Assessment of radiation protection and awareness level among radiation workers and members of the public in Afghanistan-a pilot study.

In this study, the level of radiation protection and awareness among radiation workers and members of the public in Afghanistan is assessed using two different survey mechanisms. The onsite survey conducted by the regulatory authorities covered 472 facilities while the online survey covering 1200 responses was conducted via the Survey Monkey online survey platform. Both the onsite and the online surveys show that more than 70% of radiation workers have insufficient knowledge of radiation safety and protection rules and regulations while more than 70% of the public just heard about radiation from one source or another. More than 50% of those members of the public, who have been through some sort of medical imaging using radiation were not given any instruction about the radiation hazards. The study is concluded with recommendations to the authorities for raising the knowledge of the radiation workers and general public awareness through launching regular radiation safety and protection training, TV spots and other means of mass media.

MEASUREMENTS IN AFGHANISTAN USING AN ACTIVE RADON EXPOSURE METER AND ASSESSMENT OF RELATED ANNUAL EFFECTIVE DOSE.

Radon gas concentrations in eight basements, four living rooms and four caves from different locations in Kabul and Panjsher, Afghanistan, were measured by using eight active radon exposure meters recently developed by the Helmholtz Center in Munich, Germany. The two-phase measurements lasted from a week to a year. In the first phase of measurements which lasted one week, the mean activity concentrations ranged from 6 to 120 Bq/m3 and 25 to 139 Bq/m3 for the basements and caves, respectively. In the second phase of measurements which lasted one year, the mean activity concentrations ranged from 33 to 2064 Bq/m3 and the corresponding effective annual doses calculated for the inhabitants were in the range between 0.6 and 33.4 mSv. As some of the values are rather high and exceed the recommended recommendations by IAEA and ICRP, based on the local conditions a number of simple recommendations has been proposed for the possible reduction of effective annual dose caused by radon in the measurement locations.