Impact of the measurement conditions and compression paddle on mammography dosimeter response.

The effect of mammography measurement conditions was investigated to evaluate their impact on measurement uncertainties in clinical practice. The most prominent physical X-ray beam quantities i.e., - air kerma, half-value layer, and X-ray tube voltage - were examined by measuring the response of two ionization chambers and six X-ray multimeters (XMMs) of different models. Measurements were performed using several anode/filter combinations and both with and without the compression paddle in the X-ray beam. Maximum differences of higher than 6 % were found for all quantities when the dosimeter displayed value was compared with the reference value or the variation within the clinical anode/filter combinations Mo/Mo and Mo/Rh were considered. The study showed that the calibration procedure with the W/Al anode/filter combination was reliable only for ionization chambers, and the response of XMMs varies in such a way that the calibration coefficient cannot be predicted between various measurement conditions used in calibration and clinical practices. XMM calibrations are typically performed without a compression paddle in the beam, and the response of the XMM changes when radiation quality is slightly altered. If XMM specific data is not available, based on this study, an additional uncertainty of 2 % (k = 1) could be used as a typical estimate, at least for air kerma measurements. XMMs should be used for clinical measurements in mammography only with correct settings. If the correct settings are not available, the XMMs should not be used or used only with extreme caution.

Intercomparison and constancy check of brachytherapy well-type chambers as a means to improve the quality of measurements in Serbia.

Source strength measurements are of critical importance for brachytherapy and are often performed in hospitals using well-type chambers. Quality assurance and quality control procedures should be implemented, but that may prove difficult in some hospitals due to the lack of equipment or metrological support. A study was conducted to investigate the status of the measurement equipment in Serbian hospitals and to organize an intercomparison campaign using a hospital 192Ir source. All the hospitals were able to measure the source strength with the required accuracy, but the quality assurance can be improved. Two hospitals performed stability checks, which were evaluated. Uncertainty budget was created during the exercise and is presented in this paper. The described methodology can be used to quickly assess the performance of brachytherapy centers, and can be easily adapted to calibration procedure.

Gamma irradiation system's performance tests.

This study reviews the performance analysis of a 137Cs irradiation system that has recently been installed in the laboratory of Uzbek National Institute of Metrology. The laboratory is responsible for calibrating calibration facilities and for calibrating most protection level radiation monitoring instruments used in medical, nuclear, industrial and academic settings in Uzbekistan. This system employs the most advanced radiation safety standards, along with 21st century source automation methods. In this work, we review the system's performance according to ISO 4037 and present measurement uncertainty budget. Our analysis shows excellent results in terms of scattered radiation, beam uniformity and field size, change in source position, test for source impurities, chamber stability and source calibration, and all these parameters fully comply with the requirements of ISO 4037.

Metrology supporting the European regulation for radiation protection.

The European Association of National Metrology Institutes (EURAMET) within its research programme European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR) funded project EMPIR 19NET03 supportBSS that contributes to the establishment of a European Metrology Network (EMN) for Radiation Protection (RP). The EMN-RP was established in September 2021 with the intent to work as a meeting point for the metrology community and all stakeholders in the field of ionising radiation regulation, thus providing quality assurance for measurements in each of the exposure situations contemplated in the European Legislation. Within project EMPIR 19NET03, work package 3 aims at the preparation of a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) by identifying the metrology needs to support the European legislation and regulation in Radiation Protection and of two Roadmaps for metrology services, one under the European Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM and the other under the EURATOM Treaty. Following a Gaps Workshop held in September 2020 and a second internal workshop that took place in April 2022, a questionnaire was prepared for distribution to the stakeholders, e.g. RP platforms and authorities, academia, industry, among other, together with an accompanying paper. In this paper, the authors present the state of the art of European legislation in RP, address the importance of metrology, the practices and activities that need metrology to meet the requirements set in the regulations, emphasise the need for quality assured measurements in all fields, highlight the stakeholders contributions in their specific area and show their vision of the EMN-RP.

Characterization of Thermoluminescent Dosimetry Systems According to the IEC 62387:2020 Standard.

ABSTRACT: A need for detailed testing of individual monitoring systems used in accredited service at the Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences was recognized following changes in individual, workplace, and environmental monitoring passive dosimetry systems acceptability criteria stated in IEC 62387:2020 and changes related to reference fields used in radiation protection defined in ISO 4037:2019. Reliability and accuracy of dosimetry data acquired by passive dosimetry systems used for individual monitoring is assured by carrying out type tests. In this manner, the effects of different radiation influence quantities are examined. Passive dosimetry systems comprised of an LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-100) detector card placed in two different holder models (8814 and 8850) and the Harshaw TLD Model 6600 Plus Automated Reader were tested. Type tests were done in an extended range of photon energies from 40 keV up to 1.25 MeV, angle of incidence values of ±45° and ± 60° for both vertical and horizontal dosimeter orientation, and in the dose range from 0.05 mSv to 1 Sv. Both dosimetry system configurations perform in line with IEC 62387:2020 within mandatory range for tested influence quantities. Dosimeters that use the 8850 holder type showed less pronounced energy and angular dependence of the response in the low-energy range.

COMMERCIAL VOLTAGE INDICATOR AS A GAMMA RADIATION DETECTOR.

The paper analyses the possibility of commercial neon indicator lamp at low pressure application as a gamma radiation detector. The diode is most often used as an indicator in electrical switchers. The analysis was performed on the basis of experimental electrical breakdown time delay data as a function of relaxation time, applied voltage and gamma ray air kerma rate. It has been shown that the indicator can be used as a detector for relaxation time greater than 70 ms. During this time period, a complete recombination/de-excitation of the particles formed during previous breakdown and subsequent self-sustaining discharge, which can further initiate next breakdown, takes place. It was also shown that gamma radiation leads to a significant reduction in electrical breakdown time delay for applied voltages close to indicator breakdown voltage. Based on the behavior of the dependence of the mean value of the electrical breakdown time delay on the gamma ray air kerma rate, it was shown that the indicator can be used very efficiently as a detector up to air kerma rate of $\textsf{2.3}\cdot \textsf{10}^{-\textsf{5}}$ Gy/h, when the electrical breakdown time delay is measured for applied voltage 10% higher than the breakdown voltage.

Outdoor Radon as a Tool to Estimate Radon Priority Areas-A Literature Overview.

Doses from the exposure to outdoor radon are typically an order of magnitude smaller than those from indoor radon, causing a greater interest on investigation of the latter for radiation protection issues. As a consequence, assessment of radon priority areas (RPA) is mainly based on indoor radon measurements. Outdoor radon measurements might be needed to guarantee a complete estimation of radiological risk and may help to improve the estimation of RPA. Therefore, authors have analysed the available literature on outdoor radon to give an overview of outdoor radon surveys and potential correlation with indoor radon and estimation of RPA. The review has shown that outdoor radon surveys were performed at much smaller scale compared to indoor radon. Only a few outdoor radon maps were produced, with a much smaller density, covering a larger area, and therefore putting doubt on the representativeness of this data. Due to a large variety of techniques used for outdoor radon measurements and requirement to have detectors with a high sensitivity and resistance to harsh environmental conditions, a standardised measurement protocol should be derived. This is no simple endeavour since there are more applications in different scientific disciplines for outdoor radon measurements compared to indoor radon.

Intercomparison and performance assessment of radionuclide calibrators used in nuclear medicine departments in Serbia.

The purpose of this work is to assess accuracy and compare the performance of radionuclide calibrators (RNCs) used in nuclear medicine departments in Serbia. Testing of the RNCs included verification of measurement accuracy, as well as analysis of routinely used quality control protocols, by using the certified radioactivity standards (57Co, 137Cs). RNCs performances were assessed with 99mTc through comparison of reference value for radionuclide activity and RNC measurements. Results of the intercomparison revealed that RNCs, 15 in total, are accurate within 10% in vial geometry and within 15% in syringe geometry. Most of them showed similar performance. The results revealed that container geometry is an important influencing parameter in the accuracy of activity measurement. Obtained results indicate a need for regular calibration and implementation of Quality Control program in order to achieve and maintain the accuracy of activity measurements in nuclear medicine.

Radon measurements using open-faced charcoal canisters - Measurement uncertainty and method optimization.

Open-faced charcoal canisters have been used for radon measurements for over 40 years. This method is sensitive to temperature, changing radon concentrations, humidity and other parameters, but a comprehensive study dealing with the influence quantities and measurement uncertainty was not available in literature. In this paper, all the identified influence quantities are discussed in detail, uncertainty budget is developed, good practice and bad practice examples are introduced and new recommendations are proposed to optimize the method and reduce uncertainty.

INVESTIGATION OF XENON-FILLED TUBE BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE AND DELAY RESPONSE AS POSSIBLE DOSIMETRIC PARAMETERS FOR SMALL GAMMA RAY AIR KERMA RATES.

This paper presents experimental results of dynamic breakdown voltage and delay response as functions of gamma ray air kerma rate for xenon-filled tube at 2.7 mbar pressure. Gamma ray air kerma rate range was considered from 123 nGy h-1 up to 12.3 mGy h-1 in order to investigate the possibility of the application of this tube in gamma radiation dosimetry. It was shown that the variations of the above-mentioned parameters are considerable up to the dose rate of 1.23 µGy h-1, which points to the possibility for application in small dose rate gamma ray dosimetry. Physical processes that make dominant impact to dynamic breakdown voltage and delay response during xenon-filled tube irradiation are also discussed in the paper.

Small dose effect in RADFET with thick gate oxide.

In order to track "small dose effect" leading to stabilization of RADFETs with 1 µm thick oxide fabricated at Tyndall National Institute, Cork, Ireland irradiation was performed with gamma-rays in the radiation dose interval from 1 to 5 cGy, followed with room temperature annealing for the time of 28 days. Gate bias during irradiation was 0, 2.5 and 5 V. Threshold voltage shift ΔVT determined from transfer characteristics in saturation were followed during irradiation and annealing. It was shown that there is significant increase in ΔVT for 1 cGy radiation dose and those are 36.3, 43.3 mV and 45.7 mV for gate bias 0, 2.5 V and 5 V, respectively. For higher radiation doses ΔVT also increases, however, such increase is much lower. RADFETs fading at room temperature lead to permanent decrease in ΔVT and after 28 days the threshold voltage for devices is returned to virgin device value. Small dose effect is confirmed and radiation dose of at least 5 cGy is necessary for RADFET stabilization before their use in dosimetric application. After RADFETs stabilization they were irradiated in dose interval from 10 to 50 cGy with gate bias of 0, 2.5 and 5 V. It was shown that there is a linear dependence between ΔVT and absorbed radiation dose D, for gate bias during irradiation 0, 2.5 and 5 V. Defects responsible for threshold voltage shift, formed during irradiation as well as their neutralization/compensation during annealing, are also discussed.

Qualitative overview of indoor radon surveys in Europe.

The revised European Directive from 2013 regarding basic safety standard oblige EU Member States to establish a national action plan regarding the exposure to radon. At the same time, International Atomic Energy Agency started technical projects in order to assist countries to establish and implement national radon action. As a consequence, in recent years, in numerous countries national radon surveys were conducted and action plans established, which were not performed before. In this paper, a qualitative overview of radon surveys performed in Europe is given with a special attention to the qualitative and conceptual description of surveys, representativeness and QA/QC (quality assurance/quality control).

Performance Testing Of Selected Types of Electronic Personal Dosimeters in X- and Gamma Radiation Fields.

Electronic personal dosimeters (EPDs) are increasingly being used alongside conventional thermoluminescent dosimeters to measure the dose of legal record in terms of personal dose equivalent. Therefore, it is of great importance to execute performance tests of these dosimeters in photon fields of various energies and at various angles of incidence. This testing is done in order to simulate the behavior of these dosimeters in realistic multidirectional polyenergetic ionizing radiation fields. Tests of accuracy, linearity, energy response, and angular response have been performed on 10 EPDs from multiple manufacturers. Various radiation qualities have been used in the energy range from 33 keV to 1.33 MeV and for angles of incidence 0° to 80°. This research proves that many of the EPDs tested performed according to the manufacturer's specifications and the requirements of the international standards regarding personal dosimetry.

Performance of radiation survey meters in X- and gamma-radiation fields.

The aim of this work was to investigate the different types of radiation detectors commonly used for radiation protection purposes as survey meters. The study was performed on survey meters that use different detectors as ionisation chamber, Geiger Mueller (GM) counter and scintillation detector. For each survey meter, energy dependence and angular response in X- and gamma-radiation fields was tested. The following commercially available survey meters were investigated: ionisation chambers Victoreen 451P, Babyline 31 and VA-J-15A, Geiger counter MRK-M87, 6150 AD6 and FAG FH 40F2 and scintillation counter 6150 ADB. As a source of gamma radiation, (137)Cs and (60)Co were used whereas X-ray radiation fields were generated using an X-ray unit. The radiation characteristics of the survey meters were mostly in compliance with references estimated by standard IEC 1017-2. However, some of them showed larger deviation at lower energies. GM counters exhibit strong energy dependence for low-energy photons.