[ RadSafe ] Background in dosimetry

Wed May 9 17:17:11 CDT 2012

Franz,

In the USA these are the requirements for personnel dosimetry, occupationally exposed individuals: 10 CFR Part 20 (all States have adopted the same requirements). Note that the US Department of Energy uses a different Regulatory requirement that states that a DOE facility requires approval by the DOE. The essence is consistent with 10CFR20 (primarily US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and States):
Subpart F--Surveys and Monitoring
Source: 56 FR 23398, May 21, 1991, unless otherwise noted.
§ 20.1501 General.
(c) All personnel dosimeters (except for direct and indirect reading pocket ionization chambers and those dosimeters used to measure the dose to the extremities) that require processing to determine the radiation dose and that are used by licensees to comply with § 20.1201, with other applicable provisions of this chapter, or with conditions specified in a license must be processed and evaluated by a dosimetry processor--
(1) Holding current personnel dosimetry accreditation from the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology; and
(2) Approved in this accreditation process for the type of radiation or radiations included in the NVLAP program that most closely approximates the type of radiation or radiations for which the individual wearing the dosimeter is monitored.
[56 FR 23398, May 21, 1991, as amended at 63 FR 39482, July 23, 1998]

Information on NVLAP can be found at http://www.nist.gov/nvlap/index.cfm

Specific to background subtraction:

1.      All reports of dose include background subtraction (transit of dosimeters as well as background dose within the facility for the monitoring period)

2.      A facility typically uses a “Control Badge) for the subtraction, however ..

a.      A facility could utilize a dose rate subtraction, based on data analysis

b.      A fixed dose to be subtracted based on data analysis

c.       A subtraction based on dosimeters used for background subtraction located throughout a facility if data analysis demonstrates that the dose rate is consistent from area to area (sometimes called a “Global Control Badge”

Hope that this helps.

Regards,

Sandy

-----------------------------------

Sander C. Perle

President

Mirion Technologies

Dosimetry Services Division

2652 McGaw Avenue

Irvine, CA 92614

+1 (949) 296-2306 (Office)

+1 (949) 296-1130 (Fax)

Mirion Technologies: http://www.mirion.com/

”Protecting people, property and the environment”

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of franz.schoenhofer at chello.at
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2012 3:02 PM
To: The International Radiation Protection( Health Physics) Mailing List; parthasarathy k s; The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) MailingList
Subject: [ RadSafe ] Background in dosimetry

Dear Radsafers,

I have  been working quite a lot with ISO, but even much more with the Austrian Standardisation Institute (for more than 20 years. Recently we have decided to rework the standards on dosimetry. We had recently a meeting and we had very fierce discussions about the question of "backgrounds" which should or should not be substracted. This was  both for external radiation and radon exposue.

May I ask you to comment on this topic? What is the legislation and the practice in your country, explicitely inviting all non-US -scientists to comment. It might be that different states in the USA have different legislation, so this information would be very welcome as well. Please observe the fundamental difference on external radiation and radon!!! The European Union Legislation does according to our conclusion not provide any solution for this problem. Since doses are recorded all over the world, there simply must be legislation, regulation and practice!!!

Please provide me with information, but refrain from "information" like "I think", "I believe", " I suggest", "I propose", "I ´recommend" . I need hard facts. Please be aware that I intend to forward your messages to our working group - if you do not want to have your name in that, please tell me.

I hope for a comprehensive number of informations. Thanks to anybody in advance.

Best wishes,

Franz

--

Franz Schoenhofer, PhD, MinRat

Habicherg. 31/7

A-1160 Vienna

Austria

mobile: ++43 699 1706 ´gilsa

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