Measurement of air kerma and absorbed dose to water using radiophotoluminescence glass dosimeters with different radionuclide beams.

Abstract

Abstract Radiophotoluminescence Glass Dosimeters (RPLGDs) are part of the luminescence family of dosimeters just like Thermoluminescence Dosimeters (TLDs). For years now, Panasonic TLDs have been used for both personal and environmental monitoring in South Africa and have limitations. Although both TLDs and RPLGDs utilise thermoluminescence phenomenon, exceptional properties of RPLGDs are studied. Three radiation sources (i.e., 60Co, 137Cs, & 241Am) were used to characterize the response of RPLGDs when exposed to different radiation doses. Ability of RPLGDs to be read more than once without losing original signal was studied. RPLGDs were investigated for their ability to measure both personal and environmental monitoring. Substitution method was used to determine the reference measurements on all radiation source setups. Two ionization chambers were used as reference detectors and RPLGDs as the Unit Under Test (UUT) on each radiation source setup. Dose rates were used to determine the time of the prescribed radiation doses. RPLGDs were exposed to the same time as the reference detectors to accumulate radiation signal which was corrected to determine air kerma and absorbed dose to water. All the corrections that affected the response of UUT were implemented on the final readings to characterise RPLGDs by comparing with the prescribed dose.