ABSTRACT
106Ru/106Rh is unique amongst other commonly used beta sources such as 147Pm, 85Kr, 204Tl, 32P, natU and 90Sr/90Y in the sense that it is capable of simultaneously delivering shallow/skin, eye lens and deep/whole body doses (WBDs) and they differ from each other substantially. In view of this, the investigation of various quantities defined for individual monitoring is possible and this makes 106Ru/106Rh beta source, a classical example in radiation protection and dosimetry. This led us to estimate skin, eye lens and WBDs for 106Ru/106Rh beta source. Optically stimulated luminescence based ultra-thin α-Al2O3:C disc dosimeters were used in the present study. Typical values (relative) of the eye lens and whole body/deep doses with respective to the skin dose (100%) were experimentally measured as ~66 ± 4.6% and 17 ± 3.9%, respectively. The study shows that 106Ru/106Rh beta source is capable of delivering even WBD which is not the case with other beta sources.
Subject(s)
Beta Particles/adverse effects , Lens, Crystalline/radiation effects , Radioisotopes/adverse effects , Radiometry/methods , Rhodium/adverse effects , Ruthenium/adverse effects , Humans , Models, Anatomic , Organs at Risk/radiation effectsABSTRACT
The prevalent algorithm for the estimation of beta dose, which in turn is used for estimation of skin dose for exposures involving beta radiations was observed to significantly overestimate the dose in individual monitoring based on CaSO4:Dy TLD badge in India. A new algorithm has been developed by estimating the correction factor from the response of dosemeter to different beta sources at various angles of incidence. The correction factor was observed to vary linearly with the ratio of the responses of dosemeter element without filter (D3) and dosemeter element under Perspex filter (D2). The correction factor determined using the ratio of D3 and D2 was applied to the response (D3) of dosemeter element without filter for estimation of beta dose. Protocol for identification of beta in the mixed gamma beta fields was defined such that it resulted in nearly same correction factor for given beta source in both gamma beta mixed fields and pure beta fields. The beta dose evaluation algorithm has provided the beta dose estimation within the required accuracy for >90% cases obtained from national quality assurance test data from different laboratories.
