Nanodosimetry-based quality factors for radiation protection in space.

Evaluation and monitoring of the cancer risk from space radiation exposure is a crucial requirement for the success of long-term space missions. One important task in the risk calculation is to properly weigh the various components of space radiation dose according to their assumed contribution to the cancer risk relative to the risk associated with radiation of low ionization density. Currently, quality factors of radiation both on the ground and in space are defined by national and international commissions based on existing radiobiological data and presumed knowledge of the ionization density distribution of the radiation field at a given point of interest. This approach makes the determination of the average quality factor ofa given radiation field a rather complex task. In this contribution, we investigate the possibility to define quality factors of space radiation exposure based on nanodosimetric data. The underlying formalism of the determination of quality factors on the basis of nanodosimetric data is described, and quality factors for protons and ions (helium and carbon) of different energies based on simulated nanodosimetric data are presented. The value and limitations of this approach are discussed.

Analysis of computational problems expressing the overall uncertainties: photons, neutrons and electrons.

In the frame of the EU Coordination Action CONRAD (coordinated network for radiation dosimetry), WP4 was dedicated to work on computational dosimetry with an action entitled 'Uncertainty assessment in computational dosimetry: an intercomparison of approaches'. Participants attempted one or more of eight problems. This paper presents the results from problems 4-8-dealing with the overall uncertainty budget estimate; a short overview of each problem is presented together with a discussion of the most significant results and conclusions. The scope of the problems discussed here are: the study of a (137)Cs calibration irradiator; the manganese bath technique; the iron sphere experiment using neutron time-of-flight technique; the energy response of a RADFET detector and finally the sensitivity and uncertainty analysis for the recoil-proton telescope discussed in the companion paper.