Study on influence of X-ray baggage scan on ESR dosimetry for SNTS using human tooth enamel.

ABSTRACT

The influence of X-ray baggage scanning on electron spin resonance (ESR) dosimetry studies around the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site (SNTS) has been examined at Incheon Airport in Korea, which is a transfer point of the routes from Kazakhstan to Japan. Utilized dosimeters are Japanese human tooth enamel for ESR and glass dosimeters. The difference between the estimated doses with the X-ray scan and those without it is below the evaluation errors for both ESR and the glass dosimeters. For glass dosimeters, the dose from the X-ray scan is estimated to be lower than the detection limit for the utilized glass dosimeters of ten microGy. This supports the absence of significant difference for the ESR results, which have an error in the order of ten mGy. Since ESR dosimetry for SNTS usually has similar errors, the dose by the X-ray scan in this study is concluded to be negligible in ESR dosimetry using tooth enamel from residents near SNTS.