Radiation Physics and Engineering
A peer-reviewed journal published by K. N. Toosi University of Technology

Investigation of the energy response of thermoluminescence dosimeter used for measurement of individual dose-equivalent

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Mahdi Norouzkhani 1
Amir Moslehi 2
Vahideh Ataeinia 3
Moslem Sohani 1
Seyed Javad Bizeh 3

1 Department of Physics, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran

2 Radiation Applications Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, AEOI, Tehran, Iran

3 Management of Nuclear Safeguards, Radiation Protection and HSE, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, AEOI, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22034/rpe.2024.470006.1228
Abstract
One of the challenges of individual dosimetry in Iran is the absence of standard radiation fields with different energies for calibration. For dosimetry in the photon fields, only the standard fields of Co-60 and Cs-137 sources, located in the (SSDL) can be utilized. This study aims to determine energy response of a personal thermoluminescence dosimeter (TLD) designed for determining the personal dose-equivalent, Hp(10), in order to investigate whether the calibration curve in the Co-60 gamma field can be utilized for assessing the dose-equivalent in the photon fields with different energies. To do this, first, the TLD dosimeters (an appropriate plastic badge including a TLD-100 chip) are irradiated with a few Hp(10) values using the Co-60 source in the Karaj SSDL. The badges are placed on a water phantom (slab), one meter distant from the source. Then, MCNP4C code is used to calculate the energy response at 662 keV and 1.25 MeV energies. Next, these responses are validated with the experimental data. Finally, the calculation is carried out for several other energies in the range of 20 keV to 1.25 MeV. Obtained results show that for the energies more than 400 keV, The response of the dosimeter is independent of the photon energy, within 10% uncertainty. On the other hand, for the energies smaller than 400 keV, a significant dependence on the energy is observed; such that in 40 keV the response is about 2 times larger than that at 1.25 MeV. Consequently, a method to reduce this uncertainty is needed.

Highlights

  • TLD response depends on the photon energy.
  • There are only two standard photon fields of Cs-137 and Co-60 for calibration in Iran.
  • Energy response of personal TLD is calculated and validated with measurements.
  • The response below 0.4 MeV needs to be corrected.

Keywords

Photon energy
Response
TLD
dose-equivalent
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Radiation Physics and Engineering
Volume 5, Issue 4
Autumn 2024
Pages 9-14

  • Receive Date 27 July 2024
  • Revise Date 18 August 2024
  • Accept Date 20 August 2024

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