Hence, if FX is the cumulative distribution function of X, then:
Reference: the cumulative distribution function. Available at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumulative_distribution_function
In probability theory and statistics, the cumulative distribution function (CDF) describes the
probability that a real-valued random variable X with a given probability distribution will be
found to have a value less than or equal to x. In the case of a continuous distribution, it gives the
area under the probability density function from minus infinity to x.
The cumulative distribution function of a real-valued random variable X is the function given by
where the right-hand side represents the probability that the random variable X takes on a value
less than or equal to x. The probability that X lies in the semi-closed interval (a, b], where a < b,
is therefore
b.
Binomial, Poisson, Gaussian
Reference: James E. Turner. Atoms, Radiation, and Radiation Protection, pp.304-320.
Binomial
The number of successes, n, from N trials in a success/failure experiment is a binomial random
variable, and the probability distribution of this discrete random variable is called the binomial
distribution.
Observation of a set of N atoms from time 0 to time t meets the following conditions:
1. It consists of N trials (i.e., N atoms each having a chance to decay).
2. Each trial has a binary outcome: success or failure (decay or not).
3. The probability of success (decay) is constant from trial to trial (all atoms have an
equal chance to decay).
4. The trials are independent.
The probability that exactly n will disintegrate in time t is
N
Pn p n q N n .
n
where the probability that an atom survives a time t without disintegrating is

t
q = probability of survival = e .
For decay during the time t, it follows that
t
p = probability of decay = 1 q = 1 e .
Note that there are only two alternatives for a given atom in the time t, since p + q = 1.
N
P p q
n 0
The expected, or mean, number of disintegrations in time t is given by the average value of the
binomial distribution:
Np
Thus, the mean is just the product of the total number of trials and the probability of the success
of a single trial.
The variance is defined as the expected value of the squared deviation from the mean of all
values of n:
N
2 (n ) 2 Pn .
n 0
The standard deviation is given by
Npq
With N atoms initially present, the probability that a given atom will disintegrate in time t and be
registered as a count is,
t
p* = prob. of a count = p = (1 e ).
The probability that the given atom will not give a count, either by not decaying or by decaying
but not being registered, is
*
q = prob. of no count = 1 p* = 1 + e .
Example
An experimenter repeatedly prepares a large number of samples identical to that in the example
42
from the last section: N = 10 atoms of K at time t = 0. He does not know how much activity is
initially present, but he wants to estimate it by determining the mean number of disintegrations
that occur in a given time. To this end, each new sample is placed in a counter, having an
efficiency = 32%, and observed for 3 h, the same time period as before.
(a) What is the probability that exactly 3 counts will be observed?
(b) What is the expected number of counts in 3 h?
(c) What is the expected count rate, averaged over the 3 h?
(d) What is the expected disintegration rate, averaged over the 3 h?

(e) What is the standard deviation of the count rate over the 3 h?
(f) What is the standard deviation of the disintegration rate over the 3 h?
(g) If = 100%, the count rate would be equal to the disintegration rate. What would then be the
expected value and standard deviation of the disintegration rate?
Solution
42
(a) The decay constant for K is = 0.693/(12.4 h) = 0.0559 h . The probability that a given atom
survives the time t = 3 h without decaying is,
q=e
=e
0.05593
=e
0.168
= 0.846.
The probability that a given atom will decay is

p = 1 q = 0.154.
We let n* represent the number of disintegrations detected by the counter. The probability for
exactly 3 counts, that is, for n* = 3, we have p* = p = 0.32 0.154 = 0.049; and, q* = 1 - p* =
0.951. The probability of observing exactly 3 counts is,
10
10!
P *3 p *3 q *7
(0.049) 3 (0.951) 7 0.00993.
3
3
!
(
10
3
)!

*A combination is a way of selecting members from a grouping, such that (unlike permutations)
the order of selection does not matter.
* The notion of permutation relates to the act of permuting, or rearranging, members of a set
into a particular sequence or order (unlike combinations, which are selections that disregard
order). The number of such k-permutations of n is denoted variously by such symbols
n
as n Pk, Pk, Pn,k, or P(n,k), and its value is given by the product
which is 0 when k > n, and otherwise is equal to
(b) The expected number of counts * is:

* = Np* = 100.049 = 0.490.
This is the expected number of counts in 3 h. [With = 1.00, * = = Np = 1.54. The ratio */ is
the average fraction of disintegrating atoms that get counted, that is, the counter efficiency, .]
1
(c) The expected count rate for t = 3 h is rc = */t = 0.490/(3 h) = 0.163 h .

1
(d) The average disintegration rate for t = 3 h is rd = */t = (0.163 h )/0.32 = 0.509 h .
(e) The standard deviation of the count rate is,
Np*q*
10 0.049 0.951
0.228h 1 .
t
3h
cr
(f) The standard deviation of the disintegration rate is cr = cr/ = 0.713 h . (Wrong?)
(g) The actual disintegration rate, which would be equal to the count rate if = 1.00, is
rd
Np 10 0.154
0.513h 1
t
3h
The standard deviation is then
Npq
10 0.154 0.846
0.380 h 1
t
3h
dr
Poisson
When N1, Nn, and p1, the binomial distribution are given to a very good approximation by
the Poisson distribution:
Pn
ne
n!
where = Np is the mean of the Poisson distribution. The standard deviation of the Poisson
distribution is the square root of the mean:
Generally, the Poisson distribution describes the number of successes for any random process
whose probability is small (p1) and constant.
Example
42
More realistically, consider a K source with an activity of 37 Bq (= 1 nCi). The source is placed in
a counter, having an efficiency of 100%, and the numbers of counts in one-second intervals are
registered.
(a) What is the mean disintegration rate?
(b) Calculate the standard deviation of the disintegration rate.
(c) What is the probability that exactly 40 counts will be observed in any second?
Solution
1
(a) The mean disintegration rate is the given activity, = 37 s .

(b) The standard deviation is
37 6.08s 1
(c) The probability of exactly 40 disintegrations occurring in a given second is,
ne
P40
n!
37 40 e 37
0.0559
40!
Gaussian (Normal)
The binomial and Poisson distributions become similar and tend to approach the shape of a
normal, or Gaussian, distribution as p gets small and N gets large. The distribution can be written
as the probability density for the continuous random variable x:
f ( x)
2
2
1
e ( x ) / 2 .
2
The probability that x lies between x and x+dx is f(x)dx. right. The binomial and Poisson practically
match the normal distribution when = 30 (lower left panel). The probability that x has a value
between x1 and x2 is equal to the area under the curve f(x) between these two values:
P( x1 x x2 )
1
2
x2
x1
e ( x )
/ 2 2
dx .
For computational purposes, it is convenient to transform the normal distribution, which

depends on the two parameters and , into a single, universal form. The standard normal
distribution, having zero mean and unit standard deviation, is obtained by making the
substitution
Then (dx = dz)
P( z1 z z 2 )
c.
1
2
z2
z1
e z / 2 dz .
2
Error propagation
The way in which random errors in individual variables are combined to estimate the resulting
random error in a derived quantity is commonly called error propagation.
2.
d.
pdf transforms Monte Carlo (?)
e.
Linked ODEs Laplace transforms, STELLA, et al. (?)
f.
Special functions Bessel, F1s, E1, E2, etc.; Method of Forbenius (?)
Operational quantities and units

a.
Quality factors (radiation weighting factors)
Reference: National Nuclear Security Administration. Qualification Standard Reference Guide

Radiation Protection, p.27
The probability of stochastic radiation effects depends not only on the absorbed dose, but also
on the type and energy of the radiation causing the dose. This is considered by weighting the
absorbed dose with a factor related to the radiation quality. In the past this factor was known as
the quality factor.
Quality factor(Q), now known as the radiation weighting factor, (WR) means the modifying factor
used to calculate the equivalent dose from the average tissue or organ absorbed dose; the
absorbed dose (expressed in rad or gray) is multiplied by the appropriate radiation weighting
factor.
Q depends on radiation energy, which is based on LET (Linear Energy Transfer). WR depends on
radiation type and energy, which is based on RBE (Relative Biological Effectiveness)
LET: the rate at which energy is transferred from ionizing radiation to soft tissue, expressed in
terms of kiloelectron volts per micrometer (keV/m) of track length in soft tissue. The LET of
diagnostic x-rays is about 3 keV/m, whereas the LET of 5 MeV alpha particles is 100 keV/m
RBE: the ratio of biological effectiveness of one type of ionizing radiation relative to another,
given the same amount of absorbed energy. The RBE is an empirical value that varies depending
on the particles, energies involved, and which biological effects are deemed relevant. It is a set of
experimental measurements.
b. Dose equivalent (equivalent dose)

Dose equivalent, now known as equivalent dose (HT), means the product of average absorbed
dose (DT) in a tissue or organ (T) and a radiation (R) weighting factor(wR).
c.
Effective dose (effective dose equivalent)

Effective dose equivalent, now known as effective dose, means the summation of the products of
the equivalent dose received by specified tissues or organs of the body (HT) and the appropriate
tissue weighting factor (WT) that is, E = WTHT.
The ICRU protection quantities are mean absorbed dose in tissues or organs, equivalent dose in
tissues or organs, and effective dose.
d. Ambient dose equivalent
The ambient dose equivalent, H*(d), at a point P in a radiation field is the dose equivalent that
would be produced by the expanded and aligned field in the ICRU sphere at a depth d on the
radius opposing the direction of that field. For strongly penetrating radiation, the ICRU
recommends a depth d = 10 mm and, for weakly penetrating radiation, d = 0.07 mm for the skin
and d = 3 mm for the eye. (By convention, the ICRU specifies the depths d in mm.) Measurement
of H*(d) generally requires that the radiation field be uniform over the dimensions of the
instrument and that the instrument have isotropic response.
Directional dose equivalent

The directional dose equivalent, H(d, ), at P is the dose equivalent that would be produced by
the expanded field at a depth d on a radius specified by the direction . The same
recommendations are made for d as with H*(d). Measurement of H(d, ) requires that the
radiation field be uniform over the dimensions of the instrument and that the instrument have
the required directional response with respect to .
The third operational quantity, which does not involve the ICRU sphere, is defined for individual
monitoring:
The personal dose equivalent, Hp(d), is the dose equivalent in soft tissue at a depth d below a
specified point in the body. For weakly penetrating radiation, depths d = 0.07 mm and d = 3 mm
are recommended for the skin and eye. For strongly penetrating radiation, d = 10 mm is to be
used. The personal dose equivalent Hp(d) can be measured by a calibrated detector, worn at the
surface of the body and covered with the appropriate thickness of tissue-equivalent material.
The quantities Hp(10) and Hp(0.07) are, respectively, associated with the regulatory assessments
of the deep and shallow dose equivalents for an individual.
e.
Others
Operational quantities
Reference: S. Mattsson and C. Hoeschen (eds.), Radiation Protection in Nuclear Medicine, pp.914.
The human body-related protection quantities, equivalent dose in an organ/tissue and effective
dose, are not measurable. To overcome these practical difficulties for external photon irradiation,
ICRU has introduced and defined a set of operational quantities, which can be measured and
which are intended to provide a reasonable estimate for the protection quantities. These
quantities aim to provide a conservative estimate for the value of the protection quantity
avoiding both underestimation and too much overestimation. The operational quantities are
based on point doses determined at defined locations in defined phantoms. One such phantom is
3
the ICRU-sphere. It is a sphere of 30 cm diameter with a density of 1 g/cm and a mass

composition of 76.2% oxygen, 11.1% carbon, 10.1% hydrogen and 2.6% nitrogen.
For conceptual simplicity and for practicality of measurement, the operational quantities are
defined (ICRU Report 39) as point functions, i.e. their values at a specified point depend only on
the radiation field at this point. Nevertheless, they are related to an extended, remotely
anthropomorphic phantomthe ICRU-sphere. To resolve this apparent contradiction, the
somewhat artificial concept of an expanded field is required; it is the uniform radiation field that
agrees with the actual field at the specified point. The principal quantity for area monitoring is,
moreover, designed to be independent of the angular distribution of the radiation field, which
requires the further abstraction of an aligned, expanded field. This is the uniform, unidirectional
field that has the same fluence distribution as the expanded field; see Fig. 2.3.
3.
Instrumentation and Measurements

a.
Electronics
Reference: Detectors and Nuclear Electronics in Medical Imaging BMD, Available at

http://www.particle.kth.se/teaching/SH102V/Aug-2006BMD%20Detlab.pdf
Most detectors can be represented as a capacitor into which a charge is deposited. By applying
HV on the anode of the PM tube, or detector bias on a solid state detector, an electric field is
created which causes the charges to migrate and be collected. During the charge collection a
small current flows and the voltage drop across a resistor is the pulse voltage. The amplitude of
this pulse is proportional to the absorbed energy of the radiation and its measurement is the goal
of the analysis.
Preamplifier: amplifies the often weak detector pulses for transmission over long
distances, and shapes it for subsequent processing
Amplifier: conforms the preamplifier pulse for best energy information (area, amplitude)
Pulse height analysis
A Single Channel Analyzer, SCA, has a lower and an upper level discriminator,
and produces an output logic pulse whenever an input pulse falls between the
discriminator levels.
The Multichannel Analyzer, MCA, collects pulses in all voltage ranges at once
and displays this information in real time, providing a major improvement over
SCA spectrum analysis.
b. Counting
i. Plastic scintillators
Scintillation
When radiation loses energy in a luminescent material, called a scintillator or phosphor,
it causes electronic transitions to excited states in the material. The excited states decay
by emitting photons, which can be observed and related quantitatively to the action of
the radiation. If the decay of the excited state is rapid (10
or 10
s), the process is
called fluorescence; if it is slower, the process is called phosphorescence.

Scintillators employed for radiation detection are usually surrounded by reflecting
surfaces to trap as much light as possible. The light is fed into a photomultiplier tube for
generation of an electrical signal. There a photosensitive cathode converts a fraction of
the photons into photoelectrons, which are accelerated through an electric field toward
another electrode, called a dynode. In striking the dynode, each electron ejects a
number of secondary electrons, giving rise to electron multiplication.
These secondary electrons are then accelerated through a number of additional dynode
7
10
stages (e.g., 10), achieving electron multiplication in the range 10 -10 . The magnitude
of the final signal is proportional to the scintillator light output, which, under the right
conditions, is proportional to the energy loss that produced the scintillation.
Good scintillator materials should have a number of characteristics. They should
efficiently convert the energy deposited by a charged particle or photon into detectable
light. The efficiency of a scintillator is defined as the fraction of the energy deposited
that is converted into visible light. The highest efficiency, about 13%, is obtained with
sodium iodide. A good scintillator should also have a linear energy response; that is, the
constant of proportionality between the light yield and the energy deposited should be
independent of the particle or photon energy. The luminescence should be rapid, so
that pulses are generated quickly and high count rates can be resolved. The scintillator
should also be transparent to its own emitted light. Finally, it should have good optical
quality for coupling to a light pipe or photomultiplier tube. The choice of a particular
scintillation detector represents a balancing of these factors for a given application. Two
types of scintillators, organic and inorganic, are used in radiation detection.
Organic Scintillators
Fluorescence in organic materials results from transitions in individual molecules.
Incident radiation causes electronic excitations of molecules into discrete states, from
which they decay by photon emission. Since the process is molecular, the same
fluorescence can occur with the organic scintillator in the solid, liquid, or vapor state.
Fluorescence in an inorganic scintillator, on the other hand, depends on the existence of
a regular crystalline lattice.
Organic scintillators are available in a variety of forms. Anthracene and stilbene are the
most common organic crystalline scintillators, anthracene having the highest efficiency
of any organic material. Organic scintillators can be polymerized into plastics. Liquid
scintillators (e.g., xylene, toluene) are often used and are practical when large volumes
are required. Radioactive samples can be dissolved or suspended in them for highefficiency counting. Liquid scintillators are especially suited for measuring soft beta rays,
14
such as those from C or H.

Compared with inorganic scintillators, organic materials have much faster response, but
generally yield less light. Because of their low-Z constituents, there are little or no
photoelectric peaks in gamma-ray pulse-height spectra without the addition of high-Z
elements. Organic scintillators are generally most useful for measuring alpha and beta
rays and for detecting fast neutrons through the recoil protons produced.
Plastic scintilator
The term "plastic scintillator" typically refers to a scintillating material in which the
primary fluorescent emitter, called a fluor, is suspended in the base, a solid polymer
matrix. While this combination is typically accomplished through the dissolution of the
fluor prior to bulk polymerization, the fluor is sometimes associated with the polymer
directly, either covalently or through coordination, as is the case with many Li 6 plastic
scintillators. The advantages of plastic scintillators include fairly high light output and a
relatively quick signal, with a decay time of 24 nanoseconds, but perhaps the biggest
advantage of plastic scintillators is their ability to be shaped, through the use of molds
or other means, into almost any desired form with what is often a high degree of
durability. Plastic scintillators are known to show light output saturation when the
energy density is large.
Inorganic Scintillators
Inorganic scintillator crystals are made with small amounts of activator impurities to
increase the fluorescence efficiency and to produce photons in the visible region. As
shown in Fig. 10.28, the crystal is characterized by valence and conduction bands, as
described in Section 10.2. The activator provides electron energy levels in the forbidden
gap of the pure crystal. When a charged particle interacts with the crystal, it promotes
electrons from the valence band into the conduction band, leaving behind positively
charged holes. A hole can drift to an activator site and ionize it. An electron can then
drop into the ionized site and form an excited neutral impurity complex, which then
decays with the emission of a visible photon. Because the photon energies are less than
the width of the forbidden gap, the crystal does not absorb them.
ii. Proportional counters
Reference: Proportional counters, Available at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proportional_counter
The proportional counter is a type of gaseous ionization detector device used to

measure particles of ionizing radiation. The key feature is its ability to measure the
energy of incident radiation, by producing a detector output that is proportional to the
radiation energy; hence the detector's name. It is widely used where energy levels of
incident radiation must be known, such as in the discrimination between alpha and beta
particles, or accurate measurement of X-ray radiation dose.
A proportional counter uses a combination of the mechanisms of a Geiger-Muller tube
and an ionization chamber, and operates in an intermediate voltage region between
these. The accompanying plot shows the proportional counter operating voltage region
for a co-axial cylinder arrangement.
Proportional counters can be used to detect different kinds of radiation and, under
suitable conditions, to measure radiation dose. A variety of gases, pressures, and tube
configurations are employed, depending on the intended purposes. Different probes
can be attached for different radiations (alpha, beta, gamma, and neutrons) and for
different purposes, such as general surveys, surface contamination monitoring, or air
monitoring. The basic control module, which contains extensive software, identifies the
attached probe and automatically adjusts for it.
th
Reference: Herman Cember. Health Physics. 4 edition, pp.430
The fact that the pulse size from a counter operating in the ionization chamber region
depends on the number of ions produced in the chamber makes it possible to use this
instrument to distinguish between radiations of different specific ionization, such as
alphas and betas or gammas. For example, an alpha particle that traverses the chamber
5
produces about 10 ion pairs, which corresponds to 1.6 10
-14
C. If the chamber
capacitance is 10 pF and if all the charges are collected, then the voltage pulse resulting
from the passage of this alpha will be
A beta particle, on the other hand, may produce about 1000 ion pairs within the
chamber. The resulting output pulse due to the beta particle will be only 1.610
V.
Amplification of these two pulses by a factor of 100 leads to pulses of 0.16 V for the
alpha and 0.0016 V for the beta. With the use of a discriminator in the scaler (or other
readout device), voltage pulses less than a certain predetermined size can be rejected;
only those pulses that exceed this size will be counted.
iii. Geiger-Mueller counters

th
Reference: Herman Cember. Health Physics. 4 edition, pp.432-434
Continuing to increase the high voltage beyond the proportional region will eventually
cause the avalanche to extend along the entire length of the anode. An avalanche across
the entire length of the anode is called a Townsend avalanche. When this happens, the
end of the proportional region is reached and the Geiger region begins. At this point, the
size of all pulses - regardless of the nature of the primary ionizing Particle - is the same.
When operated in the Geiger region, therefore, a counter cannot distinguish among the
several types of radiations. However, the very large output pulses (>0.25 V) that result
from the high gas amplification in a Geiger-Muller (GM) counter means either the
complete elimination of a pulse amplifier or use of an amplifier that does not have to
meet the exacting requirements of high pulse amplification. Since all the pulses in a GM
counter are about the same height, the pulse height is independent of energy
deposition in the gas.
Quenching a GM Counter
When the positive ions are collected after a pulse, they give up their kinetic energy by
striking the wall of the tube. Most of this kinetic energy is dissipated as heat. Some of it,
however, excites the atoms in the wall. In falling back to the ground state, these atoms
may lose their excitation energy by emitting ultraviolet (UV) photons. Since at this time
the electric field around the anode is reestablished to its full intensity, the interaction of
UV photons with the gas in the counter may initiate an avalanche, and thereby produce
a spurious count. Prevention of such spurious counts is called quenching.
Quenching may be accomplished either electronically, by lowering the anode voltage
after a pulse until all the positive ions have been collected, or chemically, by using a selfquenching gas. A self-quenching gas is one that can absorb the UV photons without
becoming ionized. One method of doing this is to introduce a small amount of an
organic vapor, such as alcohol or ether, into the tube. The energy from the UV photon is
then dissipated in dissociating the organic molecule. Such a tube is useful only as long as
it has a sufficient number of organic molecules for the quenching action. In practice, an
8
organic-vapor GM counter has a useful life of about 10 counts. Self-quenching also

results when the counting gas contains a trace of a halogen. In this case, the halogen
molecule does not dissociate after absorbing the energy from the UV photon. The useful
life of a halogen-quenched counter, therefore, is not limited by the number of pulses
that have been produced in it.
iv. Gas-flow counters
A proportional counter with its flowing filling gas continuously replaced by new gas.
Proportional-counter tubes may
be either of a sealed or gas-flow
type. As illustrated schematically
in Fig. 10.8, the latter type of
windowless counter is useful for
counting alpha and soft beta
particles, because the sample is in
direct contact with the counter
gas. Figure 10.9 displays such a
system
that
monitors
tritium
activity concentration in air. The

unit on the left regulates the
incoming blend of the counter gas
(methane or P-10, a mixture of 90% argon and 10% methane) with air, and also houses
the detector and associated electronics. The unit on the right analyzes and displays the
data. Single pulses of tritium beta particles (maximum energy 18.6 keV) are
differentiated from other events by pulse-shape discrimination.
v. Alpha spectrometers
Reference: Alpha spectrometry, Available at

http://www.epa.gov/safewater/radionuclides/training/transcripts/tutorial_4.4.pdf
Alpha particles lose their energy as a result of their attraction for electrons. The alpha
particle path length is very short in solids because of the density of electrons in solid
matter. Whenever the alpha particle interacts with an atom it creates an ion pair. The
larger the energy the alpha particle has, the more ion pairs it creates. Because all the
alpha particles are stopped by the detector, each one will create ion pairs that result in a
signal. The electronic size of that signal is called a pulse. The alpha spectrometer system
can distinguish between the different pulse sizes. The schematic shown here displays
how the alpha particles interact with the detector. The detector is covered with a very
thin gold foil. This is used to protect the crystal surface and provide an electrical contact
for the detection system. The gold foil is so thin, much less than one micrometer, that it
does not stop the alpha particles. All the energy of the alpha particles is dissipated by
producing electrons in the crystal. Higher energy alphas yield more electrons than
lower-energy alphas.
vi. NaI(Tl) detectors and spectrometers
Reference: James E. Turner. Atoms, Radiation, and Radiation Protection, pp. 269-272.
In terms of its efficient light yield, sodium iodide doped with thallium [NaI(Tl)] is almost
linear in its energy response. It can be machined into a variety of sizes and shapes.
Disadvantages are that it is hygroscopic and somewhat fragile. NaI has become a
standard scintillator material for gamma-ray spectroscopy.
Example
Monoenergetic 450-keV gamma rays are absorbed in a NaI(Tl) crystal having an
efficiency of 12%. Seventy-five percent of the scintillation photons, which have an
average energy of 2.8 eV, reach the cathode of a photomultiplier tube, which converts
20% of the incident photons into photoelectrons. Assume that variations in the pulse
heights from different gamma photons are due entirely to statistical fluctuations in the
number of visible photons per pulse that reach the cathode. (a) Calculate the average
number of scintillation photons produced per absorbed gamma photon. (b) How many
photoelectrons are produced, on the average, per gamma photon? (c) What is the
average energy expended by the incident photon to produce a photoelectron from the
cathode of the photomultiplier tube (the W value)? (d) Compare this value with the
average energy needed to produce an ion pair in a gas or a semiconductor.
Solution
(a) The total energy of the visible light produced with 12% efficiency is 450 keV 0.12 =
54.0 keV. The average number of scintillation photons is therefore 54,000/2.8 = 19,300.
(b) The average number of photons that reach the photomultiplier cathode is 0.75
19,300 = 14,500, and so the average number of photoelectrons that produce a pulse is
0.20 14,500 = 2900. (c) Since one 450-keV incident gamma photon produces an
average of 2900 photoelectrons that initiate the signal, the W value for the scintillator
1
is 450,000/2900 = 155 eV/photoelectron. (d) For gases, W ~ 30 eV ip ; and so the

average number of electrons produced by absorption of a photon would be about
1
450,000/30 = 15,000. For a semiconductor, W ~ 3 eVip and the corresponding number

of electrons would be 150,000. A W value of several hundred eV per electron
produced at the photocathode is typical for scintillation detectors.
vii. HPGe and spectrometers
Reference: Why High-Purity Germanium (HPGe) Radiation Detection Technology is

Superior to Other Detector Technologies for Isotope Identification, Available at
file:///C:/Users/eagertae.NE/Downloads/Why-High-Purity-Germanium-(HPGe)-
Radiation-Detection-Technology-Superior-Other-Detector-Technologies-IsotopeIdentification.pdf
HPGe detectors are made by highly refining the element germanium and growing it into
a crystal. The crystal goes through a series of processing steps culminating in the
attachment of positive and negative contacts which turn it into an electronic diode. The
special property of this diode is that it conducts current in proportion to the energy of a
photon (gamma ray) depositing energy in it. Due to its far superior resolution, HPGe is
the only radiation detection technology that provides sufficient information to
accurately and reliably identify radionuclides from their passive gamma ray emissions.
HPGe detectors have 20-30 times better resolution than NaI detectors. Also, unlike NaI
detectors, HPGe detectors are resistant to signal degradation caused by changes in
background radiation, shielding, multiple radionuclide interference, and temperature
variations.
Reference: Semiconductor detector, Available at

ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor_detector
Germanium detectors are mostly used for gamma spectroscopy in nuclear physics.
While silicon detectors cannot be thicker than a few millimeters, germanium can have a
depleted, sensitive thickness of centimeters, and therefore can be used as a total
absorption detector for gamma rays up to few MeV. These detectors are also called
high-purity germanium detectors (HPGe).
The major drawback of germanium detectors is that they must be cooled to liquid
nitrogen temperatures to produce spectroscopic data. At higher temperatures, the
electrons can easily cross the band gap in the crystal and reach the conduction band,
where they are free to respond to the electric field, producing too much electrical noise
to be useful as a spectrometer. Cooling to liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K) reduces
thermal excitations of valence electrons so that only a gamma ray interaction can give
an electron the energy necessary to cross the band gap and reach the conduction band.
Cooling with liquid nitrogen is inconvenient, as the detector requires hours to cool down
to operating temperature before it can be used, and cannot be allowed to warm up
during use. HPGe detectors can be allowed to warm up to room temperature when not
in use.
viii. Pulse shape discrimination
Reference: Scintillator, Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scintillator
Particle identification based on the decay characteristics of the PMT electric pulse. For
instance, when BaF2 is used, rays typically excite the fast component, while particles
excite the slow component: it is thus possible to identify them based on the decay time
of the PMT signal.
Pulse-height
with
discrimination
proportional
counters
affords an easy means for

detecting one kind of radiation
in the presence of another. For
example, to count a combined
alpha-beta source with an
arrangement like that in Fig.
10.8(a) or (b), one sets the
discriminator level so that only
pulses above a certain size are
registered. One then measures
the count rate at different operating voltages of the tube, leaving the discriminator level
set. The resulting count rate from the alphabeta source will have the general
characteristics shown in Fig. 10.10. At low voltages, only the most energetic alpha
particles will produce pulses large enough to be counted. Increasing the potential
difference causes the count rate to reach a plateau when essentially all of the alpha
particles are being counted. With a further increase in voltage, increased gas
multiplication enables pulses from the beta particles to surpass the discriminator level
and be counted. At still higher voltages, a steeper combined alphabeta plateau is
reached.
c.
Dosimetry
i. Film (Film Badge)
Film emulsions contain small crystals of a silver halide (e.g., AgBr), suspended in a
gelatine layer spread over a plastic or glass surface, wrapped in light-tight packaging.
Under the action of ionizing radiation, some secondary electrons released in the
emulsion become trapped in the crystalline lattice, reducing silver ions to atomic silver.
Continued trapping leads to the formation of microscopic aggregates of silver atoms,
which comprise the latent image. When developed, the latent images are converted
into metallic silver, which appears to the eye as darkening of the film. The degree of
darkening, called the optical density, increases with the amount of radiation absorbed.
An optical densitometer can be used to measure light transmission through the
developed film.
Doses from gamma and beta radiation can be inferred by comparing densitometer
readings from exposed film badges with readings from a calibrated set of films given
different, known doses under the same conditions. The darkening response of film to
neutrons, on the other hand, is too weak to be used in this way for neutron personnel
monitoring.
Film calibration and the use of densitometer readings to obtain dose would appear, in
principle, to be straightforward. In practice, however, the procedure is complicated by a
number of factors. First, the density produced in film from a given dose of radiation
depends on the emulsion type and the particular lot of the manufacturer. Second, firm
is affected by environmental conditions, such as exposure to moisture, and by general
aging. Elevated temperatures contribute to base fog in an emulsion before development.
Third, significant variations in density are introduced by the steps inherent in the filmdevelopment process itself. A serious problem of a different nature for dose
determination is presented by the strong response of film to low-energy photons.
Film badges are also used for personnel monitoring of beta radiation, for which there is
usually negligible energy dependence of the response. For mixed beta - gamma
radiation exposures, the separate contribution of the beta particles is assessed by
comparing (1) the optical density behind a suitable filter that absorbs them and (2) the
density through a neighboring open window. The latter consists only of the structural
material enclosing the film. Since beta particles have short ranges, a badge that has
been exposed to them alone will be darkened behind the open window, but not behind
the absorbing filter. Such a finding would also result from exposure to low-energy
photons. To distinguish these from beta particles, one can employ two additional filters,
one of high and the other of low atomic number, such as silver and aluminum. They
should have the same density thickness, so as to be equivalent beta-particle absorbers.
The high-Z filter will strongly absorb low energy photons, which are attenuated less by
the low-Z material. The presence of low-energy photons will contribute to a difference
in darkening behind the two.
Readings from badges worn by personnel were analyzed to provide a number of dose
quantities, as mandated by regulations, basically in the following ways. The optical
density behind the Cd-Au-Cd filter served as a measure of deep dose to tissues inside
the body. The thickness of the plastic filter plus the picture and film wrapper (300 mg
2
cm ) corresponded to the 3-mm depth specified for the lens of the eye. Assessment of
2
skin dose (specified at a depth of 7 mg cm ) was based on the Cd-Au-Cd reading and
the difference between the densities behind the window and the plastic filter.
The three rods were surrounded by different shields of lead, copper, and plastic.
Comparing their relative responses gave an indication of the effective energy of the
photons. The response of the glass rods would be potentially important for accidental
exposures to high-level radiation.
Multi-element film dosimeters for personnel monitoring became largely replaced by
thermoluminescent dosimeters (next section) during the 1980s.
ii. Thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD)
Reference: National Nuclear Security Administration. Qualification Standard Reference

Guide Radiation Protection, pp.32-56
Thermoluminescence (TL) is the ability of some materials to convert the energy from
radiation to a radiation of a different wavelength, normally in the visible light range.
There are two categories of thermoluminescence: fluorescence and phosphorescence.
Fluorescence
This is emission of light during or immediately after irradiation of the phosphor. This is
not a particularly useful reaction for thermoluminescent dosimetry (TLD) use. It is useful
for inorganic scintillator.
Phosphorescence
This is the emission of light after the irradiation period. The delay time can be from a
few seconds to weeks or months. This is the principle of operation used for TLD. The
property of thermoluminescence of some materials is the main method used for

personnel dosimeters at DOE facilities.
TLDs use phosphorescence as their means of detection of radiation. Electrons in some
solids can exist in two energy states, called the valence band and the conduction band.
The difference between the two bands is called the band gap. Electrons in the
conduction band or in the band gap have more energy than the valence band electrons.
Normally in a solid, no electrons exist in energy states contained in the band gap. This is
a forbidden region.
In some materials, defects in the material exist or impurities are added that can trap
electrons in the band gap and hold them there. These trapped electrons represent
stored energy for the time that the electrons are held, as shown below in figure 8. This
energy is given up if the electron returns to the valence band.
In most materials, this energy is given up as heat in the surrounding material, however,
in some materials a portion of energy is emitted as light photons. This property is called
luminescence. Heating of the TL material causes the trapped electrons to return to the
valence band. When this happens, energy is emitted in the form of visible light. The light
output is detected and measured by a photomultiplier tube and a dose equivalent is
then calculated. A typical basic TLD reader contains the following components:
Heater - raises the phosphor temperature
Photomultiplier tube - measures the light output
Meter/Recorder - display and record data
A glow curve can be obtained from the heating process. The light output from TL
material is not easily interpreted. Multiple peaks result as the material is heated and
electrons trapped in shallow traps are released. This results in a peak as these traps
are emptied. The light output drops off as these traps are depleted. As heating
continues, the electrons in deeper traps are released. This results in additional peaks.
Usually the highest peak is used to calculate the dose equivalent. The area under the
curve represents the radiation energy deposited on the TLD.
Thermoluminesent dosimeters can be processed by automated readout systems, which

can transfer results to a central computer system for dosimetry records. Computer
algorithms have been written to unfold the required dose assessments for individuals
from the readings obtained from the different chips. Laboratory accreditation is
provided through the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP).
Albedo Dosimeter
Reference: Radiation Protection Competency 1.3. p.RP 1.3-16
TLDs used to detect neutrons incorporate two isotopes of lithium, Li-6 and Li-7, both of
which are equally sensitive to gamma radiation. However, Li-6 has a large cross section
for the thermal neutron (n, ) reaction. Production of the alpha particle initiates the
thermoluminescence process that ultimately results in a measure of the dose due to
thermal neutrons; whereas, Li-7 is relatively insensitive to thermal neutrons. The Li-6
phosphor will read both neutron and gamma radiation interactions; whereas, the Li-7
phosphor will read only gamma interactions. Neutron dose is determined by subtracting
the Li-7 reading (r) from the Li-6 reading (n+r) and applying a conversion factor to the
difference.
The term albedo stands for reflecting. Some of the thermal neutrons detected by the Li6 are originally fast neutrons that interact with hydrogen in the body, are thermalized,
reflected or scattered off the body and detected. This makes the albedo dosimeter
position sensitive; therefore, it must be properly orientated. Because the neutrons can
be moderated to thermal energies, they are reflected from the body through the back of
the badge into the albedo dosimeter. Therefore, it is important to wear the dosimeter
extremely close to the body (on the flesh) to obtain accurate measurements. The front
of the badge is shielded with cadmium to reject external thermal neutrons.
iii. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL)
Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) shares some similarities and some contrasts
with thermoluminescence. A number of materials exhibit both phenomena. Under
irradiation, electrons become trapped in long-lived excited states of doped crystals.
With TLDs, dose is inferred from the amount of light emitted under thermal stimulation.
With OSL, the light emission is caused by optical stimulation. Reading a TLD empties all
of the trapped-electron states, erasing the primary record and returning the dosimeter
to its original condition for reuse. Reading with OSL, on the other hand, depletes
relatively little of the stored charge, essentially preserving the primary record and
enabling the dosimeter to be read again. The variable stimulation power with OSL can
be used to advantage to achieve sensitivity over a wide range of doses.
Although a decades-old idea, practical use of OSL for dosimetry became a reality with
the development of the Luxel personnel dosimeters by Landau, Inc. in the late 1990s.
The detector material is aluminum oxide, grown in the presence of carbon, Al2O3 : C.
(Crystals with different dopants can be fabricated for specialized applications.) Figure
10.40 displays a Luxel dosimeter. A thin Al2O3 strip is sandwiched between a multielement, sealed filter pack. As with film and TLD, the different filters are used to provide
specific information about mixed radiation fields for personnel dose assessment. The
individual read outs are fed into a computer algorithm that estimates the regulatory
deep and shallow doses. Neutron dose assessment can be added by the inclusion of an
optional CR-39 detector in the dosimeter, which is analyzed by track etching and
counting.
Landauer employs two dosimeter read-out methods. Since the induced light emitted
from the detector must be measured in the presence of the stimulating light, it is
essential that the two light sources not be mixed. In one method, the stimulation is
caused by a pulsed laser and the emission signal is read between pulses. The other
method employs continuous stimulation by light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or CW
(continuous-wave) laser, and the measurement of the light emitted from the detector at
wavelengths outside the LED or laser spectrum. The pulsed system is more expensive
and more complex, but considerably faster than the continuous-stimulation method.
iv. Ion chambers (Ionization chamber)
Reference: Ionization chamber, Available at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionization_chamber
The ionization chamber is the simplest of all gas-filled radiation detectors, and is widely
used for the detection and measurement of certain types of ionizing radiation; X-rays,
gamma rays and beta particles. Conventionally, the term "ionization chamber" is used
exclusively to describe those detectors which collect all the charges created by direct
ionization within the gas through the application of an electric field. It only uses the
discrete charges created by each interaction between the incident radiation and the gas,
and does not involve the gas multiplication mechanisms used by other radiation
instruments, such as the Geiger-Muller counter or the proportional counter.
Ion chambers have a good uniform response to radiation over a wide range of energies
and are the preferred means of measuring high levels of gamma radiation.
Free-Air Ionization Chamber

Based on its definition, exposure can be measured operationally with the free-air, or
standard, ionization chamber, sketched in Fig. 12.1. X rays emerge from the target T of
an X-ray tube and enter the free-air chamber through a circular aperture of area A,
defining a right circular cone TBC of rays. Parallel plates Q and Q in the chamber collect
the ions produced in the volume of air between them with center P.
The exposure in the volume DEFG in roentgens would be determined directly if the total
ionization produced only by those ions that originate from X-ray interactions in the
truncated conical volume DEFG could be collected and the resulting charge divided by
the mass of air in DEFG. This mass is given by M= AL, where is the density of air, A is
the cross-sectional area of the truncated cone at its midpoint P, and L, the thickness of
the cone, is equal to the length of the collecting plates Q and Q . Unfortunately, the
plates collect all of the ions between them, not the particular set that is specified in the
definition of the roentgen. Some electrons produced by X-ray interactions in DEFG
escape this volume and produce ions that are not collected by the plates Q,Q. Also,
some ions from electrons originally produced outside DEFG are collected. Thus, only
part of the ionization of an electron such as e1 in Fig. 12.1 is collected, while ionization
from an outside electron, such as e2, is collected. When the distance from P to DG is
sufficiently large (e.g., ~ 10 cm for 300-keV X rays), electronic equilibrium will be realized;
that is, there will be almost exact compensation between ionization lost from the
volume DEFG by electrons, such as e1, that escape and ionization gained from electrons,
such as e2, that enter. The distance from P to DG, however, should not be so large as to
attenuate the beam significantly between P and P. Under these conditions, when a
charge q is collected, the exposure at P is given by
When the photon energy is increased, the minimum distance required for electronic
equilibrium increases rapidly and the dimensions for a free-air chamber become
excessively large for photons of high energy. For this and other reasons, the free-air
ionization chamber and the roentgen are not used for photon energies above 3 MeV.
Example
The entrance port of a free-air ionization chamber has a diameter of 0.25 cm and the
length of the collecting plates is 6 cm. Exposure to an X-ray beam produces a steady
10
current of 2.610
A for 30 s. The temperature is 26 C and the pressure is 750 torr.
Calculate the exposure rate and the exposure.

Solution
We can apply Eq. (12.7) to exposure rates as well as to exposure. The rate of charge
collection is q = 2.610
10
10
A = 2.610
Cs . The density of the air under the stated
conditions is = (0.00129)(273/299)(750/760) = 1.16 10 g cm . The entrance port

3
area is A = (0.125) = 4.91 10

2
cm and L = 6 cm. Equation (12.7) implies, for the
exposure rate,
-1
The total exposure is 88.5 R (2.95 R s 30 s).
The Air-Wall Chamber

The free-air ionization chamber is not a practical instrument for measuring routine
exposure. It is used chiefly as a primary laboratory standard. For routine use, chambers
can be built with walls of a solid material, having photon response properties similar to
those of air.
Such an air-wall pocket chamber, built as a capacitor, is shown schematically in Fig.
12.2. A central anode, insulated from the rest of the chamber, is given an initial charge
from a charger-reader device to which it is attached before wearing. When exposed to
photons, the secondary electrons liberated in the walls and enclosed air tends to
neutralize the charge on the anode and lower the potential difference between it and
the wall. The change in potential difference is directly proportional to the total
ionization produced and hence to the exposure. Thus, after exposure to photons,
measurement of the change in potential difference from its original value when the
chamber was fully charged can be used to find the exposure. Directreading pocket ion
chambers are available.
In practice, air-wall ionization chambers involve a number of compromises from an ideal

instrument that measures exposure accurately. For example, if the wall is too thin,
incident photons will produce insufficient ionization inside the chamber. If the wall is
too thick, it will significantly attenuate the incident radiation. The optimal thickness is
reached when, for a given photon field, the ionization in the chamber gas is a maximum.
This value, called the equilibrium wall thickness, is equal to the range of the most
energetic secondary electrons produced in the wall. In addition, a solid wall can be only
approximately air equivalent. Air-wall chambers can be made with an almost energyindependent response from a few hundred keV to about 2 MeV-the energy range in
which Compton scattering is the dominant photon interaction in air and low-Z wall
materials.
Example
A pocket air-wall chamber has a volume of 2.5 cm3 and a capacitance of 7 pF. Initially
charged at 200 V, the reader showed a potential difference of 170 V after the chamber
was worn. What exposure in roentgens can be inferred?
Solution
v. Others
Direct Ion Storage (DIS)
The direct ion storage (DIS) dosimeter is based on the combination of an ion chamber
and a non-volatile electronic charge storage element. This allows a new type passive
dosimeter to be constructed with dosimetric characteristics ideally suited for measuring
the Hp(10) and Hp(0.07) operational quantities.
The basic design of the direct ion storage dosimeter gives it the flat energy response of
an ionization chamber. It has instant, non-destructive read-out. The dosimeter with its
reader is rugged, light (20 g without holder), and waterproof. It measures photon dose
equivalent in the range 140 Sv and beta dose equivalent from 10 Sv40 Sv.
Radiophotoluminescence
The film badge contained three silver meta-phosphate glass rods to measure large
photon doses (100 rad = 1 Gy), as might occur in an accident. Energy absorbed from
the ionizing radiation leads to the migration of electrons to permanent sites associated
with the silver in the glass. As a result, new absorption frequencies are produced, and
the glass will fluoresce under exposure to ultraviolet light. The fluorescence yield can
then be compared with calibrated standards to infer dose. Since the fluorescence does
not change the glass, the read-out is nondestructive. Although radiophotoluminescence
has been used for routine personnel dosimetry, it has generally been limited to highdose applications.
Chemical Dosimeters
Radiation produces chemical changes. One of the most widely studied chemical
detection systems is the Fricke dosimeter, in which ferrous ions in a sulfate solution are
oxidized by the action of radiation. As in all aqueous chemical dosimeters, radiation
interacts with water to produce free radicals (e.g., H and OH), which are highly reactive.
2+
3+
The OH radical, for example, can oxidize the ferrous ion directly: Fe + OHFe + OH .
After irradiation, aqueous chemical dosimeters can be analyzed by titration or light
absorption. The useful range of the Fricke dosimeter is from about 40 to 400 Gray (Gy).
The dose measurements are accurate and absolute. The aqueous system approximates
soft tissue.
Calorimetry
The energy imparted to matter from radiation is usually efficiently converted into heat.
(Radiation energy can also be expended in nuclear transformations and chemical
changes.) If the absorber is thermally insulated, as in a calorimeter, then the

temperature rise can be used to infer absorbed dose absolutely. However, a relatively
large amount of radiation is required for calorimetric measurements. An absorbed
1
energy of 4180 J kg (= 4180 Gy) in water raises the temperature only 1C. Because they
are relatively insensitive, calorimetric methods in dosimetry have been employed
primarily for high-intensity radiation beams, such as those used for radiotherapy.
Calorimetric methods are also utilized for the absolute calibration of source strength.
Cerenkov Detectors
When a charged particle travels in a medium faster than light, it emits visible
electromagnetic radiation, analogous to the shock wave produced in air at supersonic
velocities. The speed of light in a medium with index of refraction n is given by c/n,
where c is the speed of light in a vacuum. Letting v = c represent the speed of the
particle, we can express the condition for the emission of Cerenkov radiation as c > c/n,
or n > 1.
The familiar blue glow seen coming from a reactor core is Cerenkov radiation, emitted
by energetic beta particles traveling faster than light in the water.
Cerenkov detectors are employed to observe high-energy particles. The emitted
radiation can also be used to measure high-energy beta-particle activity in aqueous
samples.
d. Portable survey instruments (Survey meter)
Reference: Survey meter, Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survey_meter
Survey meters are portable radiation detection and measurement instruments used to check
personnel, equipment and facilities for radioactive contamination or to measure external or
ambient ionizing radiation fields (to evaluate the direct exposure hazard). The hand-held survey
meter is probably the most familiar radiation measuring device to society owing to its wide and
highly visible use.
The most commonly used hand-held survey meters are the scintillation counter, which sees use
in the measurement of alpha, beta and neutron particles; the Geiger counter, widely used for the
measurement of alpha, beta and gamma levels; and the ion chamber, which is used for beta,
gamma and X-ray measurements.
The instruments are designed to be hand-held, are battery powered and of low mass to allow
easy manipulation. Other features include an easily readable display, in counts or radiation dose,
and an audible indication of the count rate. This is usually the click associated with the Geiger
type instrument, and can also be an alarm warning sound when a rate of radiation counts or
dose has been exceeded. For dual channel detectors such as the scintillation detector it is normal
to generate different sounds for alpha and beta. This gives the operator rapid feedback on both
the level of radiation and the type of particle being detected. These features allow the user to
concentrate on manipulation of the meter whilst having auditory feedback of the rate of
radiation detected. Meters can be fully integrated with probe and processing electronics in one
housing to allow single-handed use, or have separate detector probe and electronics housings,
joined by a signal cable. This latter is preferred for checking of convoluted surfaces for
radioactive contamination due to the ease of manipulating the probe.
The readout for alpha and beta radiation is normally in counts, whilst that for gamma and X-ray is
normally in a reading of radiation dose. The SI unit for this latter is the Sievert. There is no simple
universal conversion from count rate to dose rate, as it depends on the particle type, its energy,
and the characteristic of the sensor. Count rate therefore tends to be used as a value which has
been calculated for a particular application for use as a comparator or against an absolute alarm
threshold. A dose instrument may be subsequently used if a dose reading is required. To help
with this some instruments have both dose and count rate displays.
The user must have an awareness of the types of radiation to be encountered so that the correct
instrument is used. A further complication is the possible presence of "mixed radiation fields"
where more than one form of radiation is present. Many instruments are sensitive to more than
one type of radiation; alpha and beta, or beta and gamma, for instance, and the operator must
know how to discriminate between these. The necessary skills in using a hand-held instrument
are not only to manipulate the instrument, but also to interpret results of the rate of radiation
exposure and the type of radiation being detected.
For instance, a Gieger end-window instrument cannot discriminate between alpha and beta, but
moving the detector away from the source of radiation will reveal a drop off in alpha as the
detector tube must normally be within 10mm of the alpha source to obtain a reasonable
counting efficiency. The operator can now deduce that both alpha and beta is present. Likewise
for a beta/gamma geiger instrument, the beta may have an effect at a range in the order of
metres, depending on the energy of the beta, which may give rise to the false assumption that
only gamma is being detected, but if a sliding shield type detector is used, the beta can be
shielded out manually, leaving only the gamma reading.
For this reason, an instrument such as the dual phosphor scintillation probe, which will
discriminate between alpha and beta, is used where routine checking will come across alpha and
beta emitters simultaneously. This type of counter is known as "dual channel" and can
discriminate between radiation types and give separate readouts for each.
However, scintillation probes can be affected by high gamma background levels, which must
therefore be checked by the skilled operator to allow the instrument to compensate. A common
technique is to remove the counter from any proximity to alpha and beta emitters and allow a
"background" count of gamma. The instrument can then subtract this in subsequent readings.
In dose survey work Gieger counters are often just used to locate sources of radiation, and an ion
chamber instrument is then used to obtain a more accurate measurement owing to their better
accuracy and capability of counting higher dose rates.
In summary, there are a variety of instrument features and techniques to help the operator to
work correctly, but the use by a skilled operator is necessary to ensure reliable results.
4.
Regulations
a.
Guidance from ICRP and NCRP

i. Foundations for recommendations
The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements is a nonprofit

corporation chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1964. One of its most important charges is
the dissemination of information and recommendations on radiation in the public
interest. It is also charged with the scientific development, evaluation, and application
of basic radiation concepts, measurements, and units. The NCRP maintains close
working relationships with a large number of organizations, nationally and
internationally, that are dedicated to various facets of radiation research, protection,

and administration. The Council has approximately 100 members, who serve six-year
terms. It has a number of scientific committees, representing virtually all areas of any
significance related to radiological protection. The committees are composed of
selected experts, who draft recommendations. All recommendations are submitted to
the full Council for review, comment, and approval before publication.
The International Commission on Radiological Protection was established in 1928. It has

close official relationships with a number of international organizations that include the
International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU), the
International Atomic Energy Agency, and the World Health Organization. The
Commission consists of a Chairman and twelve members. It draws upon a wide
spectrum of scientific expertise from outside as well as from its own committees and
task groups. Like the NCRP, the ICRP has no legal authority. Recommendations of the
two bodies-one for the United States and the other internationally-are made to provide
guidance for the setting of radiation protection criteria, standards, practices, and limits
by other (regulatory) agencies. The NCRP and ICRP maintain a close, but independent,
relationship. A number of scientists are active in both groups. As we shall see, both the
NCRP and ICRP have adopted similar recommendations.
The development and promulgation of recommended radiation-protection criteria is an

active and continuing responsibility of both organizations. As more is learned about
radiation in its various aspects and about the ever changing needs of society, the basic
premises of their work remain under constant study and evaluation. At the time of this
writing, the latest recommendations of the ICRP for exposure limits are given in its
Publication 60, issued in 1991. Those of the NCRP are contained in its Report No. 116,
issued in 1993. These two documents are very similar, though not identical. Both
introduce almost the same revised dosimetric concepts, which replace a number of
those in the dose-equivalent system then in general use. Whereas current radiation
protection in the U.S. continues to be regulated under the dose-equivalent system, the
newer ICRP/NCRP dose quantities are largely employed elsewhere throughout the world
today. In practical terms, both systems work in maintaining exposures not only well
below acceptable limits, but at low levels in keeping with the ALARA principle.
At the time of this writing (2007), the ICRP has before it a major new draft statement,
the 2007 ICRP Recommendations. While the numerical limits in Publication 60
continue to be indorsed as providing an appropriate level of protection for normal

operations, fundamental changes are proposed in certain concepts and approaches to
radiation protection
ii. Risk-based recommendations
Risk estimates for cancer and genetic effects from radiation have been studied by a
number of organizations, which include the ICRP, NCRP, the Radiation Effects Research
Foundation, the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation
(UNSCEAR), the National Radiological Protection Board of the United Kingdom, and the
National Academy of SciencesNational Research Council in the United States. Based on
these studies, the ICRP in Publication 60 and the NCRP in Report No. 116 concluded that
it is appropriate to use for the nominal lifetime fatal cancer risks for low-dose and lowdose-rate exposure the values 4.0 10 Sv for an adult worker population and 5.0
2
10 Sv for a population of all ages. The implied unit of the stated risks is per sievert
equivalent dose. These numbers reflect risk estimates that are lower by about a factor
of 2 compared with data from high doses and high dose rates. That is, a dose and doserate effectiveness factor (DDREF) of about 2 was used.
iii. Detriment and aggregated detriment
The detriment from radiation exposure must include other deleterious effects in
addition to fatal cancer. The detriments from nonfatal cancers were estimated by the
2
ICRP and NCRP to be 0.8 10
Sv
for workers and 1.0 10
Sv
for the whole

1
population. Those for severe genetic effects were, respectively, 0.810 Sv and 1.3
2
10 Sv . The total detriments (equivalent fatal cancer risks) were then 5.6 10 Sv
2
for a working population and 7.3 10 Sv for a population of all ages. A summary of
these figures is given in Table 14.3. The ICRP and NCRP referred to these quantities as
probability coefficients, preferring to employ the term risk for the abstract concept
rather than a numerical value of the quantity.
The data embodied in Table 14.3 provided the foundation for the protection limits
recommended in ICRP Publication 60 and NCRP Report No. 116. They reflect cancer
incidence, adjusted for lethality, and heritable effects. Subsequent studies by the ICRP
have led to some revision in the totals given in the last line of Table 14.3 to values of
2
4.910 Sv and 6.510 Sv , respectively, for workers and for the general population,
2
in place of 5.6 10 Sv and 7.3 10 Sv .
b. 10CFR20 and 10CFR835 regulations
Reference: Joseph John Bevelacqua. Health Physics in the 21st Century, p.117
In the United States, The Code of Federal Regulations Title 10, Parts 20 and 835, prescribes
explicit requirements for worker protection, public protection, and ALARA. Part 20 applies to U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensees and Part 835 applies to U.S. Department of Energy
licensees.
c.
10CFR20 (2007) Standards for Protection Against Radiation
10CFR835 (2007) Occupational Radiation Protection
ALARA considerations
th
Reference: Herman Cember. Health Physics. 4 edition, pp.346, 571
The system of dose limitation recommended by the ICRP is founded on three basic tenets stated
in its Publication 26 and reiterated in its Publication 60:
1.
Justification - No practice shall be adopted unless its introduction produces a net

positive benefit. It should be pointed out that justification is a societal decision, not a
radiation decision.
2.
Optimization - All exposures shall be kept as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA),

economic and social factors being taken into account.
3.
Dose limitation - The dose equivalent to individuals shall not exceed the limits
recommended for the appropriate circumstances by the Commission.
It should be emphasized that the second point above urges that actual operational dose limits for
any radiological activity be more restrictive than the maximum recommended dose limit. This
means that processes, equipment (such as shielding, ventilation, etc.), and other operational
factors should be designed so that workers do not exceed the operational dose limit, which is
usually much smaller than the maximum recommended dose limit. This operating philosophy is
known as the ALARA concept. To apply the ALARA concept, the ICRP recommends that costbenefit analyses of alternative lower operational dose limits be made, and then that level of
radiation protection be selected that optimizes the cost of the detrimental effects of the
radiation versus the benefits to be derived from the radiation practice. Since economic and social
factors must be considered in implementing ALARA, it is clear that widely differing
interpretations can be made by equally competent authorities on what is as low as reasonably
achievable. In the United States, the official interpretation is made by the U.S. NRC and is
published in the Regulatory Guide series.
Societal benefits and detriments from radiological activities usually are not uniformly distributed
among all members of society. Furthermore, different members and segments of society may be
exposed to radiation from several different sources. The ICRP, therefore, recommends
restrictions, or constraints, on radiation sources to try to ensure that no member of the general
public will exceed the maximum dose.
Optimization
According to ICRP recommendations, and recommended maximum dose limits notwithstanding,
operations involving exposure to ionizing radiation should be designed so that any unnecessary
exposure should be avoided and that all exposures shall be kept as low as reasonably
achievable (ALARA), economic and social factors being taken into account. Because the ICRP
radiation safety recommendations are based on a zero-threshold dose-response model, and
because we do not have infinite resources to commit to radiation safety, the ICRP went on to
recommend that this ALARA principle be implemented on the basis of optimization of radiation
protection efforts. Optimization is the attainment of a balance between the radiation safety
benefits obtained from the resources committed to radiation safety and benefits obtained by
committing these resources to other avenues. This method of costbenefit optimization is
illustrated in Figure 10-22. This figure shows graphically the cost of the sum of the detrimental
effects of radiation, the detriment, which are assumed to be directly proportional to the
collective dose to the population being protected plus the cost of radiation protection as a
function of the collective dose. The amount of radiation protection leading to the minimum in
the curve is considered the optimum degree of radiation protection. This ALARA concept has
been incorporated into the International Atomic Energy Agencys Basic Safety Standards and into
the regulations of the various national regulatory agencies.
d. Radiation exposure limits
The restrictions on effective dose and effective dose equivalent are employed in both systems in
order to limit stochastic effects of radiation. The equivalent-dose limits for individual tissues and
organs in Table 14.4 and the corresponding dose equivalent limits in Table 14.5 were made in
order to prevent deterministic effects from occurring.
Example
During the year, a worker receives 14 mGy externally from uniform, whole-body gamma
radiation. In addition, he receives estimated 50-y committed doses of 8.0 mGy from internally
deposited alpha particles in the lung and 180 mGy from beta particles in the thyroid. (a) What is
the effective dose for this worker? (b) How much additional external, uniform, whole-body
gamma dose could he receive during the year without technically exceeding the NCRP/ICRP
annual limit? (c) Instead of the gamma dose in (b), what additional committed alpha-particle
dose to the red bone marrow would exceed the annual effective-dose limit?
Solution
(a) Using the radiation weighting factors from Table 14.1, we obtain the following equivalent
doses for the individual tissues, with the tissue weighting factors from Table 14.2 shown on the
right:
HLung = 8.020 = 160 mSv (wT = 0.12)
(14.10)
HThyroid = 1801 = 180 mSv (wT = 0.05)
(14.11)
HWhole-body = 141 = 14 mSv (wT = 1.00).
(14.12)
The effective dose is, by Eq. (14.4),

E = 1600.12 + 1800.05 + 141 = 42 mSv.
(14.13)
(b) In order not to exceed the annual limit, any additional effective dose must be limited to 50 42 = 8 mSv. Therefore, an additional uniform, whole-body gamma dose of 8 mGy would bring the
workers effective dose to the annual limit of 50 mSv.
(c)We need to compute the dose to the red bone marrow that results in an effective dose of 8
mSv. The weighting factor for this tissue is, from Table 14.2, wT = 0.12. Therefore, the committed
equivalent dose to the red bone marrow is limited to HT = (8 mSv)/0.12 = 67 mSv. Since the
radiation weighting factor for alpha particles is 20 (Table 14.1), the limiting average absorbed
dose to the red bone marrow is, by Eq. (14.1), DRBM, = 67/20 = 3.4 mGy.
e.
Quality vs. energy and type RBE review
Reference: James E. Turner. Atoms, Radiation, and Radiation Protection, pp. 364-366, 435-438.
Quality factor
The dose equivalent H is defined as the product of the absorbed dose D and a dimensionless
quality factor Q, which depends on LET: H= QD. ICRP, NCRP, and ICRU have defined Q in
accordance with Table 12.2. In the context of quality factor, LET is the unrestricted stopping
power, L, as discussed in Section 7.3. For incident charged particles, it is the LET of the radiation
in water, expressed in keV per m of travel. For neutrons, photons, and other uncharged
radiation, LET refers to that which the secondary charged particles they generate would have in
water.
By the early 1990s, the ICRP and NCRP replaced the use of LET-dependent quality factors by
radiation weighting factors, w, specified for radiation of a given type and energy. The quantity on
the left-hand side of the replacement for Eq. (12.5), H = wD, is then called the equivalent dose. In
some regulations the older terminology, dose equivalent and quality factor, is still employed.
However, the latter has come to be specified by radiation type and energy, rather than LET.
Relative Biological Effectiveness

Generally, dose-response curves depend on the type of radiation used and on the biological
endpoint studied. As a rule, radiation of high LET is more effective biologically than radiation of
low LET. Different radiations can be contrasted in terms of their relative biological effectiveness
(RBE) compared with X rays. If a dose D of a given type of radiation produces a specific biological
endpoint, then RBE is defined as the ratio
RBE = Dx/D
(13.19)
where Dx is the X-ray dose needed under the same conditions to produce the same endpoint.
Generally,
relative
biological
effectiveness is observed to depend on

the radiation quality (e.g., the LET), dose
rate, and dose fractionation, as well as
the type and magnitude of the biological
endpoint measured. RBE values vary
markedly,
depending
upon
these
conditions. The dependence of relative

biological effectiveness on radiation
quality is often discussed in terms of the
LET of the radiation, or the LET of the secondary charged particles produced in the case of
photons and neutrons. As a general rule, RBE increases with increasing LET, as illustrated in Fig.
13.15, up to a point. Figure 13.16 represents schematically the RBE for cell killing as a function of
the LET of charged particles. Starting at low LET, the efficiency of killing increases with LET,
evidently because of the increasing density of ionizations, excitations, and radicals produced in
critical targets of the cell along the particle tracks. As the LET is increased further, an optimum
1
range around 100 to 130 keV m is reached for the most efficient pattern of energy deposition
by a particle for killing a cell. A still further increase in LET results in the deposition of more
energy than needed for killing, and the RBE decreases. Energy is wasted in this regime of overkill
at very high LET.
f.
TEDE and other concepts

One of the basic concepts is that the total risk of radiation exposure should include the risks from
external and internal exposures. This is accomplished by developing a means to sum external and
internal doses together and limit the total dose to 5 rem per year. The ICRP in report 26/30
developed the concept of total effective dose equivalent, or TEDE for short. The TEDE is
calculated by adding the internal dose, expressed as the committed effective dose equivalent
(CEDE), to the external dose, expressed as the deep dose equivalent (DDE) obtained from
external dosimetry data at a measurement depth of 1 cm in tissue (a density thickness of 1,000
2
mg/cm ).
g.
Special definitions: Skin, lens of eye, planned special exposures, declared pregnant female, etc.
Skin, lens of eye

For external dose, the equivalent dose to the whole body is assessed at a depth of 1 cm (10mm,
Hp(10)) in tissue; the equivalent dose to the lens of the eye is assessed at a depth of 0.3 cm
(3mm, Hp(3))in tissue, and the equivalent dose to the extremity and skin is assessed at a depth of
0.007 cm (0.07mm, Hp(0.07)) in tissue.
Planned special exposures
Reference: 10 CFR 835.204 - Planned special exposures. Available at

http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/10/835.204
A planned special exposure may be authorized for a radiological worker to receive doses in
addition to and accounted for separately from the doses received under the limits specified in
835.202(a), provided that each of the following conditions is satisfied:
The planned special exposure is considered only in an exceptional situation when

alternatives that might prevent a radiological worker from exceeding the limits in
835.202(a) are unavailable or impractical;
The contractor management (and employer, if the employer is not the contractor)
specifically requests the planned special exposure, in writing; and
Joint written approval is received from the appropriate DOE Headquarters program office
and the Secretarial Officer responsible for environment, safety and health matters.
Prior to requesting an individual to participate in an authorized planned special exposure, the

individual's dose from all previous planned special exposures and all doses in excess of the
occupational dose limits shall be determined.
An individual shall not receive a planned special exposure that, in addition to the doses
determined in 835.204(b), would result in a dose exceeding the following:
In a year, the numerical values of the dose limits established at 835.202(a); and
Over the individual's lifetime, five times the numerical values of the dose limits established
at 835.202(a).
Prior to a planned special exposure, written consent shall be obtained from each individual
involved. Each such written consent shall include:
The purpose of the planned operations and procedures to be used;
The estimated doses and associated potential risks and specific radiological conditions and
other hazards which might be involved in performing the task; and
Instructions on the measures to be taken to keep the dose ALARA considering other risks
that may be present.
Records of the conduct of a planned special exposure shall be maintained and a written report
submitted within 30 days after the planned special exposure to the approving organizations
identified in 835.204(a)(3).
The dose from planned special exposures is not to be considered in controlling future
occupational dose of the individual under 835.202(a), but is to be included in records and
reports required under this part.
Declared pregnant female

Radiation Protection, pp.114, 122
Declared pregnant worker means a woman who has voluntarily declared to her employer, in
writing, her pregnancy for the purpose of being subject to the occupational dose limits to the
embryo/fetus as provided in 10 CFR 835.206. This declaration may be revoked, in writing, at any
time by the declared pregnant worker.
The equivalent dose limit for the embryo/fetus from the period of conception to birth, as a result
of occupational exposure of a declared pregnant worker, is 0.5 rem (5mSv).
If the equivalent dose to the embryo/ fetus is determined to have already exceeded 0.5 rem
(5mSv) by the time a worker declares her pregnancy, the declared pregnant worker shall not be
assigned to tasks where additional occupational exposure is likely during the remaining gestation
period.
Declared pregnant workers who are likely to receive from external sources an equivalent dose to
the embryo/ fetus in excess of 10 percent of the applicable limit at 10 CFR 835.206(a).
However, ICRP Publication 60 recommends an equivalent-dose limit of 2 mSv to a womans
abdomen, once a pregnancy is declared.
h. DOE, EPA, and other federal agencies

th
Although international scientific agencies recommend radiation safety standards and practices,
legal authority for radiation safety is exercised by regulatory agencies established by national
states. In almost all cases, the national agencies base their regulations on the recommendations
of the international scientific agencies. In the United States of America, for example, the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets radiation safety standards, while several different
regulatory agencies, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Occupational
Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), and the Department of Energy (DOE) promulgate
radiation safety regulations, according to the EPA standards, within their areas of responsibility.
In Canada, the radiation safety regulatory body is the Canadian Atomic Energy Authority; in the
United Kingdom, it is the Health Protection Agencys Radiation Protection Division; and in France,
the Commissiarat dEnergie Nucleaire is the national regulatory agency.
Reference: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Available at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Regulatory_Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is an independent agency of the United States
government, established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, and began operations on
January 19, 1975. As one of two successor agencies to the United States Atomic Energy
Commission, the NRC's role is to protect public health and safety related to nuclear energy. It
oversees reactor safety and security, reactor licensing and renewal, licensing of radioactive
materials, radionuclide safety, and spent fuel management including storage, security, recycling,
and disposal.
Reference: United States Department of Energy. Available at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Energy
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is a Cabinet-level department of the United
States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in
handling nuclear material. Its responsibilities include the nation's nuclear weapons program,
nuclear reactor production for the United States Navy, energy conservation, energy-related
research, radioactive waste disposal, and domestic energy production. It also directs research in
genomics; the Human Genome Project originated in a DOE initiative. DOE sponsors more
research in the physical sciences than any other U.S. federal agency, the majority of which is
conducted through its system of National Laboratories.
Reference: United States Environmental Protection Agency. Available at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Environmental_Protection_Agency
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or sometimes USEPA) is an agency of
the U.S. federal government which was created for the purpose of protecting human health and
the environment by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress. The
EPA was proposed by President Richard Nixon and began operation on December 2, 1970, after
Nixon signed an executive order. The order establishing the EPA was ratified by committee
hearings in the House and Senate. The agency is led by its Administrator, who is appointed by the
president and approved by Congress.
5.
Internal Dosimetry
a.
Stochastic and deterministic radiation effects
Reference: James E. Turner. Atoms, Radiation, and Radiation Protection, p. 410
The biological effects of radiation can be divided into two general categories, stochastic and
deterministic, or nonstochastic. As the name implies, stochastic effects are those that occur in a
statistical manner. Cancer is one example. If a large population is exposed to a significant amount
of a carcinogen, such as radiation, then an elevated incidence of cancer can be expected.
Although we might be able to predict the magnitude of the increased incidence, we cannot say
which particular individuals in the population will contract the disease and which will not. Also,
since there is a certain natural incidence of cancer without specific exposure to radiation, we will
not be completely certain whether a given case was induced or would have occurred without the
exposure. In addition, although the expected incidence of cancer increases with dose, the
severity of the disease in a stricken individual is not a function of dose. In contrast, deterministic
effects are those that show a clear causal relationship between dose and effect in a given
individual. Usually there is a threshold below which no effect is observed, and the severity
increases with dose. Skin reddening is an example of a deterministic effect of radiation. (cataract)
th
Observed radiation effects (or effects of other noxious agents) may be broadly classified into two
categories, namely, stochastic (Effects that occur randomly, and whose probability of occurrence
rather than the severity of the effect, depends on the size of the dose. Stochastic effects, such as
cancer, are also seen among persons with no known exposure to the agent associated with that
effect.) and nonstochastic, or deterministic effects. Most biological effects fall into the category
of deterministic effects. Deterministic effects are characterized by the three qualities stated by
the Swiss physician and scientist Paracelsus about 500 years ago when he wrote the size of the
dose determines the poison.
1) A certain minimum dose must be exceeded before the particular effect is observed.
2) The magnitude of the effect increases with the size of the dose.
3) There is a clear, unambiguous causal relationship between exposure to the noxious
agent and the observed effect.
For example, a person must exceed a certain amount of alcoholic intake before he or she shows
signs of drinking. After that, the effect of the alcohol depends on how much the person drank.
Finally, if this individual exhibits drunken behavior, there is no doubt that the behavior is the
result of drinking. For such nonstochastic effects, when the magnitude of the effect or the
proportion of individuals who respond at a given dose is plotted as a function of dose in order to
obtain a quantitative relationship between dose and effect, the dose-response curve A, shown in
Figure 7-1, is obtained. Because of the minimum dose that must be exceeded before an
individual shows the effect, nonstochastic effects are called threshold effects.
The risk for all stochastic effects is dependent only on the value of the effective dose, whether or
not the body is irradiated uniformly.
b. Tissues at risk and tissue weighting factors

i. ICRP Publication 30
ii. ICRP Publication 60
th
On the principle that the risk of a stochastic effect should be equal whether the whole body is
uniformly irradiated or whether the radiation dose is non-uniformly distributed, the ICRP
introduced the concept of effective dose in the 1977 review of its radiation safety
recommendations (ICRP 26).
For the purpose of setting radiation safety standards, we assume that the probability of a
detrimental effect in any tissue is proportional to the dose equivalent to that tissue. However,
because of the differences in sensitivity among the various tissues, the value for the
proportionality factors differs among the tissues. The relative sensitivity to detrimental effects,
expressed as tissue weighting factors wT of the several organs and tissues that contribute to the
overall risk, is shown in Table 8-3. If radiation dose is uniform throughout the body, then the
total risk factor has a relative weight of 1. For nonuniform radiation, such as partial-body
exposure to an external radiation field, or from internal exposure where the radionuclide
concentrates to different degrees in the various organs, the weighting factors listed in Table 8-3
are used to calculate an EDE. The EDE, HE, is given by
where wT is the weighting factor for tissue T and HT is the dose equivalent to tissue T. Table 8-3
shows the weighting factors recommended in ICRP 26 and ICRP 60. The U.S. NRC used the ICRP
26 values for the tissue-weighting factors in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20,
which usually is cited as 10 CFR 20, that were approved in 1991 and became effective in 1994.
Example 8.1
As a result of a laboratory accident, 185 kBq (5 Ci) of 131I were deposited in a radioisotope
technician; 37 kBq (1 Ci) were deposited in her thyroid gland and 148 kBq (4 Ci) were
uniformly distributed throughout the rest of her body. Using data from bioassay measurements
and body scanning, the health physicist calculated a thyroid dose equivalent of 61.5 mSv (6.15
rems) and a whole-body dose of 0.13 mSv (13 mrems).
(a) What was the technicians effective dose?
(b) Was she overexposed according to the ICRP 60 criteria?
Solution
(a) The effective dose is calculated from Eq. (8.2), using weighting factors of 0.05 for the thyroid
(Table 8-3) and 0.95 for the rest of the body:
= (0.05 61.5) + (0.95 0.13) = 3.2 mSv.

(b) Since the effective dose is much less than 20 mSv, the dose from this accidental exposure did
not exceed the ICRP 60 dose limit. Whether her total dose for the year, after experiencing this
accidental exposure, exceeds the ICRP 60 dose limits depends on her previous exposure history.
c.
Calculation of organ-averaged absorbed dose
Reference: James E. Turner. Atoms, Radiation, and Radiation Protection, pp. 362-363
The primary physical quantity used in dosimetry is the absorbed dose. It is defined as the energy
absorbed per unit mass from any kind of ionizing radiation in any target. The unit of absorbed
1
dose, J kg , is called the gray (Gy). The older unit, the rad, is defined as 100 erg g . (1Gy=100rad).
Photons produce secondary electrons in air, for which the average energy needed to make an ion
1
pair is W= 34 eV ip = 34 JC .
1R
2.58 10 4 C 34 J
8.76 10 3 J / kg
kg
C
Thus, an exposure of 1 R gives a dose in air of 8.76 10 Gy (= 0.876 rad).

3
Absorbed dose rate
Gy ab
D 8.7 10
water
air
d. Calculation of committed dose equivalent

When a radionuclide is taken into the body, it can become distributed in various tissues and
organs and irradiate them for some time. For the single intake of a radionuclide at time t0, the
committed equivalent dose over a subsequent time in an organ or tissue T is defined as
where HT is the equivalent-dose rate in T at time t. Unless otherwise indicated, an integration

time = 50 y after intake is implied for occupational use and 70 y for members of the public.
Committed Effective Dose

By extension, the committed effective dose E( ) following the intake of a radionuclide is the
weighted sum of the committed equivalent doses in the various tissues
The effective half-life of a radionuclide in a tissue is determined by its radiological half-life and its
metabolic turnover rate. For radionuclides with effective half-lives of no more than a few months,
the committed quantities, Eqs. (14.6) and (14.7), are practically realized within one year after
intake. If a radionuclide is retained in the body for a long time, then the annual equivalent and
effective doses it delivers will be considerably less than the committed quantities. The
committed effective dose replaces the earlier committed effective dose equivalent. The latter is
defined like Eq. (14.7), with HT representing the committed dose equivalent in the organ or
tissue T.
Annual Limit on Intake (ALI) and Derived Air Concentration (DAC)
NCRP Report No. 116 introduces the annual reference level of intake (ARLI). It is defined as the
activity of a radionuclide that, taken into the body during a year, would provide a committed
effective dose to a person, represented by Reference Man, equal to 20 mSv. The ARLI is
expressed in Becquerels (Bq).
The same quantity, also based on a committed effective dose of 20 mSv, is called the annual limit
on intake (ALI) in ICRP Publication 60. Values of the ALI are given in ICRP Publication 68. Prior to
ICRP Publication 60 and NCRP Report No. 116, the term ALI was used by both organizations.
However, it was then based on a 50-mSv committed effective dose equivalent, rather than the
20-mSv committed effective dose, and other criteria for deterministic effects.
The NCRP defines the derived reference air concentration (DRAC) as that concentration of a
3
radionuclide which, if breathed by Reference Man, inspiring 0.02m per min for a working year,
would result in an intake of one ARLI. The working year consists of 50 wk of 40 h each, or 2000 h.
The DRAC is introduced to provide a reference level for controlling airborne radionuclides to the
level of the ARLI for inhalation. Prior to NCRP Report No. 116, the derived air concentration (DAC)
was used by the NCRP and ICRP.

Radiation Protection, pp.113-114
Annual limit on intake (ALI) means the derived limit for the amount of radioactive material taken
into the body of an adult worker by inhalation or ingestion in a year. ALI is the smaller value of
intake of a given radionuclide in a year by the reference man (ICRP Publication 23) that would
result in a committed effective dose of 5 rems (0.05 sieverts (Sv)) (1 rem = 0.01 Sv) or a
committed equivalent dose of 50 rems (0.5 Sv) to any individual organ or tissue. ALI values for
intake by ingestion and inhalation of selected radionuclides are based on International
Commission on Radiological Protection Publication 68, Dose Coefficients for Intakes of
Radionuclides by Workers, published July, 1994 (ISBN 0 08 042651 4).
Derived air concentration (DAC) means, for the radionuclides listed in appendix A of this part, the
airborne concentration that equals the ALI divided by the volume of air breathed by an average
3
worker for a working year of 2000 hours (assuming a breathing volume of 2400 m ). For the
radionuclides listed in appendix C of this part, the air immersion DACs were calculated for a
continuous, non-shielded exposure via immersion in a semi-infinite cloud of radioactive material.
Except as noted in the footnotes to appendix A of this part, the values are based on dose
coefficients from International Commission on Radiological Protection Publication 68, Dose
Coefficients for Intakes of Radionuclides by Workers, published July, 1994 (ISBN 0 08 042651 4)
and the associated ICRP computer program, The ICRP Database of Dose Coefficients: Workers
and Members of the Public, ISBN 0 08 043 8768).
Derived air concentration-hour (DAC hour) means the product of the concentration of
radioactive material in air (expressed as a fraction or multiple of the DAC for each radionuclide)
and the time of exposure to that radionuclide, in hours.
e.
Model for the respiratory system

i. ICRP Publication 30
The ICRP-30 model for the respiratory system, shown in Fig. 16.4, is divided into three
major partsthe nasal passage (NP), the trachea and bronchial tree (TB), and the
pulmonary parenchyma (P). In addition, a pulmonary lymphatic system (L) is included
for the removal of dust from the lungs. The direct deposition of inhaled material, which
occurs in the first three regions, varies with the particle-size distribution of the material.
Basic calculations are made for reference man with an assumed log-normal distribution
of particle diameters having an assumed activity median aerodynamic diameter (AMAD)
of 1 m. The fractions D of inhaled material that are initially deposited in the three
regions are then assumed to be DNP = 0.30, DTB = 0.08, and DP = 0.25. A procedure is
given for making particle size corrections for other values of the AMAD. The deposition
fractions for other sizes are given in Fig. 16.5. The model is thus applicable to the
inhalation of radioactive aerosols, or particulates.
The model of the respiratory system describes the initial deposition and subsequent
transport of inhaled radioactive aerosols through various compartments of the system
and into the body fluids and the GI tract. It has been found that the dose in the NP
region can be neglected for most particle sizes. The target tissue assumed for the lung,
therefore, is that of the combined TB, P, and L regions, having a total mass of 1000 g.
The committed equivalent dose to the lung has two components, one from the
radioactive materials residing there and another from photons emitted by materials that
are cleared from the lung and transported to other sites in the body.
ICRP Publication 30 classifies inhaled radioactive materials as D, W, or Y (days, weeks, or

years), depending on their retention time in the pulmonary region. Class-D materials
have a half-time of less than 10 d; W materials, a half-time from 10 d to 100 d; and Y,
greater than 100 d. As seen in Fig. 16.4, the four major regions of the model are each
subdivided into two or four compartments, each associated with a particular pathway of
clearance. For the three classes D, W, and Y, the table in Fig. 16.4 gives the half-time T
used in each compartment and the fraction F of material that leaves it at that implied
rate. Compartments, a, c, and e are associated with the uptake of material from the
respiratory system into the body fluids. Compartments b, d, f, and g are associated with
the physical transport of particles (e.g., by mucociliary action and swallowing) into the
GI tract. Compartment h in the P region provides the pathway to the lymph system L,
where some material can be further translocated via i to the body fluids or else retained
indefinitely in j. (Compartment j is used only for class-Y materials.)
Given the rate of inhalation I(t) of a radionuclide, ten differential equations are used to
describe the activities qa(t), . . . , qj(t) in each of the ten compartments shown in Fig.
16.4. The equation describing a, for example, can be written
where DNP = 0.30; Fa and Ta are obtained directly from the values of F and T in the
table in Fig. 16.4 for class D, W, or Y; a = 0.693/Ta; and R is the radioactive decay
constant.
The ICRP-30 respiratory-system model thus specifies the deposition, retention, and
removal of inhaled materials in various components of the pulmonarylymph system. It
is used to calculate the number of transformations U for the committed equivalent dose
to the lung and to calculate source terms for the body fluids and the GI tract.
Activity median aerodynamic diameter
Reference: Activity median aerodynamic diameter,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activity_median_aerodynamic_diameter
In the context of radiation protection, activity median aerodynamic diameter (AMAD) is

one of two parameters influencing the deposition of inhaled particles, the other being
the geometric standard deviation of the particle size distribution. The AMAD is the value
of aerodynamic diameter for which 50% of the airborne activity in a given aerosol is
associated with particles smaller than the AMAD, and 50% of the activity is associated
with particles larger than the AMAD. The AMAD is used in internal dosimetry as a means
of simplifying the true distribution of aerodynamic diameters of a given aerosol as a
single value. It is used to describe those particle sizes for which deposition depends
chiefly on inertial impaction and sedimentation.
ii. ICRP Publication 66
The ICRP-30 lung model has served well to calculate occupational annual limits on intake
(ALI) and to be the foundation for many applied monitoring and control programs and
procedures. It has been an extremely valuable tool for the dosimetry of inhaled
radionuclides. Nevertheless, there are significant problems in lung dosimetry that the
model was not designed or equipped to handle. For example, many radioactive
compounds were found to clear from the respiratory system at rates considerably
different from those assigned. Also, the lung dose was calculated as an average over the
total lung mass, whereas it is relatively rare that the respiratory tract is uniformly
irradiated by internally deposited aerosols. Moreover, different tissues of the lung have
different radio-sensitivity. Such factors are particularly relevant for inhaled radon
daughters or hot particles. In addition, the ICRP-30 worker oriented lung model lacked
the flexibility to be applied generally to members of the public, a matter related to
increasing environmental concerns.
Rather than developing an entirely new model, efforts were aimed at improving and
building on the ICRP-30 model to meet an expanded variety of needs. The work resulted
in the 1994 Publication 66, Human Respiratory Tract Model for Radiological Protection,
with the present and considerably more sophisticated ICRP lung model, abbreviated
HRTM. The task and outcome are described in ICRP-66. The objective was a model that
would (1) facilitate calculation of biologically meaningful doses; (2) be consistent with
morphological, physiological, and radiobiological characteristics of the respiratory tract;
(3) incorporate current knowledge; (4) meet all radiation protection needs; (5) be no
more sophisticated than necessary to meet dosimetric objectives; (6) be adaptable to
development of computer software for the calculation of relevant radiation doses from
knowledge of a few readily measured exposure parameters; (7) be equally useful for
assessment purposes as for calculating recommended values for limits on uptake, e.g.
ALIs; (8) be applicable to all members of the worlds population, including specific
individuals; (9) allow use of information on the deposition and clearance of specific
materials; and (10) consider the influence of smoking, air pollutants, and diseases on the
inhalation, deposition, and clearance of radioactive particles from the respiratory tract.
These objectives have been largely met within the constraints of the available data.
Some specific major revisions in

HRTM can be briefly mentioned as
examples. Figure 16.6, taken from
Publication 66, shows a considerably
more
involved,
four
region
respiratory tract (ET, BB, bb, Al) than

before. Figure 16.7, which is Table 1
from ICRP-66, 16.6 ICRP-30 conveys
an idea of the detailed nature of the
model. It also shows the relationship
to the N-P, T-B, and P regions from
the ICRP-30 model. Clearance and
absorption
compete
in
each
compartment with time-dependent

rates in the revised model. Breathing
rates, volumes, and other parameters have been revised. The default particle-size
AMAD is increased from 1 m to 5 m. The revised model allows dose calculations for
specific target regions containing cells that are considered to be susceptible to cancer
induction, in contrast to the mean dose furnished by ICRP-30. The methodology can be
applied to males and females, young and old. Effects of smoking and other inhaled
pollutants can be included.
1)
Extrathoracic (ET) regionthe portion of the respiratory tract outside of the chest,
which contains two subparts:
ET1, consisting of the anterior nasal airways.
ET2, consisting of the posterior nasal airways, pharynx, and larynx.
2)
Bronchial (BB) region, which includes the trachea and the bronchi.
3)
Bronchiolar (bb) region, consisting of bronchioles and terminal bronchioles.
4)
Alveolar-interstitial (AI) region, which consists of the respiratory bronchioles, the

alveoli, and interstitial connective tissue.
f.
Model for the gastrointestinal tract
The ICRP dosimetric model for the GI tract is shown in Fig. 8.19. Each of the four sections consists
of a single compartment: the stomach (ST), small intestine (SI), upper large intestine (ULI), and
lower large intestine (LLI). There are two pathways out of the SI. One leads to the ULI and the
other to the body fluids, the only route by which ingested materials are assumed to reach the
body fluids. The metabolic rate constants B are used by the ICRP for the various chemical
elements. The fraction f1 of a stable element that reaches the body fluids after ingestion is given
by
f1 = B / (SI + B).
Values of f1 are specified in the metabolic data of the ICRP.
As with the lung, each of the four compartments in Fig. 16.8 gives rise to a first order differential
equation describing the activity changes. Given initial conditions and the rate of intake I(t) into
compartment ST, the four equations can be solved for the activities in each section as functions
of time. Activity entering the GI tract from the respiratory system is included in I(t). Radioactive
daughters are included with the parent in the ICRP calculations. The table in Fig. 8.19 gives the
assumed masses of the sections and their contents and the clearance rates. The activity
transferred to the body fluids as a function of time is given by BqSI(t).
When the source organ is a section of the GI tract, the committed equivalent dose is estimated
for the mucosal layer of the walls of each section for penetrating and nonpenetrating radiations.
Other organs are also irradiated by sources in the contents of the GI tract, and the tract is
irradiated by materials located in other parts of the body. The ICRP has compiled values of US for
various ingested radionuclides and daughters in the sections of the GI tract. It also gives data for
sections of the GI tract as target organs with the contents of these sections and other organs of
the body as source organs.
In 2007 the ICRP issued its revised dosimetric model of the GI tract, designated HATM.
Publication 100, Human Alimentary Tract Model for Radiological Protection, treats intakes by
children as well as male and female adults, with applicability to both occupational and
environmental exposures. Also, like the companion HRTM, the HATM enables dose calculations
to be made for specific target regions considered important for cancer induction.
th
(Reference: Herman Cember. Health Physics. 4 edition, p.400)
g.
Model for the skeleton
The two principal target tissues for bone dosimetry are thus the active red bone marrow and
cells near the bone surfaces. Except for gamma emitters, the source tissues in bone are cortical
and trabecular bone. The ICRP gives specific details for estimating the number of transformations
in trabecular and cortical bone and the needed absorbed fractions. Some inhaled or ingested
elements are assumed to become distributed throughout the bone volume, while others are
assumed to attach on bone surfaces. Generally, an alkaline-earth radionuclide with a radioactive
half-life greater than 15 days belongs to the former group, while the shorter lived elements
reside on the bone surfaces. The alkaline-earth elements, which include calcium and strontium,
have received much attention in bone dosimetry. Bone-seeking radionuclides, which also include
those of strontium and plutonium, are considered dangerous because they irradiate the sensitive
cells of the marrow. They all produce cancer in laboratory animals at sufficiently high levels of
exposure.
h. Submersion in a noble (radioactive) gas cloud
In this case the organs of the body can be irradiated by gas that is outside the body, absorbed in
the bodys tissues, and contained in the lungs. To see how these sources limit the exposure of a
radiation worker, ICRP-30 treats a cloud of infinite extent with a constant, uniform concentration
-3
C Bqm of a gaseous radionuclide. For a person submerged in the cloud, one needs to consider
(a) the equivalent-dose rate HE to any tissue from external radiation, (b) the rate HA to the
tissue from the gas absorbed internally in the body, and (c) the rate HL to the lung from the gas
contained in it. Many noble gases emit photons and energetic beta particles. For these noble
gases, the external radiation will be the limiting factor for a person submerged in a cloud.
i.
Metabolic models for elements
Reference: ICRP internal dosimetry models, available at

http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1215/ML12159A433.pdf
Systemic Biokinetic Model
Describe what happens to radionuclides upon uptake, when they enter the so-called
transfer compartment, i.e., the blood stream and extracellular fluid such as lymph
Which organs they deposit in what fraction of Which organs they deposit in, what fraction of
the uptake deposits in each
How long they are retained in each
These models are element-specific, not radionuclide-specific, so retention must be modified

by the physical half-life of the radionuclide
j.
Dose to the embryo/fetus

Radiation Protection, pp.122
Limits for the Embryo/Fetus

The equivalent dose limit for the embryo/fetus from the period of conception to birth, as a result
of occupational exposure of a declared pregnant worker, is 0.5 rem (5mSv). If the equivalent
dose to the embryo/ fetus is determined to have already exceeded 0.5 rem (5mSv) by the time a
worker declares her pregnancy, the declared pregnant worker shall not be assigned to tasks
where additional occupational exposure is likely during the remaining gestation period.
Reference: James E. Turner. Atoms, Radiation, and Radiation Protection, pp. 460
ICRP Publication 60 recommends an equivalent-dose limit of 2 mSv to a womans abdomen, once
a pregnancy is declared. (ICRP Publication 103 : 1mSv to embryo/fetus)
k.
Reference Man
Reference: ICRP. Report of the Task Group on Reference Man, ICRP Publication 23, 1975
Estimation of radiation dose to the human body, whether from external or internal sources,
requires a certain amount of data about the exposed individual. Although individuals vary
considerably in physical and biological respects, it is important to have a well-defined reference
individual for estimation of radiation dose. Such a reference individual is convenient for routine
cases of estimation of dose when the levels are sufficiently low that individual differences may
be ignored. According to the ICRP Publication 23, the Reference Man represents a typical
radiation worker, and he is defined as being between 20-30 years old, weight 70 kg, 170 cm in
height, and is a Caucasian.
The 1975 ICRP Publication 23 on Reference Man was superseded in 2003 by ICRP Publication 89,
Basic Anatomical and Physiological Data for Use in Radiological Protection: Reference Values.
Whereas ICRP-23 concentrated on characteristics for a standard man, ICRP-89 presents data for
males and females of six different ages: newborn, 1 y, 5 y, 10 y, 15 y, and adult. The reference
values presented for various anatomical and physiological parameters are those for Western
Europeans and North Americans, populations for which data are extensive and well documented.
This concept plays an important role in internal dosimetry. It enables base-line calculations of
organ doses to be made for a radionuclide incorporated under a set of very specific, well defined
assumptions. The formalism furnishes the basis for analysis in routine monitoring and bioassay
programs throughout the world.
A number of mass reference values for the adult male in ICRP-89 are the same as those for the
70-kg reference man in Publication 23 (Height 170cm). The total mass for the adult male has
been revised to 73 kg in ICRP-89 (Height: 176cm). In addition to organ and tissue masses, tables
of reference values are provided for a number of other anatomical characteristics. Physiological
reference values are furnished for metabolic rates, respiratory volumes and capacities (also at
different levels of physical activity), daily secretion rates into different regions of the
gastrointestinal tract, blood-flow rates through various tissues, and many other characteristics.
l.
Limitations of approach

Internal contamination may be monitored in one of two ways. The first method includes whole
body counts and specific organ counts (lungs, thyroid, etc.). This type of internal monitoring is
called in vivo monitoring. The other type of internal contamination monitoring uses some sample
from the person to determine the presence of contamination. Methods may include urine
analysis, fecal analysis, blood sampling and others. These methods are called in vitro monitoring.
Direct Radiobioassay (In Vivo Counting) Measurements

The provisions of this standard are meant to apply to any direct radiobioassay system used to
measure radionuclides that are distributed throughout the whole body or localized in individual
organs such as thyroid or lungs, or both.
The in vivo program (both the counter design and the operational protocol) shall be designed to
minimize measurement uncertainties when used to measure actual depositions in individuals. A
major source of uncertainty can occur because individuals and the distribution of radionuclides
within those individuals may be different than those represented by phantoms used for counter
calibration and performance testing. The design goal of the program should be to minimize these
uncertainties such that significant levels of activity from the radionuclides reasonably expected
to be present can be determined. For some situations (e.g., transuranics and uranium), the
current technology may not allow these criteria to be met. In these cases, indirect radiobioassay
should be considered to obtain estimates of deposition of radionuclides in the subject.
Indirect Radiobioassay (In Vitro) Measurements

Urine and fecal samples are frequently collected and analyzed to assist the health physicist in
estimating the intake of radioactive material by the worker (person). On occasion, samples of
breath, nasal fluid, blood, hair, finger nails, or other biological specimens are analyzed. The
performance criteria of this standard, however, are directed primarily toward improving the
accuracy and reliability of measurements of radioactivity in excreta samples.
The laboratory shall determine analytical results and propagated standard errors in units of
activity (Bq) or mass as requested, and shall be capable of separating or resolving a mixture of
radionuclides, where necessary or possible. (For example 239/240 Pu cannot be separated by
current alpha spectroscopy methods.) The appropriate volume, recovery, and decay corrections
shall be made. The standard error of each result shall be calculated and shall include propagation
of the estimated measurement uncertainties. As a minimum, the uncertainties shall include
those associated with calibration, counting, measurement of volume or weight, losses from
chemical separations, transfer operations, and impurities.
Reference: Kong TY, Improvement of Whole Body Counting Procedure in NPPs. 2014
m. Practical applications in controlling the workplace

th
The workplace is monitored directly by two different methods: (1) by systematic and routine
surveys that include measurement of external radiation, verification of the location and proper
use of radiation sources, air sampling, and testing exposed surfaces for contamination, and (2) by
fixed area monitors that continuously monitor external radiation fields and airborne radioactivity
and have alarms that are preset to warn of high levels of radiation or airborne radioactivity.
* Individuals are monitored for external radiation with dosimeters, such as film badges,
thermoluminescent
dosimeters,
and
electronic
dosimeters.
For
internally
deposited
radionuclides, workers are monitored by in vitro bioassay, in which the activity in excreta is
measured, or by in vivo bioassay, in which the radiations originating in radionuclides inside the
body are measured directly with appropriate counting instruments. Monitoring data must be
properly interpreted if it is to make a positive contribution to the overall radiation safety
program.
n. Practical applications in evaluating intakes

The following equation is taken from NUREG/CR-4884.
where:
I = estimate of intake
A(t) = the value of the bioassay measurement obtained at time t
IRF(t) = intake retention fraction corresponding to the type of measurement for time t
after estimate time of intake
th
Reference: Herman Cember. Health Physics. 4 edition, p.678
Example 13.3
In a routine annual whole-body count in a laboratory where there is known to be airborne
3
radioactivity, a worker was found to have 5.4 10

3
60Co, and 1.4 10
Ci (200 Bq) 137Cs, 4.1 10
Ci (152 Bq)
Ci (52 Bq) 54Mn. Since we do not know exactly when the intakes occurred,
we assume the radionuclides to have been inhaled immediately after the previous whole-body
count 1 year ago. The 365-day IRFs and the ALIs for the inhaled radioisotopes are given in the
following table:
Calculate
(a) the estimated intake.
(b) the assigned dose from these intakes.
Solution
6.
Operational Radiation Safety (e.g., from NCRP Report No. 127)

a.
General guidance on establishing a program

i. Selection and training of staff
Reference: NCRP Report No. 127, Operational Radiation Safety Program. pp.14-15
Radiation Safety Officer

The RSO is responsible for advising management concerning radiation safety practices
and regulations. This individual should be delegated the authority to supervise the
operational radiation safety organization, develop a budget and commit expenditures
that are allowed by that budget. The RSO should have adequate funding to maintain a
stable radiation safety program and should have access to consult the highest level of
management on any concern regarding the radiation safety program. The RSO is
responsible for periodic and special surveillance of activities such as acquiring and
disposing of radioactive materials, training in radiation safety practices for facility
employees and users, developing and maintaining radiation control and dosimetry
records, and authorizing the use of radiation and radioactive materials within the facility.
The RSO is also responsible for developing and maintaining a radiation safety manual.
The activities of the RSO and the radiation safety staff should in no way remove or
reduce the responsibilities of radiation users or line supervisors to conduct their work in
a safe manner. The principal functions of the RSO and staff are training and support
through the provision of common radiation safety services, including radiation safety
surveillance.
The minimum qualification of the RSO will depend on the magnitude of the potential
hazards and complexity of the operation. The RSO should possess an appropriate
academic background together with practical radiation safety experience germane to
the operation. Specialized education in health physics at the college level, combined
with practical experience, is preferable. The American Board of Health Physics and the
American Board of Medical Physics certify professional health physicists who meet their
requirements. An individual who is certified or has equivalent qualification is generally
considered qualified to serve as an RSO for an organization utilizing complex and varied
sources of radiation. The RSO is responsible for developing a qualified staff of radiation
safety professionals and technicians of a size and level of expertise appropriate to the
activities of the program. An effective on-the-job training program is essential for all
employees. Continuing education programs relying on expertise within the organization
as well as opportunities provided by professional societies, universities and other
organizations should be used to maintain high skill and knowledge levels. Management
should support and encourage staff members to become certified by appropriate
organizations such as the American Board of Health Physics, the American Board of
Medical Physics, the American Board of Radiology, or the National Registry of Radiation
Protection Technologists
ii. Responsibilities
Ultimately, workers are responsible for their own safety. However, supervisors and
managers are responsible for providing a safe workplace and for promoting an attitude
of responsibility for safety among all workers. Compliance with radiation safety
procedures and demonstration of individual responsibilities described in the overall
program policy should be an established performance expectation for every individual
involved, both workers and management. The RSC and RSO are accountable to
management for developing and implementing a radiation safety program that meets
the radiation safety policy and regulatory requirements, and that supports the
implementation of the ALARA principle. Management is responsible for establishing and
funding a radiation safety organization that includes independent quality assurance
checks and that is adequate for the complexity of the operations utilizing radiation and
radioactive material.
iii. Radiation safety committee
Radiation Safety Advisory Organization

Management should appoint a Radiation Safety Advisory Group. Certain regulations
may specify the establishment, membership and responsibilities of such a group. For
this Report, the group is referred to as the Radiation Safety Committee (RSC). The
responsibility of the RSC is to formulate institutional radiation safety policies, review
and audit the effectiveness of the radiation safety program, and provide guidance to the
RSO on the operational uses of radiation and radioactive materials. The RSC should
include individuals who are knowledgeable about the use of radioactive materials and
radiation-producing equipment in the facility. It may also include persons who are
knowledgeable about the overall organization and its legal, financial, procurement and
other business functions. The RSO should be an ex offico member of the RSC. The RSC
should perform reviews of the purpose, safety and compliance with the radiation safety
program and regulatory requirements of all proposed work with radioactive material or
radiation-producing devices. Members of the RSC should be qualified in their normal
field of endeavor. Management is responsible for assuring that members, and especially
the chairman, have the necessary experience and qualifications to meet the
responsibilities of the RSC.
iv. Training of users
Organizations should establish radiation safety orientation and training programs that
include opportunities for all workers to receive repeat training at appropriate intervals.
Radiation safety policies and procedures should be integrated into the overall safety
program of the organization. The depth and breadth of training needed varies with the
job requirements and responsibilities of each individual.
Factors that influence the depth of training include the potential for radiation exposure,
complexity of tasks to be performed, degree of supervision provided in performing the
tasks, amount of previous training, and degree to which the trainees will instruct or
supervise others. Workers who need specialized radiation safety skills require extensive
and ongoing in-depth training. Office workers in a facility where radioactive material or
radiation sources are used may require only periodic informal training. The duties of the
individual will dictate the extent of training required.
Training programs should include opportunities for questions and discussions, and
participants should be encouraged to contribute to such discussions. Printed handout
materials should be provided for attendees to study after finishing the training session.
Testing should be incorporated into the training program as needed to assure adequate
understanding of the material presented. Education and training should be developed
by individuals with educational backgrounds and experiences appropriate to the safety
policies and procedures to be discussed. Trainers must be able to respond to questions
and problems that might arise from everyday experiences in the workplace and should
have sufficient experience in teaching methods to make the training session beneficial
to all participants. Records of training programs presented, course curricula and
attendance records should be maintained by management. Records of training
participation should be entered into the employee files and linked to the course record
files (NCRP, 1992).
b. Personnel monitoring
i. Occupationally exposed workers
The assessment of the radiation dose received from external sources by occupationally
exposed individuals serves two purposes. First, it provides the information necessary to
compare a worker's occupational dose with both the dose limits and administrative
dose guidelines. Second, it provides information about the effectiveness of the
external dose control program. A detailed discussion of personal monitoring techniques
is presented in NCRP Report No. 57 (NCRP, 1978b). A summary is presented here.
Personal dosimeter devices, including thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD), film

dosimeters, CR-39 polycarbonate foils, pocket ionization chambers, and electronic
personal dosimeters, provide an integrated measurement of the radiation dose. Passive
dosimeters such as TLD, film and CR-39 require special processing to obtain the dose.
Active dosimeters such as pocket ionization chambers and electronic personal
dosimeters provide a direct real-time readout. Normally, passive dosimeters are used to
provide the primary and permanent record of a worker's radiation dose because they
provide an economical and acceptably accurate estimate of the integrated dose from
various components of complex radiation fields. Active dosimeters are normally used to
provide real-time estimates as the dose accumulates. Electronic personal dosimeters are
typically equipped with audible alarms that are activated when a preset dose or dose
rate is reached. They are used when an immediate indication is needed that a dose or
dose rate control level is being approached.
Provision of personal dosimeters for external exposure measurement should be
considered for workers who are likely to receive an annual effective dose in excess of 1
mSv. Personal dosimeters should be issued to visitors if they have the potential for
receiving a dose that exceeds 25 percent of the applicable dose limit for the public.
The assessment of the radiation dose received from internal sources by occupationally
exposed individuals serves two purposes. First, it provides the information necessary to
compare a worker's occupational dose with both dose limits and administrative dose
guidelines. Second, it provides information about the effectiveness of the internal dose
control program. Discussions of personal monitoring techniques, general concepts for
internal dosimetry and bioassay procedures are presented in various NCRP reports
(NCRP, 1978b; 1985a; 1987; 1995a). A summary is presented here.
Criteria for selecting persons for participation in a bioassay program should be based on
the probability and the severity of the potential exposure. Samples should be obtained
more frequently from individuals in the program who are at a high risk for exposure
than from those at low risk. Professional judgment is required, not only in selecting
participants, but also in establishing the most effective bioassay frequency and
technique. An effective bioassay program requires that the persons selected to
participate and the type and frequency of sampling be carefully planned by someone
who has expertise in radiation safety. This individual should be completely familiar with
the operations and the workers to be monitored. The general types of bioassay that
should be considered in establishing an appropriate sampling process are: 1. baseline or
preparatory 2. termination 3. diagnostic 4. routine or periodic
The baseline bioassay is meant to establish the preexisting levels of incorporated
radionuclides for each worker. The termination bioassay is used to provide a final record
of incorporated radionuclides. Diagnostic bioassays are taken to evaluate, in some detail,
intake and retention of radioactive material. Information from the diagnostic bioassay is
used to determine additional actions that may be appropriate following exposure, such
as additional engineered controls or protection equipment. Routine or periodic
bioassays are obtained to evaluate the effectiveness of the protection program and to
ensure compliance with dose limits and administrative dose guidelines. This sampling
must be done on a regular basis and it is important that an appropriate sampling
frequency be established. The frequency of routine bioassay should be based on the
type of facility, the activities being performed, air sampling results, the potential
magnitude of the exposure, and the ability of the bioassay technique to detect an
uptake of the radionuclide(s) of concern. Detection should be at a level that is
acceptable for the protection of the health and safety of the worker. This last point
requires careful consideration of the radiation dose limits, the use of administrative
dose guidelines, the acceptable uncertainty in the estimated intake and the biokinetic
model for the radionuclide (particularly the retention). The frequency selected should
ensure that a deposition that exceeds the established administrative dose guidelines will
not go undetected by the bioassay technique used. Sound judgment by a responsible
health physicist is required to establish the appropriate sampling frequency. Additional
recommendations for bioassay monitoring programs are found in ICRP Publication 54
(ICRP, 1988).
th
The main purpose of personal monitoring is to obtain information on the exposure of an

individual. In addition to this main purpose, personal monitoring is also used to observe
trends or changes (in time) in the working habits of a single individual or of a
department and thus to measure the effectiveness of a radiation control program.
Whereas the distribution of personal-monitoring data might all appear to lie within a
normal range when viewed as individual readings, statistical analysis of the grouped
data may reveal small but significant differences among different control measures or
different operating procedures or work habits that might otherwise have escaped the
attention of the radiation safety officer.
Personal monitoring for external radiation is the continuous measurement of an
individuals exposure dose by means of one or more types of suitable instruments, such
as pocket ionization chambers, film badges, electronic dosimeters, and thermoluminescent dosimeters, which are carried by the individual at all times. The choice of
personal monitoring instrument must be compatible with the type and energy of the
radiation being measured. For example, a worker who is exposed only to 3H, 14C, or 35S
would wear no personal monitoring instrument, since these isotopes emit only beta
particles of such low energy that they are not recorded by any of the commercially
available personal monitoring devices. In vitro bioassay procedures would be indicated
if personal monitoring were necessary.
ii. Special exposure groups
If the radiation fields are reasonably uniform, a single personal dosimeter worn at the
appropriate location on the trunk of the body is usually sufficient to properly
characterize the worker's radiation dose. However, if the radiation fields are not
uniform or if the head or extremities are likely to be exposed to higher radiation fields
than the trunk, additional dosimeters may be required (NCRP, 1995a). Nuclear criticality
accident dosimeters should be issued to workers when fissile material (233U, 235U,
239Pu) is handled in sufficient quantities that an uncontrolled chain reaction could
occur. Because the neutron and gamma radiation doses from criticality accidents can
range from grays to hundreds of grays, specialized dosimeters are required to measure
these radiation doses accurately.
c.
Air monitoring
i. Impactors, how they operate, and how to interpret their data
th
Air-sampling programs are implemented in order to meet regulatory requirements, to

verify the effectiveness of engineering and administrative methods for control of
airborne radioactivity, and to supply data for public information purposes. Sampling
strategies are determined by several different factors, including the reasons for
sampling; the physical and radiological characteristics of the contaminant;
environmental considerations (such as airflow patterns, dust, and radon); operational
considerations, including whom, when, and where to sample; type of sample (area or
personal); sample size; and so on. For example, general area sampling is useful for
planning protective measures and detecting releases, but it is not suitable for
determining workers actual exposure. To determine actual exposure, we must use
breathing-zone samples or individual personal samplers (called lapel samplers) that are
worn by the workers near their noses. These are among the many factors that must be
considered in the design of an air-sampling program that will yield useful information.
An air-sampling system includes three basic components: (1) a source of suction (a

vacuum pump), for drawing the air to be sampled; (2) a collecting device, which
separates the contaminant from the air; and (3) a metering device for measuring the
quantity of air sampled. The concentration of airborne radioactivity is determined by
dividing the quantity of collected activity by the volume of sampled air. It is essential
that the air-sampling system-the pump, collector, and flowmeter-be properly calibrated.
Proper calibration means that the three components of the system are calibrated
together, as an integrated system.
The choice of a collecting device depends on the nature of the contaminant to be

collected. For airborne particles, filtration is the most commonly used collection method.
Several different types of filter media are available: paper, glass fiber, and membrane
(mixed cellulose ester is the most frequently used membrane filter). Each of these has
its own flow rate, filtering, and physical or chemical characteristics. Filters trap particles
mainly by two mechanisms: (1) sieving, which captures particles that are larger than the
pore size, and (2) impaction, which captures particles smaller than the pore size.
Adsorption is the process in which a monolayer of the gas binds to the surface
of certain granular substances called adsorbents. Commonly used adsorbents
include activated charcoal, silica gel, activated alumina, and molecular sieves.
(for sampling airborne radon and radioiodine)
Absorption is the process in which the air to be sampled is bubbled through a

liquid with which the contaminant will interact. (for tritiated water vapor)
Grab sample is a process in which an evacuated container is opened to the

atmosphere to be sampled, thus permitting the contaminated air to enter the
container. (ex. Ionization chamber)
Immersion monitoring is a procedure in which a counter is immersed in a

chamber through which the contaminated air flows.
ii. General particle monitoring, collection by filtration
Monitoring for Airborne Radioactivity

There should be an airborne monitoring program for radioactive materials in those
areas where there is a significant potential for airborne contamination. It is not
appropriate to use personal monitoring devices to control internal exposures. Thus,
continuously operating samplers equipped with continuous detection devices may be
needed to detect unexpected airborne contamination and to give a warning of any
sudden change in concentration of airborne radioactive material.
The location from which the air samples are taken is important for the evaluation of
potential exposures to airborne radionuclides. Fixed sampling locations, especially if
they are located close to the breathing zones of the workers, may be acceptable for
approximating the exposure of workers. However, fixed air samplers can underestimate
exposures by factors that range from 100 to 1,000. Therefore, personal air samplers that
are worn by the worker are the method of choice for monitoring workers in areas of
airborne radioactive material.
Surveys for airborne radioactive material should be performed on a regular basis in

areas where the potential for airborne radioactive material exists. The frequency of
these surveys should be commensurate with the potential for the existence of, or
changes in, airborne radioactivity levels. Special surveys for airborne radioactivity should
be performed to evaluate conditions that have not been previously measured and when
there is an expectation that airborne radioactivity will be present or that airborne
radioactivity levels may have changed.
Continuous air monitors should be used when radioactivity levels can fluctuate and
early detection could prevent or minimize exposure. These monitors should be located
in areas in which the potential for internal exposure is high and near systems that have a
potential for causing rapid increases in airborne radionuclides. Continuous air monitors
can be equipped with an alarm system that will indicate an abrupt change or an increase
in radioactivity above a preset level. Alarms from these monitors are frequently the first
indication that an intake may have occurred. They may also be the only source of useful
data for some radionuclides.
Assessments of internal dose that are based on air sampling results and the estimate of
exposure time are generally less accurate than assessments that are based on bioassay
data. Therefore, they should be used for internal dose assessment only when whole
body counts and other bioassay information are not available.
d. Radiation surveys
Radiation surveys should be conducted in areas where the potential exists for exposure to
external radiation fields in order to
1) characterize the radiation field so that it can be properly posted and controlled
2) provide the information required for planning work activities to maintain the external
radiation exposures at levels ALARA
3) ensure the prompt discovery of changed radiation fields caused by changing conditions
Radiation surveys should be conducted at a frequency that is commensurate with the potential
for changes in the radiation fields and the potential magnitude of the changes. Routine radiation
surveys are conducted at fixed intervals and at fixed locations to document the field and to
determine whether there have been any unexpected changes in the external radiation field
levels. Nonroutine surveys should be performed to evaluate radiation fields that have not been
previously measured and when there is an expected change in the radiation field, for example:
1) during the initial operations of newly installed radiation-producing equipment or
radiation sources
2) following the modification of radiation-producing equipment or radiation sources
3) following any modification of the shielding around a source of external radiation
4) following an incident in which an elevated external radiation exposure is suspected or

has occurred
The instrumentation that is used to perform radiation surveys should be capable of measuring
accurately the types of radiation, at the dose rates and under the environmental conditions that
may be encountered. The radiation survey results should be documented according to
established procedures and should include:
1) a description or drawing showing each measurement location
2) the measured dose rates at each measurement location
3) the type, the model number, the serial number, and the calibration date of the survey
meters used
4) the name and signature of the individual who performed the survey
5) the date and time that the survey was performed
6) comments by the persons making and evaluating the survey that are relevant to the
interpretation of the survey data
The radiation doses to the workers who perform the radiation survey should be maintained
ALARA.
e.
Contamination surveys
Reference: NCRP Report No. 127, Operational Radiation Safety Program. pp.69
Contamination surveys are conducted to establish the extent to which radioactive material is
present on surfaces of equipment and in facilities and the extent to which that material may be
transferable. Any transfer or resuspension of the material can lead to internal deposition through
ingestion or inhalation. If radioactive contamination is possible on workplace surfaces, simple
measures such as restrictions against smoking, eating or drinking in the area will reduce the
potential for intakes. In some cases, protective clothing and respirators may be necessary. When
contamination is found, decontamination procedures should be instituted.
Although usually not a significant risk to workers, contamination of facilities, equipment or

people occur in many operations involving radioactive material. Contamination control of routine
operations is normally accomplished through containment of the radioactive material in chemical
hoods, gloved boxes, hot cells, or the use of area exclusion, protective clothing, etc. In addition,
procedures and work planning play a significant role in reducing the possibility of a
contamination incident. However, there are a number of routine operations which, through
maintenance activities, system leaks, or accidents have the potential to contaminate facilities,
equipment or people. These operations range from simple (e.g., chemical manipulations
involving a radioactive solution,) to complex (e.g., removal of radioactive materials from a hot
cell). In most cases, contamination should be controlled, and removed as soon as possible. The
contaminated area or equipment should be marked and posted immediately. Nonessential
persons should be moved out of the area until decontamination has been completed. Usually
simple cleaning techniques and procedures are adequate for most decontamination tasks. Spills
and contaminated areas should be cleaned from the outer region inward to reduce the possibility
of further spread of the contamination. After cleaning, the area or equipment should be
surveyed to ensure that all the contamination has been removed.
f.
Area monitoring
Fixed area monitors are typically used to monitor ambient radiation levels in potentially occupied
areas. They are particularly useful when the potential exists for a significant increase in the
ambient radiation levels. These monitors provide a continuous "radiation survey" at their
predetermined and fixed locations and normally activate an alarm when a predetermined
radiation dose or dose rate is exceeded. They can also be used to supplement or replace personal
dosimeters, especially in areas where the annual external effective dose is expected to be less
than 1 mSv. The design and implementation of an area monitoring program should include, as
appropriate:
1) an evaluation of the radiation to be detected
2) the range of dose rate that may be encountered
3) the location of the detectors relative to the workers and the radiation source
4) the operating and response characteristics of the monitoring system
5) effects of the environment on the monitoring system
g.
Bioassay program
th
One of the techniques for estimating the intake of radioactivity or the radiation dose from that
intake in order to demonstrate compliance with regulatory requirements for limiting the total
effective dose equivalent (TEDE) is by a program of routine bioassay. Since the likelihood of
intake is related to the level of environmental contamination, routine bioassay programs are
designed to verify the efficacy of environmental contamination controls. In routine bioassay, the
workers body burden of radioactivity is determined periodically on a fixed frequency. The results
are then compared to an arbitrarily established reference level that is not expected to be
reached if there is no breakdown in contamination control measures. The method and frequency
of routine bioassay monitoring is determined by the radiation characteristics and metabolic
kinetics of the radionuclides of interest as well as by the sensitivity of the monitoring methods,
the acceptable degree of uncertainty of the implied dose, and the ease and convenience of the
method.
In addition to routine bioassay, special bioassay determinations are made in cases of suspected
or known accidental exposures by inhalation, ingestion, or through wounds. When used as a
monitoring technique, an administrative level, called an investigation level, is set. An
investigation level is an estimated intake or committed dose that is higher than expected and
above which the result is considered sufficiently significant to warrant further investigation.
Bioassay programs rely on two general techniques. One of these techniques is called in vivo
bioassay; it is the direct determination of internal radionuclides by whole-body counting and is
useful only for gamma-emitting radionuclides or beta emitters that give rise to suitable
bremsstrahlung. The other technique is called in vitro bioassay, and involves the analysis of body
fluids, exhaled air, or excreta for the purpose of estimating the intake.
There are two general types of bioassay measurements, direct and indirect. The method that is
selected depends on the route of entry into the body, the solubility (or transportability) of the
material, the metabolism of the material, knowledge of the route of excretion, the sensitivity of
the measurement technique, and many other factors. Typically only one bioassay measurement
technique is selected for routine monitoring. However, it is common to use as many different
methods as are appropriate to evaluate significant exposures. Direct bioassay (often called in
vivo bioassay) involves the "direct" measurement of the radioactivity in organs or tissues, or the
entire body. This measurement is accomplished by positioning very sensitive radiation detectors
near the body and detecting the radiation that escapes the body. This method is used primarily
to detect photon-emitting radionuclides. Information on direct bioassay techniques is available
(NCRP, 1987; Toohey et al., 1991), as well as information that provides a means for estimating
intakes of radionuclides based upon an evaluation of the appropriate bioassay compartment
through direct measurements (Lmsard et al., 1987).
The advantages of direct bioassay include:

1) a relatively high accuracy for almost all photon emitters
2) ability to measure radioactivity in specific organs (e.g., lungs, thyroid)
3) prompt data acquisition and analysis
4) preclusion of the need for metabolic models to estimate the organ or body radioactivity
content
5) simultaneous detection of many radionuclides
6) preclusion of the need to give and handle biological materials
The disadvantages of direct bioassay include
1) a lower detection sensitivity than excretion analyses (which are not necessarily more
accurate)
2) difficulty in discriminating between internal and external contamination
3) a need for elaborate and generally expensive equipment
4) usefulness is limited for radionuclides that emit photons with energy less than 100 keV
5) alpha and beta-particle radiations are not normally detected
6) calibration sources and phantoms are required
Indirect bioassay (often called in vitro bioassay) includes a number of techniques that are
designed to measure the concentration of radioactive material in biological samples, including
urine, feces, exhaled breath, perspiration, saliva, blood and even hair, fingernail and biopsy
samples. A fundamental knowledge of the metabolism of the radionuclide in the body and the
relationship of the concentration in the bioassay sample to the quantity in the organs and tissues of interest is required to select the appropriate bioassay technique.
The advantages of indirect bioassay include:

1) large numbers of people can be monitored, usually with minimal interference with the
work schedule
2) radiations that are not easily measured by external means (e.g., alpha and beta particles)
can be detected
3) external contamination can be excluded

4) in many cases, the cost of the analysis is relatively low
5) detection of the presence of almost all radionuclides is possible with standard
analytical techniques and procedures
The disadvantages of indirect bioassay are:
1) retention characteristics of the radioactive compound vary among individuals
2) individual variations in uptake and retention are not always known
3) excretion kinetics are not known for all radionuclides
4) some analytical techniques can be time-consuming
5) presence of biohazards and the need to handle biological waste
One approach that can be used to expedite results is to establish a simple, inexpensive
procedure to screen the bioassay samples. A more extensive, complex and often expensive
procedure can be used to analyze samples that are identified by the screening process as
significant or those samples that are obtained as the result of a known exposure.
h. Respiratory protection
Reference: NCRP Report No. 127, Operational Radiation Safety Program. p.70
To the extent practical, reliance for safety should be placed on engineered controls rather than
on the use of administrative controls or personal protective equipment. However, there may be
situations that require the use of individual respiratory protective equipment. Caution and
judgment must be exercised in determining the need for respiratory equipment because it may
increase physical stress, impede the worker's vision and extend the time required to complete
the work. Thus, the use of respiratory equipment may lead to increased risk of injury and
increased external radiation exposure (Dooley and Barresi, 1994; Lee, 1994). The goal of the
protection program is to control the total radiation dose and to limit the total risk to the
individual. When respiratory protection is required, an adequate program should include (ANSI,
1984; 1992; Colton et al., 1991):
1) medical evaluation and surveillance
2) specification of respirator type
3) testing the fit on individuals (individual fit testing)
4) user training
5) maintenance and cleaning
6) testing the effectiveness of the respirator

7) a bioassay program
8) evaluation of other risks, e.g., heat stress, falls, trips, etc.
The need for respiratory protective equipment can be reduced by such measures as replacing dry
operations with wet operations or confining the radioactive material in gloved enclosures or
chemical hoods.
i.
Environmental monitoring
Environmental monitoring serves a number of purposes. First, it provides a mechanism to assess

the effluent monitoring program and in many situations can be used to determine whether
environmental concentrations are consistent with the release rates that were estimated. Even if
environmental concentrations are extremely low, as is often the case, the data can be used to
place upper limits on the magnitude of releases that occurred. A second use of environmental
monitoring data is to assess the level of exposure of members of the public due to releases or
external radiation fields from the facility. Again, very low radioactivity concentrations or
radiation doses serve at least to estimate the maximum exposure of members of the public from
radionuclides released by the facility and from external radiation fields. A third use of
environmental monitoring data is to identify environmental mechanisms that lead to elevated
concentrations of radionuclides in biota or other materials and to quantify the magnitudes of the
associated concentration factors. The analysis of particular environmental pathways will aid in
identification of the critical group of persons whose diet or habits cause them to be most highly
exposed to facility effluents. Finally, a sound environmental monitoring program can support and
improve the credibility of estimates of public exposure that are made by facility staff.
Alternatively, a poorly designed program that lacks adequate sensitivity, quality assurance, or
other important components can destroy the credibility of such estimates. The type of
environmental monitoring program that is appropriate for a particular facility depends on a
number of factors. These include the direct radiation levels produced around the facility,
quantities of radionuclides released from the facility, the isotopic composition, chemical and
physical forms of effluents, and points of release to the environment. Also of interest are the
expected behavior of the radionuclides in the atmosphere and terrestrial or aquatic environment
to which they are discharged and the ways in which that behavior may be modified by particular
features in the environs of the facility. Land and water uses comprise a third set of factors: the
nearby population distribution, its habits, and source of drinking water; local agricultural
production and gardening activities; and local recreational, subsistence, and commercial
harvesting of fish or other aquatic organisms.
The operational monitoring program will provide data that can be used to estimate, or at least
provide satisfactory bounds for, the dose received by the critical population groups. The period
over which the dose is averaged is likely to be one year, but specific licensing requirements may
identify a shorter period. Although relatively long-term averages are used for dose assessment,
environmental sampling frequency also depends on the radionuclides expected to be released,
their half-lives, and their behavior in the environment.
The operational environmental monitoring program will also provide a check on the effluent
monitoring program. Periodic review of the two data sets and relevant dispersion estimates is
required to determine whether measured environmental levels are consistent with those
expected from effluent measurements and expected levels of dispersion and food chain
concentration.
*The critical group is defined as a group of members of the public which is reasonably
homogeneous with respect to its exposure for a given radiation source and is typical of
individuals receiving the highest effective dose or equivalent dose (as applicable) from the given
source because of their location, age, diet or habits. Dose constraints or, in some circumstances,
dose limits established by the regulatory body generally apply to the mean dose to this critical
group. The ICRP has provided guidance to assist in the determination of critical groups.
j.
Accident monitoring
Reference: IAEA. Environmental and Source Monitoring for Purposes of Radiation Protection.
Safety Guide No. RS-G-1.8. pp.47-48, 2005.
Emergency monitoring
In emergency exposure situations, depending on the severity of an accident, all three types of
radiation monitoring - source monitoring, environmental monitoring and individual monitoring may be performed. The overall strategy for emergency monitoring should be preplanned to
address the needs of assessors, decision makers and responders over time and geographical
location, and as a function of the type of decision on protective actions and response actions that
might be necessary to protect the public and responders or to mitigate the consequences of the
emergency.
The specific objectives of emergency radiation monitoring in the environment are:

1) To provide accurate and timely data on the level and degree of hazards resulting from a
radiation emergency, in particular on the levels of radiation and environmental
contamination with radionuclides;
2) To assist decision makers on the need to make interventions and take protective actions;
3) To provide information for the protection of emergency workers;
4) To provide information for the public on the degree of the hazard;
5) To provide information needed to identify any people for whom long term medical
screening is warranted.
In emergencies the nature of key data and requirements for the emergency monitoring program
will evolve with time. For planning purposes emergency time phases can be specified, which are
then used for guiding the prioritization of emergency monitoring actions. The phases used here
are designated as the pre-release and early phase (release), the post release or intermediate
phase and the recovery or remediation phase. These time phase designations of an emergency
correspond largely to those defined by the ICRP.
The scale of the emergency envisaged will determine the design of the environmental monitoring
and sampling program. While the nature and extent of an emergency cannot be anticipated, it is
important that advance arrangements be made to prepare for a range of possible emergencies.
Arrangements should be made for instrumental measurements, sample collection, sample
analysis, dose assessment, interpretation of results, communication and the receipt of assistance
from other organizations, if needed.
This guidance applies to those facilities at which there could be emergencies that result in
releases warranting the implementation of protective actions off the site. This includes facilities
in threat category I or II. Facilities in threat category I, such as nuclear power plants, could give
rise to releases that result in severe deterministic health effects off the site. Facilities in threat
category II, such as research reactors, could give rise to releases resulting in doses to people off
the site that warrant taking protective action in accordance with international standards.
During and immediately after a nuclear or radiological emergency, monitoring resources are
likely to be heavily overtaxed, and it is essential to ensure that such resources are utilized as
effectively and efficiently as possible until additional assistance can be secured. At the outset, all
available meteorological information and modelling predictions should be used to determine the
geographical area in which people could be affected by the release of radioactive material.
Data from source and environmental monitoring should be recorded and retained for use during
an emergency, in post-emergency evaluations, and for the long term health monitoring and
follow-up of emergency workers and members of the public who may be affected.
k.
Criticality monitoring
th
Reference: Herman Cember. Health Physics. 4 edition, pp.639, 645
Of all the potential radiation hazards with which the health physicist deals, that of an accidental
criticality is among the most serious. Criticality may be defined as the attainment of physical
conditions such that a fissile material will sustain a chain reaction. During this chain reaction, the
nuclei of the fissile material (material whose atoms can be made to fission) splits, thereby
liberating tremendous amounts of energy in the form of radiation and producing large quantities
of radioactive fission products. In a nuclear reactor, criticality is attained under conditions that
are very rigorously controlled in regard to safety and power level. If criticality is accidentally
attained outside a reactor during the processing or handling of nuclear fuel, the consequences to
personnel and equipment are very grave. The utmost in care and controls, both technical and
administrative, must be exercised in the handling, use, or transport of fissile materials if death or
serious injury or property damage due to a criticality accident is to be avoided. Generally, such
efforts to prevent criticality accidents are called criticality control or nuclear safety.
Criticality is attained when at least one of the several neutrons that are emitted in a fission
process causes a second nucleus to fission. However, although a chain reaction may occur
whenever fissionable material is irradiated with neutrons, not all systems of fissionable material
can go critical. If more neutrons are lost by escape from the system or by non-fission absorption
in impurities or poisons than are produced in fission, then the chain reaction is not selfsustaining and dies out. In this case, the assembly of fissionable material is called subcritical. If
we have a sustained chain reaction, and if the rate of fission neutron production exceeds the rate
of loss, the assembly is called supercritical. When exactly one neutron per fission is available for
initiating another fission, the system is called critical.

As specified in ANSI/ANS-8.3, Criticality Accident Alarm System, the need for criticality alarm
systems shall be evaluated for all activities in which the inventory of fissionable material in
individual unrelated work areas exceeds 700 g of 235U, 520 g of 233U, 450 g of 239Pu, or 450 g
of any combination of these three isotopes. If the fissionable material mass exceeds the
-6
ANSI/ANS-8.3 limits and the probability of criticality is greater than 10 per year, a criticality
alarm system shall (DOE O 420.1B, section 4.3.3) be provided to cover occupied areas in which
the expected dose exceeds 12 rad in free air. Nuclear accident dosimetry shall also be provided,
as required by 10 CFR 835.1304. The criticality alarm system should include a criticality detection
device and a personnel evacuation alarm.
ANSI/ANS-8.3 provides several additional requirements regarding criticality alarm systems. The
alarm signal shall be for immediate evacuation purposes only and of sufficient volume and
coverage to be heard in all areas that are to be evacuated. Information on sound levels of the
alarm can be found in ANSI/ANS-8.3. The alarm trip point shall be set low enough to detect the
minimum accident of concern.
The minimum accident of concern may be assumed to deliver the equivalent of an absorbed
dose in free air of 20 rad at a distance of 2 m from the reacting material within 60 sec. The alarm
signal shall activate promptly (i.e., within 0.5 sec) when the dose rate at the detectors equals or
exceeds a value equivalent to 20 rad/min at 2 m from the reacting material. A visible or audible
warning signal shall be provided at a normally occupied location to indicate system malfunction
or loss of primary power. Each alarm system should be tested at least once every three months.
An evacuation drill shall be conducted at least annually.
l.
Record-keeping

Individual Monitoring Records

Except as authorized by 10 CFR 835.702(b), records shall be maintained to document doses
received by all individuals for whom monitoring was conducted and to document doses received
during planned special exposures, unplanned doses exceeding the monitoring thresholds of 10
CFR 835.402, and authorized emergency exposures.
Recording of the non-uniform equivalent dose to the skin is not required if the dose is less than 2
percent of the limit specified for the skin at 10 CFR 835.202(a)(4). Recording of internal dose
(committed effective dose or committed equivalent dose) is not required for any monitoring
result estimated to correspond to an individual receiving less than 0.01 rem (0.1 mSv) committed
effective dose. The bioassay or air monitoring result used to make the estimate shall be
maintained in accordance with 10 CFR 835.703(b) and the unrecorded internal dose estimated
for any individual in a year shall not exceed the applicable monitoring threshold at 10 CFR
835.402(c).
Documentation of all occupational doses received during the current year, except for doses
resulting from planned special exposures conducted in compliance with 10 CFR 835.204 and
emergency exposures authorized in accordance with 10 CFR 835.1302(d), shall be obtained to
demonstrate compliance with 10 CFR 835.202(a). If complete records documenting previous
occupational dose during the year cannot be obtained, a written estimate signed by the
individual may be accepted to demonstrate compliance.
For radiological workers whose occupational dose is monitored in accordance with 10 CFR
835.402, reasonable efforts shall be made to obtain complete records of prior years occupational
internal and external doses. The records specified in this section that are identified with a specific
individual shall be readily available to that individual. Data necessary to allow future verification
or reassessment of the recorded doses shall be recorded. All records required by this section
shall be transferred to the DOE upon cessation of activities at the site that could cause exposure
to individuals.
Monitoring and Workplace Records

The following information shall be documented and maintained:
Results of monitoring for radiation and radioactive material as required by subparts E

and L of this part, except for monitoring required by 10 CFR 835.1102(d);
Results of monitoring used to determine individual occupational dose from external and
internal sources;
Results of monitoring for the release and control of material and equipment as required
by 10 CFR 835.1101; and
Results of maintenance and calibration performed on instruments and equipment as

required by 10 CFR 835.401(b).
Administrative Records
Training records shall be maintained, as necessary, to demonstrate compliance with 10 CFR
835.901. Actions taken to maintain occupational exposures as low as reasonably achievable,
including the actions required for this purpose by 10 CFR 835.101, as well as facility design and
control actions required by 10 CFR 835.1001, 835.1002, and 835.1003, shall be documented.
Records shall be maintained to document the results of internal audits and other reviews of
program content and implementation. Written declarations of pregnancy, including the
estimated date of conception, and revocations of declarations of pregnancy shall be maintained.
Changes in equipment, techniques, and procedures used for monitoring shall be documented.
Records shall be maintained as necessary to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of
10 CFR 835.1201 and 835.1202 for sealed radioactive source control, inventory, and source leak
tests.
m. Waste disposal
th
Reference: Herman Cember. Health Physics. 4 edition, pp.595-596, 630-631
Proper collection and management of radioactive waste is an integral part of contamination

control and internal (as well as external) radiation protection. In one sense, we cannot dispose
of radioactive waste. All other types (nonradioactive) of hazardous wastes can be treated, either
chemically, physically, or biologically in order to reduce their toxicity. In the case of radioactive
wastes, on the other hand, nothing can be done to decrease their radioactivity, and hence their
inherent toxic properties. The only means of ultimate disposal is through time-to allow the
radioactivity to decay. However, the wastes can be treated and stored in a manner that
essentially eliminates their potential threat to the biosphere. Solid and liquid wastes are treated
to minimize their volume, and liquid wastes are converted into solids by such means as
vitrification, or by incorporating the liquid either into concrete or asphalt, or into an insoluble
plastic. The treated solid waste is packaged in containers according to the class of the waste and
buried either in shallow engineered trenches in seismologically and hydrologically stable soil that
are then covered with soil, or in deep seismologically and hydrologically stable geologic
formations.
Radioactive wastes, which include materials of widely differing types and activities, can originate
from any industrial, medical, scientific, university, decommissioning, or agricultural activity in
which radioisotopes are used or produced. For regulatory purposes, waste is considered to be
radioactive if it contains radionuclides at concentrations or activities greater than those specified
by a regulatory authority. For example, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (U.S. NRC)
regulations state that 3H and 14C in animal tissues and in liquid scintillation media in
concentrations not greater than 0.05 Ci (1850 Bq) per gram may be disposed of as if it were not
radioactive. It must be emphasized that this definition of radioactive waste is for regulatory
purposes only. Waste materials whose activity, quantity, or concentration does not exceed this
regulatory lower limit are radioactive from a physical point of view. However, because of their
low levels of activity, they are not considered to be hazardous.
Although nothing short of allowing natural decay can be done to reduce the radioactivity, and
hence the inherent toxic properties, of radioactive wastes, they can be treated to render them
essentially nonhazardous. One of the main objectives of waste treatment is to prevent the
entrance of radioactive nuclides into the biosphere, where even small amounts might be
accumulated by certain plants or animals to potentially toxic concentrations. One treatment
method that greatly reduces the potential hazard is immobilization in a highly stable matrix, such
as vitrification of high-level liquid waste by incorporating it into glass, or by adsorbing the
radionuclides onto clay and then firing the clay at a high temperature, thereby locking the
radionuclides into the clay. Both these treatment methods prevent the radionuclides from
entering into the biosphere. Other stable matrices include concrete, asphalt, and plastics.
Treatment methods include volume reduction of liquid wastes by evaporation and physical
compaction of solid wastes, and then packaging and burial in a designated burial site. Low-level
liquid wastes may be diluted to concentrations within regulatory requirements, and then
released to the environment (although this treatment modality may not be societally acceptable).
The exact manner of treatment and disposition is determined by public opinion and by technical
and engineering considerations.
n. Emergency planning and response
Reference: Radiation emergency medical management Planners: Preparedness and Response.

Available at: http://www.remm.nlm.gov/remm_Preplanning.htm
Disaster response plans describe how various governmental and private sector entities are
supposed to function individually and collaboratively during a disaster in order to protect the
public and key infrastructure and continue to perform their missions.
Hospitals, public health agencies and other health entities also have response plans specific
for their missions.
Planning details
Some plans are appropriate for all types of incidents: "all hazard" plans.
Some plans are hazard-specific e.g., chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, natural
disasters
Hazard-specific response plans typically contain the critical elements of "all hazard"
plans but also include modifications that address hazard-specific features
Effective plans are
Developed collaboratively by all potential participants
Integrated into plans that will be used by others participating in the response
Communicated to all those who will perform activities specified by the plan
Practiced in formal drills or exercises
Updated regularly to reflect lessons learned in formal exercises
The nature, scope, and location of a mass casualty disaster will significantly affect the
implementation of any response plan
7.
Other topics
a.
Aerosol physics
i. Interpretation of aerosol properties as they apply to respiratory penetration
th
For particles greater than about 1 m, the gravitational effects and inertial effects are
much greater than the diffusional effects. Thus, the motion of this particle relative to
the air is determined mainly by the aerodynamic properties of the particle. For particles
smaller than 0.1 m, diffusional effects predominate and particle motion relative to air
is determined by thermodynamic properties of the particle. Particles between these two
sizes are influenced by both aerodynamic and thermodynamic factors.
Aerodynamic properties
Since the activity of a radioactive particle is directly proportional to its mass, we can
describe the mean size of a radioactive aerosol by its activity mean aerodynamic
diameter (AMAD) size. In radiation safety standards, particle sizes refer to the sizes of
those particles whose aerodynamic behavior is equivalent to that of unit density
particles. Aerodynamic sizes are used when inertial and gravitational effects are the
main determinants of a particles behavior.
The AMAD is the value of aerodynamic diameter for which 50% of the airborne
activity in a given aerosol is associated with particles smaller than the AMAD, and
50% of the activity is associated with particles larger than the AMAD. The AMAD is
used in internal dosimetry as a means of simplifying the true distribution of
aerodynamic diameters of a given aerosol as a single value. It is used to describe
those particle sizes for which deposition depends chiefly on inertial impaction and
sedimentation.
Thermodynamic Properties
When particle sizes approach the size of air molecules, the random collisions with the
air molecules impart enough energy to the aerosol particles to influence the motion of
the aerosol particles. The resulting random motion of the air molecules is known as
Brownian motion, and is the basis for the diffusion process. Diffusion becomes
increasingly important as a particle transport mechanism as the particle size decreases
below 1 m.
The combination of these three effects - inertial impaction, gravitational settling, and
Brownian motion - leads to a maximum likelihood of deposition in the deep respiratory
tract for particles in the 1-2 m size range, and a minimum deposition for particles
between 0.1 and 0.5 m, as shown in Figure 8-5.
The depth of penetration of airborne particles into the respiratory tract depends on the
size of the airborne particles. Large dust particles, in excess of about 5 m, are likely to
be filtered out by the nasal hair or to impact on the nasopharyngeal surface. The effect
of gravitational settling becomes less pronounced as the particle size decreases. For
practical purposes, therefore, small particles may be regarded as remaining suspended
in the atmosphere, and all but very large particles may be considered to be carried by
moving air. In the respiratory tree, because of the relatively small cross sectional areas
of many of the air passages, the inspired air may attain relatively high velocities. Large
particles that escape the hair-filter in the nose therefore have high kinetic energies as
they pass through the air passages. As a consequence of the momentum of such a heavy
particle, it cannot follow the inspired air around sharp curves, and strikes the walls of
the upper respiratory tract. As the particle size decreases below 5 m, this inertial
impact decreases, and an increasing number of particles are carried down into the lung.
The air in the alveoli is relatively still - since only a small fraction of the air there is
exchanged with incoming air during a respiratory excursion. Particles that are carried
into the deep respiratory tract, therefore, have the opportunity to settle out under the
force of gravity. Gravitational settling, however, decreases with decreasing particle size
and reaches a minimum when the particle size is about 0.5 m. As the particle size
decreases below about 0.1 m, the effect of Brownian motion becomes significant. As
the particles move randomly about, they may strike the alveolar wall and get trapped on
its moist surface.
ii. Size dependence of aerosol transport properties and implications for environmental
removal or transport
Reference: Commission of the European Communities. Aerosol measurements and

nuclear accidents: A reconsideration, p. 8, 1987.
Environmental deposition depends on many parameters in addition to the properties of

the aerosol. Consequently, measurements of air concentration alone will never suffice.
Direct measurements of deposition in rain and in soil or vegetation samples can be

made simply and economically for many radionuclides and will form an essential part of
an environmental monitoring program. Deposition from Chernobyl not only illustrated
the great importance of scavenging by rain, but also the extreme spatial variability that
occurred in many countries where convective storms caused the bulk of the deposition.
Variations of an order of magnitude were observed between sites a few kilometers
apart. Another accident in different weather conditions might yield a different kind of
spatial distribution, and a deposition monitoring program would need to respond by
adjusting the distribution of sampling points for soil or vegetation.
Meteorological Considerations
When a contaminant is discharged from a chimney, it is assumed that the contaminant
will be carried downwind while, at the same time, it diffuses laterally and vertically. The
two main consequences of this dispersion in the atmosphere are dilution of the
contaminant and its eventual return to the breathing zone at ground level. Of particular
interest in evaluating the safety of discharge into the air is the relationships between
the rate of discharge and the ground-level concentrations-both in the breathing zone
and on the ground (as fallout)-of the discharged radioactivity. The ground-level
distribution of the discharged radioactivity depends on a number of factors, including
atmospheric stability, wind velocity, type of terrain, the nature of the boundary layer of
air (the air layer immediately over the ground for a distance of several hundred feet),
and the height of the chimney. It is thus very difficult to predict precisely the pattern of
ground-level distribution, although reasonable estimates may be made from one of
several different sets of atmospheric diffusion equations. Atmospheric stability depends
on the temperature gradient of the air. Meteorologists refer to the temperature
gradient of the atmosphere as the lapse rate.
b. Meteorological transport
i. Use and limitations of Suttons equations
ii. Inferring source strength from remotely measured decay product and vice versa via
Suttons equation
th
Graham Sutton derived an air pollutant plume dispersion equation in 1947 which did
include the assumption of Gaussian distribution for the vertical and crosswind
dispersion of the plume and also included the effect of ground reflection of the plume.
Although we often speak of atmospheric diffusion, the fact is that very little
atmospheric dispersion of gases is due to diffusion. The effects of turbulence are usually
so great that molecular diffusion is completely masked. For this reason, estimates of the
dispersion of gases in the atmosphere are based on mathematical models that consider
the meteorological state of the atmosphere rather than on classical diffusion theory.
One of the more commonly used models for estimating the ground-level concentration
of a gaseous effluent from a point source, such as a chimney, is the Gaussian plume,
straight-line trajectory model. In this model, the contaminant is assumed to be normally
distributed around the central axis of the plume in both the vertical and the horizontal
directions; it is also assumed that atmospheric stability and wind speed determine the
atmospheric dispersion characteristics of the contaminant in the downwind direction.
Reference: Abdel-rahman. On the atmospheric dispersion and Gaussian plume model.

2nd International Conference on WASTE MANAGEMENT. 2008, pp. 31-32.
Gaussian plume model uses a realistic description of dispersion, where it represents an

analytical solution to the diffusion equation for idealized circumstances. The model
assumes that the atmospheric turbulence is both stationary and homogeneous. In
reality, none of these conditions is fully satisfied. However, Gaussian plume model has
been successfully used for rural configurations. Extensive validation has been done on
tracer experiments conducted in Kincaid and Prairie grass. Gaussian model has also
been tested against tracer experiments in urban surroundings. The model is still the
method of choice for many, especially for the prediction of yearly averaged
concentration. It is the most widely used plume model and is the basis for most of the
computer models distributed by the EPA.
In the Gaussian plume dispersion model the concentration of pollution downwind from
a source is treated as spreading outward from the centerline of the plume following a
normal statistical distribution. The plume spreads in both the horizontal and vertical
directions.
In the model, determining the pollutant concentrations at ground-level beneath an
elevated plume involves two main steps; first, the height to which the plume rises at a
given downwind distance from the plume source is calculated. The calculated plume rise
is added to the height of the plume's source point to obtain the so-called "effective
stack height". Second, the ground-level pollutant concentration beneath the plume at
the given downwind distance is predicted using the Gaussian dispersion equation.
The Gaussian dispersion equation can be written as:
which was developed by Sutton, where C is the concentration, Q is the emission rate of
the pollutant from the source, u is the wind speed which defines the direction x.
In this equation, the ground is usually assumed to be a perfect reflector and its presence
is represented by a mirror image source placed below ground.
In analyzing the Gaussian plume model, the following assumptions are usually made:
1) Continuous emission and negligible diffusion in the direction of travel.
2) The material diffused is a stable gas or aerosol, with a negligible deposition rate.
3) Mass is conserved through reflection at surfaces.
4) Background pollution is negligible.
5) Steady-state conditions.
6) Constant wind speed and direction with time and elevation.
7) Negligible wind shear effect on horizontal diffusion.
8) The dispersion parameters are assumed to be functions of x (and hence u alone).
9) The terrain is relatively flat, open country.
Gaussian plume models are applicable for downwind distance, x>100 m, because near
the source concentration approaches infinity. Accordingly, many researchers imposed a
lower limit on y(x) and z(x), or an upper limit on the near source concentration.
c.
Shielding design
While distance and time factors can be employed advantageously in external radiation
protection, shielding provides a more reliable way of limiting personnel exposure by limiting the
dose rate. In principle, shielding alone can be used to reduce dose rates to desired levels. In
practice, however, the amount of shielding employed will depend on a balancing of practical
necessities such as cost and the benefit expected.
Gamma-Ray Shielding
The relative intensity I/I0 of monoenergetic photons transmitted without interaction through a
shield of thickness x is, from Eq. (8.43),
x
I = I0e ,
(15.1)
where is the linear attenuation coefficient. If the incident beam is broad, as in Fig. 8.10, then
the measured intensity will be greater than that described by Eq. (15.1) because scattered
photons will also be detected. Such conditions usually apply to the shields required for
protection from gamma-ray sources. The increased transmission of photon intensity over that
measured in good geometry can be taken into account by writing
x
I = BI0e ,
(15.2)
where B is called the buildup factor (B 1).

The thickness of a shield for which the photon intensity in a narrow beam is reduced to 1/e of its
original value is called the relaxation length. One relaxation length, therefore, is equal to 1/, the
mean free path.
Example
Calculate the thickness of a lead shield needed to reduce
the exposure rate 1m from a 10-Ci point source of 42K to
1
2.5mRh . The decay scheme of the emitter is shown in

42
Fig. 15.7. The daughter Ca is stable.
Solution
With no shielding, the exposure rate at r = 1 m is given by E:
X = 0.5CE = 0.510(0.181.52) = 1.37 R h . (15.3)
1
We make an initial estimate of the shielding required to

1
reduce this to 2.5 mRh on the basis of narrow-beam geometry. The number of relaxation
lengths x needed would then satisfy the relation
x
= 2.5 / 1370 = 1.82103, (15.4)
or x = 6.31. The energy of the photons emitted by 42K is 1.52 MeV. We see from Fig. 15.1 (point
source) that for photons of this energy in lead and a thickness of 6.31 relaxation lengths, the
value of the buildup factor is about 3. To keep the required reduction (15.4) the same when the
buildup factor is used, the number of relaxation lengths in the exponential must be increased.
y
The number y of added relaxation lengths that compensates a buildup factor of 3 is given by e =
1/3, or y = ln 3 = 1.10. Added to the initial value, the estimated shield thickness becomes 6.31 +
1.10 = 7.41 relaxation lengths. Inspection of Fig. 15.1 shows that the buildup factor has now
increased to perhaps 3.5. Thus, a better guess is y = ln 3.5 = 1.25, with an estimated shield
thickness of 6.31 + 1.25 = 7.56, which we round off to 7.6 relaxation lengths. It remains to verify
a final solution numerically by trial and error. For x = 7.6 in Fig. 15.1, we estimate that B = 3.6.
The reduction factor with buildup included is then
x
Be
7.6
= 3.6e
= 1.810 , (15.5)
which agrees with (15.4) within our degree of precision. From Fig. 8.8, we obtain for the mass
1
attenuation coefficient / = 0.051 cm2 g . With = 11.4 g cm for lead, we have = 0.581 cm .
The required thickness of lead shielding is x = 7.6/ = 7.6/0.581 = 13 cm. A shield of this thickness
can be interposed anywhere between the source and the point of exposure. Usually, shielding is
placed close to a source to realize the greatest solid-angle protection.
Shielding in X-Ray Installations

An X-ray tube is usually housed in a heavy lead casing with an aperture through which the
primary, or useful, beam emerges. Typically, the beam passes through metal filters (e.g., Al, Cu)
to remove unwanted, less penetrating radiation and is then collimated to reduce its width. The
housing, supplied by the manufacturer, must conform to certain specifications in order to limit
the leakage radiation that emerges from it during operation.
The basic components of the radiation field considered in the design of structural shielding are
shown in Fig. 15.8. A primary protective barrier, such as a lead-lined wall, is fixed in place in any
direction in which the useful beam can be pointed. This shield reduces the exposure rate outside
the X-ray area in the direction of the primary beam. Locations not in the direct path of the beam
are also exposed to photons in two ways. As illustrated in Fig. 15.8, leakage radiation escapes
from the housing in all directions. In addition, photons are scattered from exposed objects in the
primary beam and from walls, ceilings, and other structures. Secondary protective barriers are
needed to reduce exposure rates outside the X-ray area from both leakage and scattered
radiation. Sometimes existing structures, such as concrete walls, provide sufficient secondary
barriers; otherwise, additional shielding, such as lead sheets, must be added to them.
Generally, structural shielding has been designed in a manner consistent with limiting the
1
effective dose to an individual outside the X-ray room to 1 mSv wk in controlled areas and to
1
0.1 mSv wk in uncontrolled areas. A controlled area is one in which access and occupancy are
regulated in conjunction with operation of the facility. Persons working there have special
training in radiation protection, and radiation exposures are monitored. In contrast, individuals
are free to come and go in uncontrolled areas. These design goals adhere to the annual limits of
50 mSv and 5 mSv for occupational and nonoccupational radiation. Since many instruments used
to monitor X radiation are calibrated to measure exposure in roentgen (R), the shielding design
objectives that have traditionally been employed are expressed as 0.1 Rwk
and 0.01 Rwk .
Numerically, an exposure of 1 R produces an absorbed dose of 8.76 mGy in air. Conversely, a 1mGy absorbed dose in air is equivalent to 0.114 R.
In 2004 the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements issued Report No. 147,
Structural Shielding Design for Medical X-Ray Imaging Facilities. In this Report, the Council
recommends that air kerma, K, be the quantity used for making X-ray shielding calculations. It
specifies that an instrument reading in R can be divided by 114 to obtain the air kerma in Gy. The
recommended design goal for occupational exposure is also revised. The cumulative effectivedose limit implies an average annual limit of 10 mSv. In the design of new facilities, the Council
1
recommends one-half this value, or 5 mSv y , and a weekly design goal of P = 0.1 mGy air kerma.
Using one-half also accomplishes adherence to a monthly equivalent-dose limit of 0.5 mSv to a
workers embryo or fetus. For uncontrolled areas, the recommended design goal is P = 0.02
1
mGywk air kerma, corresponding to the annual 1 mSv shown in Table 14.4.
It is found experimentally that the primary beam intensity transmitted through a shield depends
strongly on the peak operating voltage but very little on the filtration of the beam. (The effect of
filters on exposure rate is small compared with that of the thicker shields.)
Lead is a most effective and practical material for X-ray shielding. On a weight basis, it is
considerably lighter than concrete. A concrete shield covering the same wall area as lead would
thus weigh 18 times as much. The principal physical reason for this difference is the much larger
photoelectric attenuation coefficient of lead (and other materials of high atomic number) for
low-energy photons.
The secondary barrier is designed to protect areas not in the line of the useful beam from the
leakage and scattered radiation.
Protection from Beta Radiation

Beta (including positron) emitters present two potential external radiation hazards, namely, the
beta rays themselves and the bremsstrahlung they produce in the source and in adjacent
materials. In addition, annihilation photons are always present with positron sources. Beta
particles can be stopped in a shield surrounding the source if it is thicker than their range. To
minimize bremsstrahlung production, this shield should have low atomic number. It, in turn, can
be enclosed in another material (preferably of high atomic number) that is thick enough to
attenuate the bremsstrahlung intensity to the desired level. For a shielded beta emitter
bremsstrahlung may be the only significant external radiation hazard.
Neutron Shielding
Basically, a neutron shield acts to moderate fast neutrons to thermal energies, principally by
elastic scattering, and then absorb them. Most effective in slowing down neutrons are the light
elements, particularly hydrogen. Many hydrogenous materials, such as water and paraffin, make
efficient neutron shields.
Hydrogen captures thermal neutrons through the reaction 1H(n,)2H with a cross section of 0.33
barns. Other materials, like cadmium, have a very high (n,) thermal-neutron capture cross
section (2450 barns) and are therefore frequently used as neutron absorbers. Hydrogen and
cadmium have the disadvantage of emitting energetic (2.22-MeV and 9.05-MeV) capture gamma
rays, which might themselves require shielding. Other nuclides, such as 10B and 6Li, capture
thermal neutrons through an (n,) reaction without emission of appreciable gamma radiation.
For basic neutron shield
A high Z material to get inelastic scatter (ex. Fe, Pb)
A low Z material to get elastic scatter (ex. H)
A strong absorber to adsorb slow moving neutron (ex. B-10, Li-6, Cd-113, He-3)
d. Neutron dosimetry
An ionization device, such as that shown in Fig. 12.4, used for measuring gamma ray dose will
show a reading when exposed to neutrons. The response is due to ionization produced in the gas
by the charged recoil nuclei struck by neutrons in the walls and gas. However, the amount of
ionization will not be proportional to the absorbed dose in tissue unless (1) the walls and gas are
tissue equivalent and (2) the BraggGray principle is satisfied for neutrons. Soft tissue consists
chiefly of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen, all having different cross sections as functions
of neutron energy. The carbon wall of the chamber in Fig. 12.4 would respond quite differently
from tissue to a field of neutrons of mixed energies, because the three other principal elements
of tissue are lacking.
(According to the Bragg-Gray cavity theory, the ionization produced within a gas-filled cavity
inside a medium is related to the energy absorbed in that surrounding medium.)
The C CO2 chamber in Fig. 12.4 and similar devices can be used for neutrons of a given energy if
the chamber response has been calibrated experimentally as a function of neutron energy. Table
12.4 shows the relative response P(E) of the C CO2 chamber to photons or to neutrons of a given
energy for a fluence that delivers 1 rad to soft tissue. If D C(E) is the absorbed dose in the carbon
wall due to 1 tissue rad of neutrons of energy E and D C is the absorbed dose in the wall due to 1
tissue rad of photons, then, approximately,
Tissue-equivalent gases and plastics have been developed for constructing chambers to measure
neutron dose directly. These materials are fabricated with the approximate relative atomic
abundances shown in Table 12.3. In accordance with the proviso mentioned after Eq. (12.11)
(Dw/Dg=Sw/Sg), the wall of a tissue-equivalent neutron chamber must be at least as thick as the
range of a proton having the maximum energy of the neutrons to be monitored.
More often than not, gamma rays are present when neutrons are. In monitoring mixed gammaneutron radiation fields one generally needs to know the separate contributions that each type
of radiation makes to the absorbed dose. One needs this information in order to assign the
proper quality factor to the neutron part to obtain the dose equivalent. To this end, two
chambers can be exposed-one C CO2 and one tissue equivalent-and doses determined by a
difference method. The response RT of the tissue-equivalent instrument provides the combined
dose, RT = D + Dn. The reading RC of the C CO2 chamber can be expressed as RC = D + P(E)Dn,
where P(E) is an appropriate average from Table 12.4 for the neutron field in question. The
individual doses D and Dn can be inferred from RT and RC.
Example
In an unknown gamma-neutron field, a tissue-equivalent ionization chamber registers 0.082 mGy
1
h1 and a C CO2 chamber, 0.029 mGy h .What are the gamma and neutron dose rates?
The proportional counter provides a direct method of measuring neutron dose, and it has the
advantage of excellent gamma discrimination. The pulse height produced by a charged recoil
particle is proportional to the energy that the particle deposits in the gas(the Hurst fast-neutron
proportional counter).
Intermediate and fast neutrons incident on the body are subsequently moderated and can be
backscattered at slow or epithermal energies through the surface they entered. Exposure to
these neutrons can therefore be monitored by wearing a device, such as a thermoluminescent
6
dosimeter (TLD) enriched in Li, that is sensitive to slow neutrons. Such a device is called an
albedo-type neutron dosimeter. (For a medium A that contains a neutron source and an
adjoining medium B that does not, the albedo is defined in reactor physics as the fraction of
neutrons entering B that are reflected or scattered back into A.)
Albedo dosimeter
Reference: Radiation Protection Competency 1.3. p.RP 1.3-16
TLDs used to detect neutrons incorporate two isotopes of lithium, Li-6 and Li-7, both of which are
equally sensitive to gamma radiation. However, Li-6 has a large cross section for the thermal
neutron (n, ) reaction. Production of the alpha particle initiates the thermoluminescence
process that ultimately results in a measure of the dose due to thermal neutrons; whereas, Li-7 is
relatively insensitive to thermal neutrons. The Li-6 phosphor will read both neutron and gamma
radiation interactions; whereas, the Li-7 phosphor will read only gamma interactions. Neutron
dose is determined by subtracting the Li-7 reading (r) from the Li-6 reading (n+r) and applying a
conversion factor to the difference.
The term albedo stands for reflecting. Some of the thermal neutrons detected by the Li-6 are
originally fast neutrons that interact with hydrogen in the body, are thermalized, reflected or
scattered off the body and detected. This makes the albedo dosimeter position sensitive;
therefore, it must be properly orientated. Because the neutrons can be moderated to thermal
energies, they are reflected from the body through the back of the badge into the albedo
dosimeter. Therefore, it is important to wear the dosimeter extremely close to the body (on the
flesh) to obtain accurate measurements. The front of the badge is shielded with cadmium to
reject external thermal neutrons.
e.
Space radiation
Reference: Cosmic ray, Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactic_cosmic_rays
Cosmic rays are immensely high-energy radiation, mainly originating outside the Solar System.
They may produce showers of secondary particles that penetrate and impact the Earth's
atmosphere and sometimes even reach the surface. Composed primarily of high-energy protons
and atomic nuclei, they are of mysterious origin. Data from the Fermi space telescope (2013)
have been interpreted as evidence that a significant fraction of primary cosmic rays originate
from the supernovae of massive stars. However, this is not thought to be their only source.
Active galactic nuclei probably also produce cosmic rays.
f.
Radioactive waste management

th
Reference: Herman Cember. Health Physics. 4 edition, pp.595-596, 630-631
Proper collection and management of radioactive waste is an integral part of contamination

control and internal (as well as external) radiation protection. In one sense, we cannot dispose
of radioactive waste. All other types (nonradioactive) of hazardous wastes can be treated, either
chemically, physically, or biologically in order to reduce their toxicity. In the case of radioactive
wastes, on the other hand, nothing can be done to decrease their radioactivity, and hence their
inherent toxic properties. The only means of ultimate disposal is through time-to allow the
radioactivity to decay. However, the wastes can be treated and stored in a manner that
essentially eliminates their potential threat to the biosphere. Solid and liquid wastes are treated
to minimize their volume, and liquid wastes are converted into solids by such means as
vitrification, or by incorporating the liquid either into concrete or asphalt, or into an insoluble
plastic. The treated solid waste is packaged in containers according to the class of the waste and
buried either in shallow engineered trenches in seismologically and hydrologically stable soil that
are then covered with soil, or in deep seismologically and hydrologically stable geologic
formations.
Radioactive wastes, which include materials of widely differing types and activities, can originate
from any industrial, medical, scientific, university, decommissioning, or agricultural activity in
which radioisotopes are used or produced. For regulatory purposes, waste is considered to be
radioactive if it contains radionuclides at concentrations or activities greater than those specified
by a regulatory authority. For example, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (U.S. NRC)
regulations state that 3H and 14C in animal tissues and in liquid scintillation media in
concentrations not greater than 0.05 Ci (1850 Bq) per gram may be disposed of as if it were not
radioactive. It must be emphasized that this definition of radioactive waste is for regulatory
purposes only. Waste materials whose activity, quantity, or concentration does not exceed this
regulatory lower limit are radioactive from a physical point of view. However, because of their
low levels of activity, they are not considered to be hazardous.
Although nothing short of allowing natural decay can be done to reduce the radioactivity, and
hence the inherent toxic properties, of radioactive wastes, they can be treated to render them
essentially nonhazardous. One of the main objectives of waste treatment is to prevent the
entrance of radioactive nuclides into the biosphere, where even small amounts might be
accumulated by certain plants or animals to potentially toxic concentrations. One treatment
method that greatly reduces the potential hazard is immobilization in a highly stable matrix, such
as vitrification of high-level liquid waste by incorporating it into glass, or by adsorbing the
radionuclides onto clay and then firing the clay at a high temperature, thereby locking the
radionuclides into the clay. Both these treatment methods prevent the radionuclides from
entering into the biosphere. Other stable matrices include concrete, asphalt, and plastics.
Treatment methods include volume reduction of liquid wastes by evaporation and physical
compaction of solid wastes, and then packaging and burial in a designated burial site. Low-level
liquid wastes may be diluted to concentrations within regulatory requirements, and then
released to the environment (although this treatment modality may not be societally acceptable).
The exact manner of treatment and disposition is determined by public opinion and by technical
and engineering considerations.
g.
Environmental radiation
i. Natural background
Table 1.1, based on information from the Report, summarizes the contributions that
comprise the average annual effective dose of about 2.8 mSv to an individual. Natural
background radiation contributes the largest portion (~85%), followed by medical
(~14%), and then man-made environmental (<1%). Radon contributes roughly one-half
of the average annual effective dose from natural background.
ii. TENRE (Technologically Enhanced Natural Radiation Exposures)
TENORM(Technologically-Enhanced, Naturally-Occurring Radioactive Material)
Reference: TENORM, http://www.epa.gov/radiation/tenorm/about.html
Technologically-Enhanced, Naturally-Occurring Radioactive Material (TENORM) is

produced when radionuclides that occur naturally in ores, soils, water, or other natural
materials are concentrated or exposed to the environment by activities, such as
uranium mining or sewage treatment.
Radioactive materials can be classified under two broad headings:
man-made
naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM).
Man-made radionuclides are produced by splitting atoms in nuclear reactors or by

bombarding atoms with subatomic particles in accelerators, nuclear reactors, and other
devices. Examples of man-made radionuclides include cobalt-60, strontium-90, and
cesium-137. Radionuclides in Naturally-Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) include

primordial radionuclides that are naturally present in the rocks and minerals of the
earth's crust and cosmogenic radionuclides produced by interactions of cosmic nucleons
with target atoms in the atmosphere and in the earth. Example of cosmogenic
radionuclides include carbon-14 and tritium (hydrogen-3). Materials containing
cosmogenic radionuclides also fall under the definition of NORM but natural
concentrations of nuclides generated by cosmic nucleons are small and present minimal
risks.
iii. NORM(or NARM: Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials)
Reference: TENORM, http://www.epa.gov/radiation/tenorm/about.html
NORM consists primarily of material containing potassium-40 and isotopes belonging to

the primordial series. The principal primordial radionuclides are isotopes of heavy
elements belonging to the radioactive series headed by the three long-lived isotopes
uranium-238 (uranium series), uranium-235 (actinium series), and thorium-232 (thorium
series). All three of these series have numerous radionuclides in their decay chains
before reaching a stable end point, lead. At background concentrations, the naturally
occurring radionuclides in the uranium, actinium, and thorium series contribute about
one-half of the natural background external radiation, and over 80 percent of the
background including radon, to which all humans are continuously exposed.

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Statistics and other mathematics

pdf's and cdfs

Reference: Probability density function. Available at

Hence, if FX is the cumulative distribution function of X, then:

Reference: the cumulative distribution function. Available at

Binomial, Poisson, Gaussian

Reference: James E. Turner. Atoms, Radiation, and Radiation Protection, pp.304-320.

The probability that exactly n will disintegrate in time t is

where the probability that an atom survives a time t without disintegrating is

The standard deviation is given by

(d) What is the expected disintegration rate, averaged over the 3 h?

The probability that a given atom will decay is

which is 0 when k > n, and otherwise is equal to

(b) The expected number of counts * is:

(c) The expected count rate for t = 3 h is rc = */t = 0.490/(3 h) = 0.163 h .

(e) The standard deviation of the count rate is,

The standard deviation is then

(a) The mean disintegration rate is the given activity, = 37 s .

For computational purposes, it is convenient to transform the normal distribution, which

Then (dx = dz)

pdf transforms Monte Carlo (?)

Linked ODEs Laplace transforms, STELLA, et al. (?)

Operational quantities and units

Quality factors (radiation weighting factors)

Reference: National Nuclear Security Administration. Qualification Standard Reference Guide

b. Dose equivalent (equivalent dose)

Reference: National Nuclear Security Administration. Qualification Standard Reference Guide

Effective dose (effective dose equivalent)

Reference: National Nuclear Security Administration. Qualification Standard Reference Guide

d. Ambient dose equivalent

Directional dose equivalent

the ICRU-sphere. It is a sphere of 30 cm diameter with a density of 1 g/cm and a mass

Instrumentation and Measurements

Reference: Detectors and Nuclear Electronics in Medical Imaging BMD, Available at

Pulse height analysis

Reference: James E. Turner. Atoms, Radiation, and Radiation Protection, pp.265-269.

s), the process is

called fluorescence; if it is slower, the process is called phosphorescence.

such as those from C or H.

ii. Proportional counters

Reference: Proportional counters, Available at

The proportional counter is a type of gaseous ionization detector device used to

Reference: James E. Turner. Atoms, Radiation, and Radiation Protection, pp.248-249.

Reference: Herman Cember. Health Physics. 4 edition, pp.430

produces about 10 ion pairs, which corresponds to 1.6 10

iii. Geiger-Mueller counters

Reference: Herman Cember. Health Physics. 4 edition, pp.432-434

organic-vapor GM counter has a useful life of about 10 counts. Self-quenching also

iv. Gas-flow counters

Reference: James E. Turner. Atoms, Radiation, and Radiation Protection, pp.248-249.

activity concentration in air. The

Reference: Alpha spectrometry, Available at

vi. NaI(Tl) detectors and spectrometers

is 450,000/2900 = 155 eV/photoelectron. (d) For gases, W ~ 30 eV ip ; and so the

450,000/30 = 15,000. For a semiconductor, W ~ 3 eVip and the corresponding number

vii. HPGe and spectrometers

Reference: Why High-Purity Germanium (HPGe) Radiation Detection Technology is

Reference: Semiconductor detector, Available at

viii. Pulse shape discrimination

Reference: Scintillator, Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scintillator

affords an easy means for