ICRU REPORT 18

Specification of
High Activity
Gamma-Ray
Sources

Issued October 15, 1970

First Reprinting October 1, 1975
Second Reprinting April 1, 1981
INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON RADIATION
UNITS AND MEASUREMENTS
7910 WOODMONT AVENUE
SUITE 1016
WASHINGTON , D.C. 20014
U.S.A.

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 Preface
Scope of ICRU Activities
The International Commission on Radiation Units
and Measurements ( I CRU), since its inception in 1925,
has had as its principal objective the development of
internationally acceptable recommendations regarding:
( 1) Quantities and units of radiation and radioac-
t ivity,
(2) Procedures suitable for the measurement and
application of these quantities in clinical radiology and
radio biology,
(3) Physical data needed in the application of these
procedures, the use of which t ends t,o assure uniformity
in reporting.
The Commission also considers and makes recom-
mendations in the field of radiation protection. In this
connection, its work is carried out in close cooperation
with the International Commfasion on Radiological
Protection ( ICRP).
Policy
The ICRU endeavors to collect and evaluate the
latest data and information pertinent to the problems
of radiation measurement and dosimetry and to recom-
mend the most acceptable values for current use.
The Commission's recommendations are kept under
continual review in order to keep abreast of the rapidly
e:iq>anding uses of radiation.
The ICRU feels it is the responsibility of national
organizations to introduce their own detailed technical
procedures for the development and maintenance of
standards. However, it urges that all countries adhere
as closely as possible to the internationally recom-
mended basic concepts of radiation quantities and units.
The Commission feels its responsibility lies in de-
veloping a system of quantities and units having the
widest possible range of applicability. Situations may
a rise from time to time when an expedient solution of a
current problem may seem advisable. Generally speak-
ing, however, the Commission feels that action based
on expediency is inadvisable from a long-term view-
iii
point; it endeavors to base its decisions on the long-
range advantages to be e:iq:iected.
The ICRU invites and welcomes constructive com-
ments and suggestions regarding its recommendations
and reports. These may be transmitted to the Chair-
man.
Current Program
In 1962 the Commission laid the basis for the devel-
opment of the ICRU progra m over the next several
years. At that time it defined three broad areas of con-
cern to the Commission:
I. The Measurement or Radioactivity
II. The i\Ieasurement or Radiation
III . Problems or Joint Interest to the ICRU and the Inter-
national Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP)
The Commission divided these three a reas into nine
subareas with which it expected to be primarily con-
cerned during the next decade. The division of work
agreed upon is as follows:
I . Radioactivity
A. Fundamental Physical Para.meters and :'11easurement
Techniques
13. Medical and Biological Applications
II. Radiation
A. Fundamental Physical Para.meters
B. X Rays, Gamma Rays and Electrons
C. Heavy Particles
D. Medical and Biological Applications (Therapy)
E. Medical and Biological Applications (Diagnosis)
F. Neutron Fluence and Kerma
III . Problems or Joint Interest to the ICRU and t he ICRP
A. Radiation Protection Instrumentation and its Ap-
plication
The Commission established a separate planning
board to guide ICRU activities in each of the subareas.
The planning boards, after examining the needs of
their respective technical areas with some care, recom-
mended, and the Commission subsequently approved,
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iv Preface
the constitution of task groups to initiate the prepara-
tion of reports. The substructure which resulted from
these actions is given below.
Planning Board I.A. Radioactivity-Fundamental Phygical
Parameters and Measurement Tech-
niques
Task Group 1. Measurement of Low-Level Radioac-
tivity
Task Group 2. Specification of Accuracy in Certificates
of Activity of Sources for Calibration
Purposes
Task Group 3. Specification of High Activity Gamma-
Ray Sources (Joint with P.B. II.B)
Planning Board l.Il. Radioactivity- Medical and Iliologi-
cal Applications
Task Group 1. In Vivo Measurements of Radioac-
tivity
Task Group 2. Scanning
Task Group 3. Tracer Kinetics
Task Group 4. Methods of Assessment of Dose in
Tracer Investigations
Planning Board II.A. Radiation- Fundamental Physical Pa-
rameters
Planning Board H .B. Radiation-X Rays, Gamma Rays
and Electrons
Task Group 1. Radiation Dosimetry; X Rays from 5
to 150 kV
Task Group 2. Radiation Dosimetry; X and Gamma
Rays from 0.6 to 100 MV
Task Group 3. Electron Beam Dosimetry
Planning Board II.C. Radiation-Heavy Particles
Task Group 1. Dose As a Function of LET
Task Group 2. High Energy and Space Radiation
Dosimetry
Planni11g Board 11.D. Radiation-Medical and Biological
Applications (Therapy)
Task Group 1. Measurement of Absorbed Dose at a
Point in a Standard Phantom (Ab-
sorbed Dose Determination)
Task Group 2. Methods of Arriving at the Absorbed
Dose at any Point in a Patient (In
Vivo Dosimetry)
Task Group 3. Methods of Compensating fo r Body
Shape and I nhomogeneity and of Beam
Modification for Special Purposes
(Beam Modification)
Task Group 4. Statement of the Dose Achieved
(Dosage Specification)
Planning Board I LE. Radiation-Medical and Biological
Applications (Diagnosis)
Task Group 1. Photographic Materials and Screens
Task Group 2. Image Intensifier Radiography
Task Group 3. TV Systems
Planning Board Il .F. Radiation-Neutron Fluence and
Kerma
Task Group 1. Neutron Fluence, Energy Fluence,
Neutron Spectra and Kerma
Planni ng Board Ill.A. Radiation Protect.ion Instrumentation
and its Application
Task Group 1. Radiation Protection Instrumentation
Handbook-Part I
Task Group 2. Neutron Instrumentation and its
Application to Radiation Protection
B ecause the Commission's basic recommendations
on radiation quantities and units relate to the work of
all of the planning boards, the Commission decided to
establish a separate committee with membership drawn
largely from the Commission itself to initiate the re-
vision of I CRU R eport lOa, Radiation Quantities and
Units. Thus, the Committee on Fundamental Quanti-
ties and Units was added to the above substructure.
In 1962 the Commission decided to abandon its past
practice of holding a meeting together with all of its
sub-units every three years. Instead it was decided
that the Commission would receive reports from the
subgroups at the time of their completion rather than
at fixed deadlines. Meetings of the Commission and of
the subgroups are held as needed.
The adoption of t he new substructure and mode of
operation was intended to alleviate some of the prob-
lems associated with the expanded program required i11
recent years. In the past, the Commission's attempt to
administer and r eview the work of each of the working
groups imposed a very considerable burden on the Com-
mission itself. The need to concern i tself with each de-
tail, which was inherent in such a scheme of operation,
\\'hen coupled with the procedure of completing all
reports at one time, subj ected the Commission members
to an intolerable work load if rigorous standards were
to be maintained. The new substructure and mode of
operation is now beginning to pr oduce results in the
form of r eports drafted by the task groups and reviewed
by the planning boards. Present evidence indicates that
the substructure and mode of operation, while not
perfect, has to a substantial extent succeeded in allevi-
ating the problems previously experienced. Recently,
however, the commission has begun the examination
of further modification of the substructure.
ICRU Reports
In 1962 the I CRU, in recognition of the fact that its
t riennial reports were becoming too extensive and in
some cases too specialized to justify single-volume pub-
lication, initiated the publication of a series of reports,
each dealing with a limited range of topics. This series
was init iated with the publication of six reports:
ICRU Report lOa, Radiation Quantities and Units
ICRU Report lOb, Physical A spects of Irradiation
ICRU Repor~ lOc, Radioactivity
ICRU Report lOd, Clinical Dosimetry
ICRU Report lOe, RadioQiological Dosimetry
ICRU Report lOf, Metlwds of Evaluating Radiologic'll Equip-
ment and Materials
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These reports were published, as had been many of the
previous reports of the Commission, by the United
States Government Printing Office as Handbooks of
the National Bureau of Standards.
In 1967 the Commission determined that in the future
the recommendations formulated by the ICRU would
be published by the Commission itself. This report is
published by the ICRU pursuant to this policy. With
the exception of ICRU Report lOa, which was super-
seded by ICRU Report 11, the other reports of the "10"
series have continuing validity and, since none of the
reports now in preparation are designed to specifically
supcrsrde them, will remain available until the ma-
terial is e sentially obsolete. All future reports of the
Commission, however, will be published under the
I CR 'i:; own auspices. Information about the avail-
ability of I CRU Reports is given on page 23.
ICRU's Relationships With Other Organizations
One of the features of ICRU activity during the last
few years has been the development of relationships
with other organizations interested in the problems of
radiation quantities, units, and measurements. In addi-
tion to its close relationship with the International
Commission on Radiological Protection and its financial
relationships with the I nternational Society of Radi-
ology, the World Health Organization, and the Inter-
natiomi.1 Atomic Energy Agency, the ICRU has also
developed relationships of varying intensity with several
other organizations. Since 1955, the ICRU has had an
official relationship with the World Health Orga~i?.ation
(WHO) whereby the ICRU is looked to for primary
guidance in matters of radiation units and measure-
ments, and in turn, the WHO assists in the worldwide
dissemination of the Commission's recommendations.
In 1960 the ICRU entered into consultative status with
the International Atomic Energy Agency. The Com-
mission has a formal relationship with the United
Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic
Radiation (UNSCEAR) , whereby ICRU observers are
invited to attend UNSCEAR meetings. The Com-
mission and the International Organization for Stand-
ardization (ISO) informally exchange notifications of
meetings and the ICRU is formally designated for
liaison with two of the ISO T echnical Committees.
The ICRU also corresponds and exchanges final reports
with the following organizations:
Bureau International des Poids et Mesures
Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences
Food and Agriculture Organization
International Council of Scientific Unions
International Electrotechnical Commission
International Labor Office
lnternational Union of Pure and Applied Physics
Preface v
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organi-
zation
Relations with these other international bodies do
not affect the basic affiliation of the ICRU with the
International Society of Radiology. The Commission
has found its relationship with all of these organizations
fruitful and of substantial benefit to the ICRU program.
Operating Funds
Throughout most of its existence, the ICRU has
operated essentially on a voluntary basis, with the
travel and operating costs being borne by the parent
organizations of the participants. (Only token assist-
ance was originally available from the lnternationn.l
Society of Radiology.) Recognizing the impracticability
of continuing this mode of operation on an indefinite
bnsis, operating funds were sought from various sources
in addition to those supplied by the International
Society of Radiology.
Prior to 1959, the principal financial assistance to
the ICRU had been provided by the Rockefeller Foun-
dation which supplied some $11,000 to make possible
various meetings. In 1959 the International Society of
Radiology increased its contribution to the Commission
providing $3,000 for the period 1959- 1962. For the
periods 1962- 1965 and 1965-1969 the Society's con-
tributions were $5,000 and $7,500, respectively. In
1960 the Rockefeller Foundation supplied an additional
sum of some $4,000 making possible a meeting of the
Quantity and Units Committee in 1960.
In 1960 and 1961 the World Health Organization
made available the sum of $3,000 each year. This was
increased to $4,000 per year in 1962 and $6,000 per
year in 1969. It is expected that this sum will be allo-
cated annually, at least for the next several years.
In connection with the Commission's Joint Studies
with t he I CRP, the United Nations allocated the sum
of $10,000 for the joint use of the two Commissions.
The most substantial contribution to the work of
the I CRU has come from the Ford Foundation. In
December 1960, the Ford Foundation made available
to the Commission the sum of $37,000 per year for a
period of five years. This grant was to provide for such
items as travel expenses to meetings, for secretarial
services and other operating expenses. In 1965 the
Foundation agreed to a time extension of this grant
making available for the period 1966- 1970 the unused
portion of the original grant. To a large extent, it is
because of this grant that the Commission has been
able to move forward actively with its program.
In 1963 the International Atomic Energy Agency al-
located the sum of $6,000 per year for use by the ICRU.
This was increased to $9,000 in 1967. It is expected
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vi Preface

that this sum will be allocated annually at least for the R. H. l\!oRGAN
next several years. H. H. Rossi
From 1934 through 1964 valuable indirect contribu- w. K. SINCLAIR
tions were made by the U.S. National Bureau of Stand- F. w. SPIERS
ards where the Secretariat resided. The Bureau pro- A. TSUYA
vided substantial secretarial services, publication A. w Ai\tBERSIE
services and travel costs in the amount of several
thousands of dollars. Composition of ICRU Subgroups Responsible for
The Commission wishes to express its deep apprecia- the Initial Drafting of this Report
tion to a ll of these and other organizations that have
contributed so importantly to its work. Serving on the Task Group on Specification of High
Activity Gamma-Ray Sources during the preparation of
Composition of the ICRU this repor t were:

It is of interest to note that the membership of the R. G. Wooo, Chairman

Commission and its subgroups totals 140 persons drawn J. H. AITKEN
from 16 countries. This gives some indication of the ex- l\f. J. BERGER
tent to which the ICRU has achieved internationu l NI. COHEN
breadth of membership within its basic selection r e- R. F. ERRINGTON
quirement of high technical competence of individual C. l\I. LALANNE
participants.
The membership of the Commission during the prepa- L.A. W . KE~tP and C . B. G. TAYLOR served as con-
rn.tion of this report was as follows: sultants to the Task Group.
Serving on the P lann ing Board on Radioactivity-
L Aun tSTON S. TAYLOR, Chairman Fundamental Physical Parameters and 1\leasurement
:\I. T untANA, Vice Chairman T echniques during the preparation of this report were:
H. 0. WYCKOFF, Secretary
A. ALLISY F . W. SPIERS, Chairman
J. W. BOAG ( 1965-1966) H. HOUTERMANS
R . H. CHAMBERLAIN w. B. :\[ANN
F . P. COWAN J. K. 1\IlETTINE::\
F. ELLIS ( 1965)
.J. F. FOWLER K. LmEN served as the Commission Sponsor for the
H. FRANZ (1965) Planning Board.
F. GAUWERKY Throughout the preparation of the report there was
J. R. GREENING consultation with the Planning Board on Radiation-
H. E. JOHNS (1965-1966) X Rays, Gamma Rays and Electrons which consisted
K. LIDE!'\ of:
R. H. 1\1oRGAN W. PoHLIT, Chairman
v. A. PETROV D. v. CORMACK
H. H. Rossi c. GARRETT (1965-1966)
A. TSUYA A. SOMERWIL
The current membership of the Commission lS as A. ALLISY and J. R. GREENING served as Commission
follows:
Sponsors for that Planning Board.
H. 0. WYCKOFF, Chairman The Commission wishes to express its appreciation to
A. ALLISY, Vice Chairman the individuals involved in the preparation of this re-
IC LmtN, Secretary port for the time and effort they devoted to this task.
F. P. COWAN HAROLD 0. WYCKOFF
F. GAUWERKY Chairman, ICRU
J. R. GREENING Washington, D.C.
!\. M. KELLERER June 15, 1970

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 Contents

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iu

1. Introduction. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. Explanation of Terms .. . ..... . ... . ... . ... . . ....... . ....... 2
3. Methods of Specifying Gamma -Ray Sources ......... . .... . 2
3.1 Mass of Radionuclide . ..... . .. . ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3.2 Activity of the Source. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3.3 Rate of Total Energy Release. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.4 Measurement of Photon Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. Recommended Basis for Source Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
5. Teletherapy Sources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5.1 Principles of Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5.2 Low-Scatter Measuring Cell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.3 Measuring Instrument. . ..... . ... . ........... . ...... . ... 5
6. Radiographic Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
7. Research and Industrial Irradiation Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
7.1 General Considera tions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
7 .2 Specification of Source Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
7 .3 Specification of Source Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
8. Summary of Recommendations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
8.1 T eletherapy Sources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
8.2 R adiographic Sources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S
8.3 Research and Industrial Irradiation Sources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Appendix A. Practical Considerations in the Design of a Low-
Scatter Cell. . . ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Appendix B. Primary and Scattered Radiation from Typical
Sources and Collimators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Appendix C. Measurementlii of Equipment Conversion Ratio .... 20
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
I CR U Reports .. . .. ... . ........... . ... ·. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Index ............................... . . .. . .............. . ...... 26

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 Specification of High Activity
Gamma-Ray Sources
1. Introduction
Increase in the availability and use of high activity
gamma-ray sources has been accompanied by a corre-
sponding development in the number of source types
and of source housings and associated equipment. At
the same time there is diversity in the methods used to
describe such sources and consequently a need to
formulate an agreed basis for their specification. Other
attempts to suggest satisfactory methods of specifica-
tion for teletherapy sources (IAEA, 1962) were limited
by lack of information on the extent to which t hey
would be affected by scattered gamma radiation. New
experimental data, as well as new theoretical calcula-
tions, relevant to the problem of gamma-ray scattering,
have made it possible to put forward practical recom-
mendations for the specification of the various high
activity gamma-ray sources now in use.
A complete specification of a radioactive source must
include its physical, chemical, mechanical and geometri-
cal properties as well as its radiation characteristics.
Such a specification is needed by the user for several
reasons: (i) to enable him to select, in general terms,
the type of source most suitable for his requirements
and, within this general category, a particular source
with satisfactory physical and other properties; (ii) to
give him as complete an understanding as possible of
the quantity, quality and distribution of the radiation
which will be provided by the source in the environ-
ment in which he plans to use it; and (iii) to enable him
to compare sources and equipment offered by different
suppl iers (Kemp, 1961).
The present report is concerned only with gamma-ray
sources and only with those aspects of the specification
of such sources which relate to the quantity of radio-
active material and the radiation emitted . Data on
radionuclides and their decay schemes can be found in
compilations by Lederer, Hollander and Perlman
(1967), by Blichert-Toft (1968) and in NCRP Report
N"o. 28 (NCRP, 1961). It is presumed that the gamma-
ray source contains one radionuclide only. If, however,
an appreciable fraction of the photon emission is due to
other radionuclicles, their presence should be stated.
The other items of a fu ll specification, including di-
mensions, mechanical construction and test require-
ments (e.g., mechanical stability of the source contents,
freedom from surface radioactive contamination and
from leakage) are dealt with in a series of reports now
being prepared by the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO, 1968). Reference should also be
made to a report by the British Standards Institution
(BSI , 1962). The adherence of suppliers to the recom-
mendations of these reports and to those of the present
report will contribute substantially to the better selec-
tion and more effective use of sources, particularly by
those users who do not have the facilities to carry out
independent investigations of source characteristics.
The sources with which this report is concerned arc
sealed sources, primarily those used in teletherapy, and
to a lesser extent those used in industrial radiography
and in irradiation units for industry and research. These
types are usually considered as "high activity" sources,
but a numerical definition of this term cannot be given
since the practical lower limit of activity of the sources
considered varies according to their type and purpose.
In general, the relevant activities are tens of curies and
above. Furthermore, the sources discussed have physical
dimensions such that internal absorption and scattering
cannot be regarded as negligible. It is assumed that the
capsule in which the source is contained effectively
absorbs any alpha or beta radiation.
The characteristics of sources for teletherapy, radiog-
raphy, research and industrial irradiation are different,
as are their requirements for specification. General
aspects of the specification of sources are discussed in
Section 3, followed by separate sections on each type of
source.
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2 ... 2 . Explanation of Terms
2. Explanation of Terms
For the purposes of this report, it is necessary to
classify sources and irradiators in relation to their
nature or their application. The following terms are used
to distinguish different types. The descriptions are not
intended to be rigid definitions.
2.1 Sealed Source
A sealed source consists of radioactive and inert
material designed to be used in such a way that the
active material does not enter into immediate contact
with the source surroundings. It is comprised of one or
more units such as discs, pellets or rods, or sometimes
fbe grains, incorporating radioactive and inactive
materials, sealed in a n envelope or capsule of sufficient
strength to prevent, under normal conditions of use,
any dispersion of radioactive substances.
In the remainder of this report the word source will
normally be understood to refer to a sealed source.
2.2 Multiple Source
A multiple source is comprised of two or more
sealed sources securely incorporated in a housing or
equipment so as to give rise to a radiation field suitable
for special purposes. In practice, a multiple source may
also be referred to as a source array or a source assembly
and the individual sources therein as source eltmtents.
3. Methods of Specifying Gamma-ray Sources
A gamma-ray source may be specified in terms of (i)
the mass of t he relevant radionuclide contained within
the source; (ii) the number of nuclear transformations
per time interval, i.e. the activity of the radionuclide
contained in the source; (iii) the rate of total energy
relea~e within the source; or (iv) a suitable measure of
the photon radiation emitted from the source, e.g., ex-
posure rate or absorbed dose rate at a stated point.
These various methods of specification cannot be ap-
plied with equal convenience to radioactive sources
of any type, size or form, and special considerations of a
restrictive nature apply to solid sources of high activity
of the type considered in th is report. Several possible
methods will be considered in t urn.
2.3 Teletherapy Source
A teletherapy source is a sealed source of small
dimensions designed fo r use in teletherapy.
2.4 Radiography Source
A radiography source is a sealed source of small
dimensions designed for use in industrial or medical
radiography.
2.5 Research lrradiator
A research irro.diator is comprised of either a single
sealed source or a n array of sealed sources designed to
irradiate various materials at specified exposure rates
within specified limits of uniformity.
2.6 Indus trial lrradiator
An industria l irradiator is comprised of an array of
sealed sources, often of extended dimensions, together
with shielding and suitable product-conveying equip-
ment, designed to irradiate a large quantity of ma-
terial to a specified absorbed dose within specified
limits of uniformity during passage through the ir-
radiator.
3.1 Mass of Radionuclide
Specificat ion in terms of mass has a firm historical
precedent in the natural radioelements such as radium.
There is no possibility, however, of determining directly
the mass of an artificially produced radionuclide unless
it is separated from other isotopes, whether stable or
radioactive.
3.2 Activity of the Source
There are practical difficulties in determining the
activity in high activity sources either by calculation or
by measuremeRt.
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3.2.1 Calculation
For raclionuclides produced by neutron irradiation in
a reactor the calculation is based on the neutron fluence
rate at the appropriate position in the reactor, the
activation cross-section of the material concerned, the
half-life of the radioactive product and the t ime of
irradiation. H owever, some factors involved, such as
fluence rate depression and self-shielding, are often not
known with precision and the calculated activity is an
approximate value only. For radionuclides produced as
fission products any such calculation would be still less
precise.
3.2.2 Measurement
A method of measurement applicable to any radio-
nuclide is to count the number of particles and/ or
photons emitted per time interval and hence to deduce
the disintegration rate. If this is to be done on an
absolute basis, it is usually necessary for the activity
to be restricted to a few microcuries. Application of
this method to sources in the curie or kilocurie range
involves the measurement of a series of related aliquots
from which the activity of the whole can be calculated.
T he process is lengthy and the errors may be consider-
able so that the method cannot be recommended for
high activity sources.
3.3 Rate of Total Energy R e lease
The principle here is to place the source within a
calorimeter which measures the total amount of energy
released per time interval. If the rate of energy release
is to be converted to activity, accurate knowledge of
4. Recon1mcnded Basis for Source Specification
The user's requirement, common to all the sources
discussed in this report, is some measure of the gamma
radiation at a defined point outside the source. Of the
methods considered in Section 3, measurement of
exposure rate at a specified point provides the best
basis for source specification. With the exception of
measurement of absorbed dose rate, the other methods
determine quantities less directly related to the uses to
which the gamma-ray sources are put; neither measure-
ment of mass nor measurement of activity of the radio-
nuclide in a high activity source is practicable; measure-
ments of rate of energy release and of absorbed dose
4. Recommended Basis for Source Specification • • . 3
the radionuclidic composition of the source and of the
disintegration schemes of the individual components is
required.
3.4 Meas ure m e nt of Photon Radiation
3.4.1 Exposure Rate
Measurement of exposure rate at a specified point
under suitable condit ions may be made the basis of a
method of source specification. The measured exposure
rate will depend, however, not only on t he source
activity and on t he dimensions and geometry of the
source, but also on the nature and geometry of the
material surrounding the source and in its vicinity.
3.4.2 Absorbed Dose Rate
Some consideration has been given to the possibility
of specifying telethcrapy sources in terms of a measure-
ment of absorbed dose rate at a point in a standard
phantom. Indeed, ICRU (1962b) recommends that
calibration for depth dose purposes be made at 5 cm
(or other suitable depth) in a homogeneous phantom
rather than in air. This method, if applied to the
present purpose, would have the advantage of providing
conditions of measurement closely related to those of
actual use in teletherapy. This advantage, however,
would be offset by the complication involved in specify-
ing the conditions of the measurement. F urthermore,
the measurement of absorbed dose rate for therapeut ic
purposes should be made with the source in its tele-
therapy housing, according to the principles laid down
in other ICRU recommendations (ICRU, 1970).
rate, though practicable, do not provide the most
relevant information.
It is recommended that the specification of high
activity gamma-ray sources be made on the basis of an
exposure rate measurement. The record of such a
measurement should always include a statement of the
time and date of measurement and the half-life of the
radionuclide.
It is necessary, however, to consider the contributions
to the exposure rate that arise both from scattering in
the source itself and from scattering from the source
housing. Scattered rn.diation from the source is in-
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4 . . . 5. Teletherapy Sources
evitably included in the measurement of exposure rate.
The contributions to be expected from sources of
different dimensions, however, have been calculated by
Monte Carlo methods, and examples are given in Appen-
dix B; they are in agreement with such spectrometric
measurements as have been made in a limited number
of cases. Contributions to the exposure rate from radia-
tion scattered by the source housing arc less easily
calculated but, as will be discussed later, can usuall y be
measured for actual conditions of use.
The exact methods of measurement to be adopted
depend therefore on the type of source and its applica-
tion. For teletherapy sources, two mca urcmcnts are
required, one which determines the exposure rate
5. Teletherapy Sources
5.1 Principles of Specification
Teletherapy sources are intended to give a relatively
narrow, well collimated beam of radiation at consider-
able distances (usually 20-100 cm) from the source.
The dimensions of the source are small compared with
the distance of use yet not small enough to allow it to
be regarded as a point source for all purposes. The
nuclides most commonly used for telctherapy sources
are cobalt-60 and caesium-137 (with barium-137m).
In order to est imate t he performance of a given
source in any given equipment in which it may be used,
the two measurements referred to in Section 4 should
be made under the follo,,·ing conditions:
A. The exposure rate measured at a stated reference
point, defined as a point 1 m from the front face
of t.hc source capsule and on the source axis. The
conditions of measurement must be such t hat the
meru uring instrument receives primary and
scattered radiat ion which comes directly from
the source (including its capsule), but as far as
possible, does not receive radiation scattered by
the surroundings.
B. The exposure rate measured at 1 m from the
front face of the source capsule and on the source
axis when the source is in the complete associated
housing.
The housing will add some scattered radiation, for
example in a typical arrangement having a cobalt-60
source in a teletherapy shield, radiation scattered by
material outside the source may contribute about 10
per cent to the measured exposure rate (Aitken and
H enry, 1964; Henry and Garrett, 1964) (see Appendix
B) . The housing may also attenuate the emerging
from the source alone and one which includes the
scatter from the source housing. For radiographic,
research and industrial sources, the requirements are
less stringent and measurement of exposure rate under
some defined conditions is usually sufficient. Also it
is sometimes convenient, but less desirable, to convert
exposure rate into an " exposure-rate equivalent ac-
tivity" . 1 If this conversion is made, the value of t he
specific gamma-ray constant on which it is based must
be stated, and the geometry of the source must be taken
into account (see Section 7.2).
D etailed recommendations of methods for the
specification of different types of source are discussed in
t he following sections.
radiation if absorbing material is present in the beam.
In practice the geometry of the housing is variable
and a given equipment is subject to variation according,
for example, to the setting of the collimator (see Appen-
dix C). The effect of the housing may be represented
by an "equipment conversion ratio" defined as:
. . . measurement B
equipment conversion ratio = A
measurement
It is suggested that the most useful service the
manufacturers of the radiation apparatus can give,
besides item A, is the determination of a series of
equipment conversion ratios using sources of each type
suitable for their equipment in each type of equipment
manufactured, for the full range of collimator apertures.
Such information would be valuable for potential as ,,·ell
as actual users of the particular equipment, constituting
import.ant indices of the scatteri ng and absorption
characteristics of individual designs of t reatment heads
and collimating systems.2
It should be pointed out that a high equipment
conversion ratio is indicative of circumstances in which
the radiation emerging from the source is degraded by
scatter; a low conversion ratio means that there is
beam absorption as well as scatter. The extent of the
degradation of the emerging radiation thus depends on
the detailed design of the equipment.
1 E xposure-rate equivalent activity is give n as the activi ty
of a poin t source of the same radionuclide which would give
the same exposu re rate at the same dis tance from the center
of the source (ICRU, 1962a, Section 3.4).
' Examples of measured equipment conversion ratios are
given in Appe ndix C.
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 5.3 Measuring Instrument 5
It must be emphasized that measurement of exposure
rate and/or absorbed dose rate for treatment purposes
should be made locally by the user himself. The state-
ment of equipment conversion ratio by the manu-
facturer should not be regarded as a substitute for this.
It must also be emphasized that the equipment con-
version ratio refers to a distance of 1 m from the front
file<' of the source and is not applicable to any other
distance whir.h might be chosen as a treatment distance.

5.2 low -Scatter Measuring Cell

A mrasurcmcnt of type A provid(;S a unique and

unambiguous specification of the source for both
scientific and commercial purposes. It entails the
setting up of special measurement conditions in which
external scatter must be reduced to a minimum. l\Iinor
and inevitable variations in an adopted geometry then
become less serious in their effect on the measurement.
The principles of a ty pical arrangement of source,
collimator and detector intended to minimize the
scattered radiation reaching the detector from the sur-
roundings of the source arc shown in Fig. 1. The source,
S, is supported and located by a holder which is as light
as possible consistent ''"ith requirements for rigidity and
accurate positioning by remote handling. It is supported
in a cavity ABB'A' surrounded by sufficient absorbing
material to give adequate protection outside the cell.
The diameter of the cavity and the diameter of the
collimator aperture must ideally be so related that no
1 1
scatter from the side walls AB, A B can pass into the
upper cavity without being scattered again from the
walls of the collimator. Furthermore, in order to restrict
the "field of view" of the ionization chamber as much as
possible while including the whole of the source, colli-
mator inserts of various apertures may be required to
suit sources and chambers of different dimensions.
The distance between the front face of the source
capsule and the centre of the ionization chamber should
be 1.000 ± 0.001 m and the collimator should be lo-
cated half way between them in order to minimize
scatter reaching the chamber from the collimator itself
(see Appendix A, Section A.3). The thickness of the
collimator should preferably be sufficient to ensure that
the transmitted radiation is not more than about 0.1 %
of the incident radiation. For cobalt-60 radiation this
will require a thickness of at least 12 cm of lea<l (.NCRP,
1960) or 9 cm of tungsten alloy. Comparatively light
shielding will then be adequate for the upper cavity.
The measurements described in Appendix A, Section
A.2 show that the back of the source capsule may ap-
proach as closely as 0.3 cm to a lead surface without
significant. increase in Pxposure rate due to scatter, but
Fig. l. Typi cal low-scatte r measuring cell.
that the scatter from a steel surface may be appreciable.
The immediate surroundings of the source should there-
fore be of lead. The separation between the back of the
source capsule and the back wall is then not critical.
The diameter of the cavity containing the ionization
chamber should be such that no part of the side walls
is visible from the source through the largest aperture
of the collimator.
It is recommended that the user of the source shall
be provided with a drawing of the measuring arrange-
ment to enable him to consider to what extent scatter
has been minimized. It is estimated in Appendix A that
the percentage of scattered radiation contributed to the
measurement by a measuring cell designed on the above
lines should be less than 1 % for cobalt-60 radiation.
Data for radiation of other energies are not available,
but the scatter contribution should still be small.
If the adivity of a cobalt or caesium teletherapy
source is required, it may be estimated from a measure-
ment of exposure rate in this low-scatter cell by using
the tables in Appendix B to calculate the effects of
scatter and self-absorption in the source itself and by
applying known specific gamma-ray constants.
5.3 Measuring Ins trument
The radiation measuring instrument should satisfy
the conditions laid down by the ICRU (ICRU, 1962b,
Sections IV and IX.A).

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6 ... 6. Radiographic Sources
6. Radiographic Sources
Radiographic sources are u ually smaller than tele-
therapy somces and approximate more closely to point
sources. In w me cases, cobalt-60 is used in teletherapy-
typc :;hields in which the direction of the useful beam
is along the principal axis of the source, but often a
useful beam may be taken from a single source in
several different directions. :Many industrial radio-
graphic sources consist of iridium-192, thulium-170 or
cae 'ium-137 of much lower activity than t eletherapy
sources. Thulium-170 and iodine-125 sources have also
been u ed for medical or dental radiography. Such
sources arc often used in an arrangement in which the
contribution of scattered radiation is not an important
consideration.
If accurate specification in terms of exposure rate
should be required, measurements may be made in the
7. R esearch and Industrial Irradiatio n Sou rces
7 .1 Gen e ra l Considerations
Sources considered under this heading arc usually of
extended physical dimensions and arc used for the
irradiation of large volumes of material and/ or for ir-
radiating material to very high dose levels. Conditions
of use are so variable and different from those of telc-
therapy and radiographic sources that considerations
appropriate to the latter no longer apply and a full
specification falls outside the scope of this report. Some
limited recommendations arc made, however, to assist
manufacturers and users.
The principal radionuclides now used are cobalt-60
and caesium-137, the complete source assembly usually
being made up of a number of source elements in the
form of rods or fl at strips. In an industrial irradiator a
considerable number of these elements may be com-
bined to make up a multiple source in the form of a
large plaque, cylinder or other configmation, and the
product to be irradiated is moved within the radiation
field in such a way that C'ach unit of material receives
approxi mately the same total absorbed do. e, whilst the
radiation field w a whole is utilised to the ma.-ximum
degree. Hesearch irradiators arc often self-contained
semi-portable units in which the experimental material
can be placed in a radiation field of specified uniformity.
Suppliers of St>lf-contained irradiation equipment
should providP data on the radiation exposure rate and
distribution within the irradiation chamber. In indus-
trial irradiators the de!<ign of the conveyor which moves
low-scatter measuring cell described above, due account
being taken of the necessity to increase the sensitivity
of the measuring in trumcnt. In practice, however,
accuracy of this order may not be required or may not
be economically justifiable. It is suggested that specifi-
cation might then be achieved in a less elaborate
manner. For example, measurements might be made in
the open air, or in a large shielded room in which ap-
proximate corrections for the scatter contribution are
applied as described in Section 7.2. The result is often
conveniently expre ed in terms of "exposure-rate
equivalent activity" ( ee Section 4). Details of the
method of measurement and any assumed value of
specific gamma-ray constant should be supplied to the
user.
the product t hrough the radiation field has a very im-
portant bearing on the overall performance, and the
user should therefore eek full details not only of the
. patial distribution of the exposure rate provided by
the source configurat ion, but also of the ability of the
conveying equipment to take advantage of t hi dis-
tribution and hence of the radiation available.
7 .2 Spccifica t io n of Source E le ments
It i8 not po. ible to express in a single number a
'Pecification for a source element which allows it to be
compared in a fully satisfactory way with a source
element of a different size or shape. For example, two
similar source array8 of t he same total activity but
composed of different source elements {e.g., rods or flat
strips) could deliver significantly different absorbed
do es to t he amc extended target in the same time of
irradiation. Even if a complex specification i given, a
true comparison can only be made in the context of the
complete irradiator design and the function to be per-
formed. In these circumstances it is suggested that t he
"exposure-rate equivalent activity" of a source element
should be specified by measuring the exposure rate at a
point on a perpendicular bisector of its long &'X is at a
distance at least 5 times its length in a " hot cell" whose
internal dimensions are several metres in ea.ch direct ion.
The contribution of scattered radiation from the walls
of the cell can be estimated by shielding t he detector
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from direct radiation from t he source by lead absorbers.
This procedure is of a lower accuracy than that recom-
mended for teletherapy sources (Section 5.2) since "ex-
posure-rate equivalent activity" is not a constant for
a given extended source, but depends on the measure-
ment dist ance, and furthermore, allowance for the
scatter contribution from the cell may be approximate.
However, it may be regarded as adequate for the pur-
poses envisaged in this section. If the activity of the
source is required as a specification, it can be calculated
from the exposure rate provided the self-absorption
corrections are known, e.g., from Monte Carlo calcula-
tions of the type given in Appendix B, Section B.3;
appropriate data on industrial sources are becoming
increasingly available.
In practice, the extent of the specification of in-
dividual source elements must be left to the supplier in
consultation with the user, depending on the circum-
stances in any particular case. For example, when a
very large number of individual source elements is in-
volved, it may suffice to divide the complete batch into
small groups and to measure the total activity of each
group. In a large irradiator the user would then be in a
position to replace tl.e lowest activity groups with new
groups of higher .:t.Ctivity when be is replenishing his
source. On the other hand, a user buying a small num-
ber of elements and designing his own irradiator may
specify that each one be measured.
Alternatively, when many source elements of the
same nominal activity are to be assembled in one array,
it may be sufficient to give an estimate of the mean
activity of the sources or source groups together with
an estimate of the standard deviation. If, however,
several sources or groups of intentionally different
activit ies are used, the individual activities of each
inay be required.
Typical charts giving the distribution of exposure
rate in air around each standard type of source element
or group of elements in the array should be made avail-
able to the user.
8. Summary of Recommendations
8.1 Telctherapy Sour·ces
8.1.1 It is recommended t hat the specification of high
activity gamma-ray sources be made in terms of the
exposure rate under standard conditions at 1 m from
the front face of the source capsule (Section 5.2).
8.1.2 It is recommended that these measurements bl'
made in a low scatter measuring cell having the essen-
8 . Summary of Recommendations •. . 7
7 .3 Specification of Source Arrays
7.3.1 Research lrradiators
In addition to the specification discussed in Section
7 .2, suppliers should provide data on the exposure rate
in air at a reference point in the irradiation field; for
example, in hollow cylindrical arrays this will normally
be the geometrical centre of the assembled array. In
addition, suppliers should provide charts showing the
exposure rate, relative to that at the reference point,
at any point in the irradiation volume with q,n accuracy
of ±10 %. These measurements are usually made in air
and the user must realize that any target being irradi-
ated will alter the field distribution by an amount which
is a function of its dimensions, absorption and scattering
properties, and location within t he irradiated volume.
Information on the spectral distribution of the radiation
within the irradiated volume is also useful if available.
7 .3.2 Industrial lrradiators
In present practice, industrial irradiators are usually
specified by the total activity of the source array. A
criterion of effectiveness of an industrial irradiator is
then the mass of material irradiated to a given absorbed
dose level (with a given uniformity) per curie-hour. In
addition to this information, the specifications discussed
in Section 7.2 should also be provided by suppliers of
irradiation plants. In this case, it must be made clear
how t he total a{ltivity in the irradiator has been esti-
mated and on what measurements the estimate is based.
It should be noted that it may be misleading to ex-
press t he efficiency of an irradiator solely in terms of the
ratio between the radiation absorbed in the product and
the total radiation emitted by the source, as all parts of
the product may not be irradiated to the same extent.
Any absorbed dose in excess of that prescribed is
wasted and should not be included in this ratio.
ti al features illustrated in Fig. 1 (Section 5.2 and Appen-
dix A). A drawing of the actual measuring cell used
should be supplied.
8.1.3 I t is also recommended that manufacturers of
teletherapy equipment should measure exposure rate at
a specified point at 1 m from the front face of the
source capsule using source~ of each type' suitable for
their equipment, in each type of equipment manu-
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8 ... 8. Summary of Recommendations
factured. This measurement should be carried out for
the full range of collimator apertures, and the results
expressed as "equipment conversion ratios" (Section
5.1).
8.2 Radiographic Sources
In most cases a specification in terms of "exposure-
rate equivalent activ ity", based on measurements made
either in the open air or in a simple cell, is adequate.
If more precise specification is needed for special rea-
sons, the method recommended fo r teletherapy sources
may be adopted (Sections 4 and 6).
8.3 Research and Industrial Irradiation Sour ces
The limited recommendations which follow are not
intended to represent a full specification.
8.3.1 The activity of a single source element is often
specified in terms of its "exposure-rate equivalent
activity" (Sections 4 and 7.2).
A chart should be provided showing the exposure-
rate distribution around each standard type of source
(Section 7.2).
8 .3.2 When large numbers of source elements are in-
volved, the activities of groups of elements may be
given, the number of groups to be measured depending
on the user's requirements. When the number of ele-
ments is small and the performance of the irradiator
is critically dependent on the individual activities of
the elements, it may be necessary to specify each
element individually (Section 7.2).
8.3.3 For research irradiators, a measured exposure
rate at a specified point in the irradiation field should
be given, together with a chart giving the distribution
of exposure rate within the irradiated volume (Section
7.3.1).
8.3.4 For industrial irradiators, much depends on the
conveyor system. If the information given to the user
is the mass of material irradiated to a given absorbed
dose level (with a given uniformity) per curie-hour, it
must be made clear how the activit ies of the sources
have been defined and determined (Section 7.3.2).
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 APPENDIX A

Practical Considerations in the Design

of a Low-Scatter Cell

A.I Geometri cal Relationships in an Ideal Cell A.2 Scatler M ea surements

The follo\\'ing symbols refer to the dimen: ion. of the

lo\\'-scatter measuring cell illustrated in Fig. 1: A.2.1 R egion Around the Source
2H distance bet"'een front face of source and axis
of ionization chamber l\Ieas urements have been made to determine the
D diameter of source cell effect of scatter from material near a cobalt-60 tele-
d = diameter of cell containing ionization cham bcr therapy source on the exposure rate at 1 m distance
a = diameter of collimator aperture (Rice, McGuire and Maloney, 1969). The experimental
2t = thickne!;S of collimato r arrangement represented in Fig. 2 was set up in a room
l = length of ionization chamber having dimensions 5.18 min the direction of the beam,
s = diameter of source 3.21 m high and 6.56 m horizo ntally perpendicular to
b = distance from front face of . ource to end \\'all the beam. T he detector was a 0.6 cm 3 Baldwin Ionex
of source cell chamber with a 4.5 mm thick equilibrium cap and it
h = distance from axis of ionization chamber to viewed t he front of the source t hrough a 3.6 cm diam-
end wall. eter lead apert ure midway between the source and the
In an ideal cell the follo\\'ing condi t ion: should be detector. T\\"O teletherapy sources, of diameters 1.25 cm
satisfied: and 2.5 cm were used. Each was of a t hickness equiva-
(i) T o ensure that no . catter from t he side wall AB lent to about 16 g/ cm 2 of cobalt. T hey were supported
of t he source cell shall pass t hrough the colli- from below by a V-stand made of 0.64 mm stainless
mator aperture \\'it hout being fi rst. cattercd from steel. The scattering mass was a disc of lead 6.7 cm
the collimator : thick by 37.5 cm diameter, suspended behind the
source and moved by remote control.
D ;;.>: a(H + b)/ t .... .......... (1.1 ) The exposure rates from both sources were measured
(ii ) T o ensure that t he side \\'all of the source cell is as the source-to-scatt erer distance was increased from
invisible from a ny part of the ionization cham - 0.3 cm to 145 cm and then on complete removal. No
decrease greater than 0.4 % \\'as fo und. H owever, a
ber:
0.6 cm t hick steel plate placed on the face of t he lead
D ;;.>: [a(2 H + b) + l(H + b - t)] / (T-1 + t) . .. (1.2) disc increased the measured exposure rate by about
0.5 %.
(iii) To ensure t hat the \\'hole of the source and no In furt her measurements, the 1.25 cm diameter
more is vi~ible from the ionization chamber : . ource was placed axially within a lead cylinder of in-
ternal diameter 9.6 cm in such a way that the detector
a = [J-l(l + s) + tll - sll/2Il .. .... (1.3) did not view t he internal side walls by direct line-of-
(iv) T o en: ure that there shall be no direct irradia- . ight. No change in expo. ure rate greater than 0.4 %
tion of the side wall of the cell containing the \ras observed. However, a tungsten sleeve of wall thick-
ionization cha mber: ness 0.596 cm surrounding the source increased the
measured exposure rate of the bare source by about 5 %.
d ;;.>: [a (2H + h) + s(H + h - t) ]/(H + t) . .. (1.4) A fl at lead block brought within 0.3 cm of the side
9

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10 . . . A. Practical Considerations in Cell Design

..,....
WINDOW ·:..:-~
321
cm

. ···~·>.>··.~·_;_::::
· i'> . , ••
•• • • · · lro
· ·:~ ·..-.
----- -- ~~
I
W A LL ·:;;
LEAD SLA B TE LESCOPE
37. 5 cm DIA. x .., .
6.7 cm THICK.

Fig. 2. Experimental arrangement for determining the effect of scattering material

near a cobalt-00 source on the measured dose rate.

the lead surroundings to the measured exposure rate

can be reduced to less than 0.2 %.
1.0

c::
;
- 0 .8
u
\
l
A.2.2. Region Around the Ionization Chambe1·
VI

"'u
;a 06
\ Investigations have also been made to study the
variation of scatter with cell dimensions in a low-scatter
w
--11 1 LINER DIAMETERS-11.4 cm

~ -~
"<....z STANDARD DEVIATION WITH NO
BACKSCATIER ER-0.04%
cell (Gunter and Bryant, 1969). The experimental cell
~ 0 .4 consisted of two concentric vertical cylinders of lead
c::
w
<>. separated by a collimator. An ionization chamber was
02
I
-·- . -!
""

L1--r-- -- located in the upper cylinder and the depth of the

space behind it could be varied from 1 to 38 cm by the
0
0
I
5 10 15 20 25
I>

30 35
l
' 40
movement of a lead plunger 5 cm thick. The backscat-
ter produced by this lead stop did not exceed 1 3 at
PROBE CENTERLINE TO BACKSCATIERER DISTANCE/cm the closest distance and, as is shown in Fig. 3, was less
Fig. 3. Effect of dis tance between ionization chamber and than 0.1 3 at a distance of 25 cm.
back scatterer on percentage back scatter.

of the source resulted in an increase of 1.8 3 in the A.2 .3 Cell Dimensions

exposure rate from the bare source. These observations
show that the positioning of the source in the cavity
ABA'B' in the measuring cell (Fig. 1) is not critical
with respect to the wall behind the source provided
that the wall is made of lead. The side wall, however,
must be sufficiently far from the source to ensure that
the geometrical condition 1.2 of Section A. l is fulfilled.
In these circumstances the scatter contribution from
The lead cylinders in the experimental cell referred
to in Section A.2.2 had internal diameters of 11 and 20
cm so that any combination of these diameters for the
upper and lower sections could be obtained. A source
2 cm in diameter could be located in the bottom cham-
ber and the relevant dimensions of the cell were : H =
50 cm, D = 11 or 20 cm, d = 11 or 20 cm, a = 4 cm,

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 A.4 Proposed Low-Scatter Measuring Cell . • • 11
l = 8 cm, l = 4 cm, s = 2 cm, b = 6 cm and h = 25 10 .000
cm. Condition 1.2 of Section A.I, which is very im-
portant for minimizing the scatter reaching the ioni- 9 .000 /
zation chamber, was fulfilled and also condition I.4.
The aperture in the collimator was larger than the /
v
value in condition 1.3 and condition 1.I was not ful- 8 .000 INCLUDING
filled, i.e. some scatter from the side walls of the source
chamber could enter the measuring chamber, impinging 7,000
SECTION X
-
on t he side walls but not directly on the chamber. The
cells were t herefore not ideal, but measurement showed
"'
SUGGESTED
---.... /
~ 6,000 /
th at the difference in exposure rate between the "best"
cell (D = 20 cm, d = 11 cm) and t he "worst" (D =
11 cm, d = 11 cm) was not more than 0.5 %. This
<Jl
<
::E
0 5.000
/ v /
/
means that, even in a cell which is not completely ideal,
w
I- v v
~
<
halving the diameter of the section containing the
source increases the measured exposure rat e by only
::E
j::
<Jl 4.000 /
/ EXCLUDING
SECTION X _

0.5 %. If the conditions 1.I to 1.4 are met, t he exact

w ;

/
/
dimensions of the cell should not be very critical. 3 ,000
,V INCLU DES 15% MASS
ALLOWANCE FOR CLADDING
AND SUPPORT STRUCTURE
2,000
A.3 Collimator

Aitken and H enry (1964), using a geometry some-
what diff crent from that discussed here, obtained a
figure of 1.2 3 of the primary exposure rate for the
scattering fro m a tungsten alloy collimator having a
5.2 cm square aperture and a thickness of 6 cm . Their
source-to-detector distance was 70 cm and their source-
to-collimator distance was about 25 cm, whereas in the
measurement cell shown in Fig. 1, the corresponding
distances are IOO cm and 50 cm. M aking inverse square
law adjustments to the values measured by Aitken and
H enry, the contribution from a similar collimator in
the measurement cell is found to be 0.5 %. A tungsten
alloy collimator with a circular aperture 7 cm in diam-
eter and 6 cm thick would h ave the same inside surface
area and would be expected to give much the same
result.
A.4 Proposed Low-Scatter Measuring Cell
A measuring cell which meets the above desiderat a is
shown in Fig. 1. It may be built in either a ve1tical or
a horizontal position. In t he latter case it is likely to
project from a hot cell and the portion X may be con-
sidered as constituting part of the wall of the hot cell.
The mass of this cell for various dimensions D is plotted
in F ig. 4, both with and without the portion X . The
1.000
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
DIMENSION Diem
Fig. 4. Dependence of mass of proposed low-scatter
measuring cell on diameter of source cell (D).
suggested value D = 20 cm is chosen somewhat arbi-
trarily and is regarded as the maximum pra-Otical diam-
eter.
As an example, typical dimensions for the cell illus-
trated in Fig. I might be H = 50 cm, D = 20 cm, a =
2.6 cm, t = 8 cm, d = 12 cm, b = 5 cm, h = 25 cm
if the source and ionization chamber dimensions are,
respectively, s = 2 cm and l = 3 cm (see Section A.I ).
The four expressions in Section A. I t hen have the
values 17.9, 7 .I, 2.6 and 7 .9 and all the stated condi-
tions are satisfied .
If desired, suitable removable collimators may be
inserted in the aperture between the two sections of the
cell to give an exact match between source and ioniza-
tion chamber dimensions, i.e. to satisfy condition 1.3.
It is estimated that the total scatter contribution in a
cell of t his type can be reduced t o less than 1 %. It is
not intended to imply that this is the only possible
design of low-scatter measuring cell and other arrangi-
ments may be devised to achieve the same end.

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 APPENDIX B
Primary and Scattered Radiation from
Typical Sources and Collimators
B.l I n troduction
The absorption of primary radiation and the produc-
tion of scattered radiation in large gamma-ray sources
and their surroundings has been measured by Costrell
(1962a,b), Scrimger and Cormack (1963) and Aitken
and H enry (1964), and has been calculated by Cormack
and Johns (1958), Berger and R aso (1960), Preiss
(1966) and B erger (unpublished). Illustrative results
from some of these papers are presented here. The
calculated results are taken mainly from the Monte
Carlo studies of Berger which are based on a model,
illustrated by Fig. 5, that h as some degree of realism,
but is less complex than the configurations encountered
in practice. The model assumes a cylindrical core of
thickness z and radius r, uniformly radioactive through-
out, surrounded by a cylindrical sleeve of thickness s,
a front plate (window) of thickness zF, and a backing
of thickness za . A small detector is assumed to be
located on the cylinder axis at a distance t from the
front plate. The Monte Carlo program evaluates the
predicted reading of an air-equivalent detector (expo-
sure) and the spectral composition of the radiation
contributing to the exposure.
B .2 Spectra of Scatter ed Radiation from Source
In Fig. 6, typical spectra are shown of scattered
radiation from encapsulated cobalt-60 sources of pro-
gressively increasing diameter. The source of largest
diameter (2.5 cm) is, however, considerably t hinner
than the other three. The figure includes Monte Carlo
results as well as measured spectra obtained by Aitken
and Henry (1964). The experimental sources, sketched
in Fig. 7, consist of a radioactive core surrounded by
a double-walled steel capsule which in turn is enclosed
by a tungsten sleeve. The overall diameter of source
plus sleeve is constant at 3.5 cm. Aitken and H enry
normalized their spectra to one photon with an energy
greater than 1.04 MeV, because it was experimentally
12
difficult for them to distinguish scattered photons above
this energy from t he primary 1.33 and 1.17 l\IeV pho-
tons. The same normalization was used in the Monte
Carlo calculation, in which the tungsten sleeve and
steel back plate are included but the steel wall was
omitted. On the whole, there is fairly good agreement
between the measured and calculated pectra, whose
most chara-0teri. t ic featu re is a peak at 210 keV, the
height of which increases with the diameter of the
source. Some of the experimental details are not repro-
duced by the calculation, for example, a . econdary peak
at 150 keV, and some st ruct ure of the ·pectral curves
between 700 and 900 keV. These feature. might be due
to the complexities of the actual experimental arrange-
ment.
Figure 8 shows additional spectra obtained by Aitken
and Henry wit h cobalt sources surrounded by sleeves
of various materials, and with the source mounted in
the teletherapy head sketched in F ig. 9. The general
shape of t he spectra remain the same, but there are
considerable quantitative change when the experi-
mental conditions are varied.
Scrimger and Cormack (1963), using the cobalt
source and teletherapy head sketched in Fig. 10, ob-
tained the spectrum of scattered photons shown in F ig.
11, which is normalized to one photon with an energy
greater than 0.8 MeV. Also shown is a corresponding
Monte Carlo spectrum, similarly normalized, for a n
encapsulated source (no head). F airly close agreement
is found between the measured and calculated spectra
which suggests that in the experiment the amount of
cat tered radiation reaching the detector was small.
Figure 12 shows a set of calculated spectra for cae-
sium-137 sources encapsulated in steel. The source
dimensions, typical of those found in practice, are
larger than those of cobalt sources when expressed in
units of the photon mean free path at the nominal
source energy. Therefore, only the spectrum for the
smallest caesium source has its main peak at 180 keV
and resembles the cobalt spectra.. The others peak at the
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 8.3 Contribution of Primary and S cattered Radio/ion 13

3
~ z, .,z
1.0

.e .,_ .,_
4 4 i I:? .6

~~

~ *~
0
z i::
:::i ,4
~ ~ ' e~, ~'\
r,~
Jz
,~
-c >
i:: ~ .2
i~ 0 - v
rv-
-
~ ~
r-,..
u ~
w

~
:::I "'~ .e Cd-
I I
,.~

m;
.,z
... .6 I\

~ .4
~ t". ~

'
0
:c $L ...... lb._\
t:.11' ·-n \
... .2

I - "' lf-'1 j
I.I. ~ '\
- I ..,...,,
0
0 .2 ,4 .6 .8 l.O 12 0 .2 ,4 .6 .8 1.0 lZ 1,4
PHOTON ENERGY/ I' eV

F ig. 6. Spectra of scattered radiation from cobalt-60

sources. The radioacti ve core consists of pellets with an
effective density of 5.88 g/ cm 1 , and the source-detector distance
t is 70 cm. The curves represent the measurements of Aitken
and Henry (1964) with a source caps ule similar to that in Fig. 7
enclosed in a tungs ten s leeve. The his tograms represent Monte
Carlo results obtained under the followi ng conditions (see

l~DETECTOR
Fig. 5): cylindrical tungsten sleeve, steel back plate , no front
plate (Z F = 0).
Dimensions (cm): (a) z = 1.4 , r = 0.5, ze = 2.1, s = 1.25
(b) z = 1.4, r = 0.75, ze = 2.1, 8 = 1.0
F ig. 5. Source and sleeve assumed in Monte Carlo calcula-
(c) z = 1.3, r = 1.0, zo = 2.2, 3 = 0.75
tion of radiation scattered by the source and surrounding
(d) z = 0.7, T = 1.25, ZB = O.i 5, , = 0.5.
material.
Shaded areas of the histograms represent scattered photons
Key to numbered regions:
reaching the detector t hrough the front surface of the tungsten
1. Front plate
sleeve; bl ack areas represent photons scattered from the sleeve
2. R adioactive core
into the radioactive core or back plate and reaching the de-
3. Back plate
tector through the front surface of the core.
4. Cylindrical sleeve.

source energy because softer radiation is strongly sup-

pressed by internal absorption. This ch&racteristic has
also been observed by Costrell {1962b). •••••••
•••••••
•••••••
•••••• COBALT
B.3 Con t r ibu tion t o Exposu re of P rimary a nd
Scatter ed Radi a tion from Source ••••••• PE LLETS

The calculated exposure at a distance of 1 m from

steel-encapsulated cobalt sources of various shapes and
sizes is given in Table B.l. The results are presented i11 TU NGSTEN
terms of relative exposure values. The relative exposure STEEL SLEEVE
INNE
is defined as the ratio of the exposure obtained with a CAN
given source to the exposure that would be obtained if
the source were removed, and replaced by a point
source with the same activity. placed at the comparison
point indicated in Fig. 5.3 The contribution to the 0 2 3
exposure from primary photons is denoted by P, and cm

from scattered photons by S. Thus P + S is a measure
1 T he comparison point is located at a position corresponding
to the center of the front face of the actual source, and differs
in this respect from the comparison point a t the geometrical
center of the source adopted by the ICRU (19G2a, Section 3.4)
in the defin ition of thP. "P.nnivalent" activity .
F ig. 7. Experimental arrangement of sources of Aitken
and Henry {1964). A typical 2 cm diameter source with its
spacer s leeve. T he cobal t pellets a re not drawn to scale. Steel
spacer discs of suitable total t hickness are used to fill the
capsule to capacity after the cobalt pellets are in place.
(Reprinted with permission from the authors and
Pergamon Press.)

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14 B. Primary and Scattered Radiation from Sources and Collimators
I I I I I I I I I
EFFEC TS OF SLEEV E AND HEAD O N SPECTRU M
1.3 FROM BARE 2 .o; CM SOURCE

~
r.u rr10 NAL (Xl'0 $Ullt[ DU(

I I I I I I I I I
1.2
\
0 euc soi..•cc. as
SHOW N IN QIAGIU W
.....
lo) l'"OfO NS IClOW 104 Wo Y

.. r\\ O N THIS G"·" ""

EFFECTS OF SLEEVE ANO HEAD ON SPECTRUM
> _,_ 0 sou•cc
II - FROM BARE I CM SOURCE - I.I
0

.
0 W ITH ITS
TUNGSUN S\.[(V[
10. 'lC.

_,,
::: °'"'t
10 -
6 IAlll[
Ofll THIS GfUt"t4
sou"cc.
AS SHOWN IN OIAC:lllA W .....
rAACT IONAL c-.fl'Osu•c
• l'HOTOHS ICLOW I 0 4 Wtil/
TO

-
w
>
0 1.0
SOUit(( l WITH SL U YC1
IH Hf .A O
• • .• 'I.

0 souncc WITH ITS T UNCSl'[N SU(\I[ co

~
13 .... f OC W TO OCUCTOlll

>
UJ
09 .....
,,. KUtllCC (WITH ILCCYU IN HUD 1• O'M.

-
<{
en
z
0 .9 ' ............ I "'
I
0
\\
70CW TO Otl(CTOlll l'l:LLUS • t
co I 0
<{
08 ACTIY[ cou~·; ~~M - to-
o o.8
en IJCU. CTS ' ' ' •• l.
z
0
to-
o 01
''\
--
::c
a..
::i
<{ 0 .1
I> \ t , C W OI A M

:c
a..
::i
. .\ /
•" '\.. ICWf OtAW >
a:
w
0.6
I l \:-"'
<{
>
06
\\ •'
J '·'f '.\
t--
z
ri \ ~ i\,
a:
w
t--
z
..
>
05

04
\
~(
v
/
-
'.,....-o ) !\
" '
>Ql
::E
a:
w
a..
0 .5

0 .4
! u\ ~o
-,
o'\. u,
'\.
\
1\-.
I >"' \ o, I\ '\._, r\ ,_........
::E
a:
UJ
a..
OJ - - '°' ~- \
t°\ en
z
0
0 .3
''o\\ .
/ r'6- 6., to-
o
0
0 \ _- o.
en
z 02 ~·~
-. .,........, :r:
a..
0 .2
~ ~/"
~-

'\\
0
t--
\ / \
2
0:
0 I

-• l T v •" i 0 .I

I T oLJ
0

100 200 300 400 5 00 600 700 800 900 100 200 3 00 ~00 500 600 700 8 00 900

PHOTON ENERGY/ keV PHOTON ENERGY/ keV

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
DIFFERENT SLEEVES AROUND SOURCE CHANvlNG ADJ USTABLE DIAPHRAGM SETTING
I 2 S\.HYC llUTC lltlAl. n tACTK>HAl. (IC..0~[ OU[ ro- 12 fllt.t.CtlONAL (ICll'OSUllt [ OUC -

> > DI Al'"" " CM AP(llHUR( TO P..OTOH S KLOW I 0 4 MtY

~
PHOTONS KL.Ow I 0 4 w. v
"' "'
. .• . .
p 0 7 lClrif SC l 'ilt lOC 0"CN l 1?) "1.
~ 0 STC Cl 22' ~ ::E
.,. I.I Al.UWUilUW 20 2 ,,. 11 • ) ' '"' so 21 , ,,.

~\
0 T ..... GSTCN It 0 ~
C> /I 18 I "Jll.
1,0 w 10
UJ
0\ >
\\
70C M TO OCUCTOllt

. . . """
> 70CW TO OCCT[CT()llt
,0
0 I 0 I
co 0 9 ,_ ~ 09
. --
\\ ~Tl. _ , _ \\\ ~J r
<{
en
z
Sl[[V[ Z !JCW
IJ)
ACTIY[ (084\.f :ni \""' -
08 A(:trvt C08&lT •• .
~ 08
11'(1.t..ClS ••• •••
0
t--
0 ,., \ \ _,c J't:Ll[T:t
to-
o
::c
\ ,\,/>-
:r:
a.. 01
·~
~ ICM Ot&.M
a.. 07
o, ICM 01!. W
--
::i \, l"-o__ ::i
<{ lo
I'-,/"' • -w...,
~. \ ~ o..._b~
\
- '
<{
> 06 > 06

h~ ~
'o~ /\\///J
c.c l'e-•-' a:
UJ
11
r°\: -- w '· C- ·

t--
~ 05
il 1../0,,. A t--
z 05
'I ·--. ,_.- r~ / \\
>CJ
~ 0 4
~
I

:-o;·-- c'
r--/
..... -:/; >.,
::E 04 'I
\.f
a:
lil
a..
en
03 .
a:
w
a.. 0 3
~) I
i
z )
z
0 0
I- 02
ll
t-- 0 2
0
'
0
::c
0.. 01 I :r:
a..
- - · - -- IJ) --
• (C) 01

u
100 ~00 3 :lO 4 00 500
I 6 00 700 8 00 900
j
100 200 JOO 4 00 ~00
I 6 00 700 500 90.>

PHOTON l:NERGY/ keV PHOTON [ NERGY kc\'

Fig. 3. Spectra of scattered radiation from cobalt-60 sources obtained by Aitken and He nry (1964) under various conditions.
With the source in the bead, the adjustable diaphragm was wide open except in (d). The curves marked "source with its
tungs ten sleeve" in (a) and (b) correspond tu the curves in Figs. 6a and 6d.
!Reprinted with permission from the uuthors and Pergamon Press.)

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 ~~ . . . . .. . . .
~ »xS
. . . " ....
~
&
~.,::-
@
X?N
- --'--- DRAWER

~"XY(·A ~
~~ ..
~

' " ~ ,;:} '

__ .~
N

SHUTTER
\ \. ~ y
~)
~ -?N
NW)
~)
'
0
N

\. « !!!

~ v. 2
II' I/
.,, !X" , °"
ADJUST ~BLE DIAPHRAGM -
.. c.,
~
x

>~~ > ;x>,i DCl<>1'X>OC~;.()<J

0
...a
g'
a-
:.
PLUG 0
......
...
'"ti
~- -~
ALUlllNUll
3·
c...

~
STE EL '<
c
_..__D RAWER 8RASS
&.
l~
TUNGSTEN ALLOT en
~ WVVVVVV\.1'
·x
8
LEA O
;t
~
(: . •, $ •. $ ', s1 01 2 3•"'
L.LJ_.J
i
~
SLEE VE c
Cl.
F ig. 9. Experimental arrangement of teletherapy head of Aitken and Henry (1964). (Slightly simplified drawing of the head and diaphragm used.I Ci'
(Reprinted with permission from t he a ut hors and P ergamon Press.) 5·
::i

<.n

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16 B. Primary and Scattered R-:;d iation from Sources and Cotlimators

SCALE IN cm

0 2 4

~ TUNGSTEN ALLOY

Q STAINLESS STEEL

~ COBALT - 60 PELLETS

.. .. ..
• • + •
... . .. . .
..

- .. .
..
llll l.
GJ
U AO 0
SCA LI I#

, ..
IN CNll

Fig. 10. Source capsule and head used by Scrimge r and Cormack (1963).
!Reprinted uy permission of the au thors and the Bri tish Jouronl of Rndiology.J

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 8.3 Contribution of Primary and Scattered Radiation . . . 17
TABLE B.1-Calculated relative exposures from primary (P) and
scattered (S) photons at a distance of I m from large encap-
sulated cobalt~O sources (see Section B .S)
[The assumed source configuration is that shown in Fig. 5.
Regions 1, 3 and 4 consist of steel; region 2 is filled with cobalt
pellets with an effective density of 5.88 g/ cm'; z., = 0.08 cm;
zv+ z + zn = 4.0cm;s = 0.15cm.]

Relative Exposure
•/ cm r/ cm S/ P
p S (Scat·
(Primary) tcrcd) P+S

0.5 0 .25 .892 .069 .961 .077

0.5 0.5 .892 .080 .972 . 090
0 .5 1.0 .892 .095 .987 . 107
0' L..c:!!.__.l~....L~.L----'-~~6~....L~e!-----'-~~
0 , o:--...L.---,,~2~.u...-.,..,:
,. 0 .5 1. 5 .892 . 106 .998 . 119
PHOTON ENERGY/ MeV
1.0 0 .25 .825 .083 .908 .101
Fig. 11. Spectrum of scattered radiation from a cobalt-GO 1.0 0.5 .825 .098 .923 .119
source. Experimental curve was obtained by Scrimger and 1.0 1.0 .825 .118 .943 . 143
Cormack (1963) with source capsule and head shown in Fig. 10. 1.0 1.5 .825 . 131 .956 .159
Calculated histogram is for scattered radiation from enfap-
sulated source only. Parameters for the Monte Carlo calcula- 2.0 0.25 . 711 .087 .798 . 122
tion were: Steel front plate, zv = 0.1 cm; radioactive core 2 .0 0.5 .711 . 110 .821 . 155
(pellets with effective density of 5.88 g/ cm'). z = 0.74 cm and 2 .0 1.0 . 711 .138 .849 .194
r = 1.27 cm, steel backing, zn = 2.8 cm; tungsten sleeve, 8 = 2 .0 1.5 . 711 .156 .867 .219
1.23 cm. Source-detector distance t = 80 cm. Shaded part of
3.0 0 .25 .61() .080 .699 .129
histogram represents scattered photons reaching the detector
3 .0 0.5 .619 . 104 .723 .168
through the front surface of the tung,sten sleeve. In the experi-
3 .0 1.0 .619 . 138 .757 .22:J
ment such photons are to a large extent prevented from reach-
3.0 2.0 .619 . 160 .779 .258
ing the detector because of the presence of the collimator.

TA BL•~ B .2-Calculate<l relative expos ure.~ from primary (P) and

scallered (~ ) pholoM at a clislam·e of I m from large encap -
s ulated caesillm -IS7 .~ources (see Section R.S)
[The assumed :source configuration is that s hown in Fig. 5.
fl cg ions 1, 3 1111d 4 consist of s teel; region 2 is filled with cnesi um
1.0 rhl oride discs with o. dcns iLy of 3.0 g/ cm'; z,, = 0.1 cm; zv +
a
8 - -L z + zo = 7.0 cm; ~ = O.:!.j cm. For spec t rn of sent tcred r:idi:it ion
:::i l'C'e Fil!;. 12 to which (:1), (b) , (c) nnd (d) refer.]
< 6
>
a:
...w~ .4
Re nth·t F.Jposurc
:/cm r/ cm S/P
>in r S tScnl·
"'z
:::!:o (Primary) lcrcd) P+S
a: ...
wo
e>.::c 0
-
<n<>. (11) I .:?.; 1 .2.i .816 . 130 .946 . 159
~ ~ 1.0 (h) 2.50 1 .2.') . 711 . 136 .847 . l!H
>-<
o:::!:
::C- .8
(c) 3.75 1. 2.; .6?"_., . 130 .755 .208
Cl. a:
o<>. (d) 5.00 1.2.; .553 . 119 .672 .215
w .6
a:
w
I: .4
<
u
"' .2 of the total exposure compared to that of a point source
at the comparison point, and S/P is a measure of the
0''---.~
1 ~~
.2~-.3~-.4~-.-s~-
. s_J
. ssL..-.~1~-
. 2~~3 ~.4~-:-
a~~
.s_,
. ss
softening of the spectrum. Similar data for a few ca.e-
PHOTON ENERGY/ MeV
sium-137 sources are given in Table B.2.'
Fig. 12. Calculated spectra of scattered radiation from
caesium-137 sources. Sources consist of a caesium chloride 'It is to be expected that in addition to caesium-137 a small
core (with an effective density of 3.0 g/ cm') enclosed in a amount (one to several percent) of caesium-134 will be present
steel capsule. Dimensions of the sources and capsules are in the source . For the decay scheme of caesium-134 see Persson
liAt.ed in Table B.2. (1968).

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'18 B. Primary and Scattered Radiation from Sources a nd Col/imators

r'2 ~
scattered radiation, so that it is more practical to rely
on comparative measurements such as those t hat have
I .r _.r----. t
been made by Aitken and Henry (1964), and by Cos-
trell (1962a,b). By way of orientation, a few calcula-
I
T--
SOURCE z tions have been made for simple conical lead colli-
mators placed in t he vicinity of cylindrical (or point)
sources, according to the scheme illustrated by F ig. 13 .

.10
~ - r--
.08
~
(~ ol
-
.06
c
p tY
\
04

.02 I
/
\
12

0 l
__ _ _l_ 0 5 10 15 20
t i/Cm
25 30 35 40

' DETECTOR Fig. 15. Calculated ratio of collimator to primary ex-

,,
Fig. 13. Source a nd conical collima tor assumed in Monte
Carlo calculation of radiation scattered by collimators.
posure, C/P, as function of the fie ld radius r, for a cobalt-60
source. Collimator parameters: t , = 20 cm, t, + 12 = 100 cm,
r 2 = 1.75 cm . (a) P oi nt source ; z = r = O. (b) Cylind rical
source made of solid cobalt metal (density 8.!l g/cm'); z =
3.5 cm, r = 1.75 r m .

z
0
4 .6 1-
u
PH OTON ENER GY/ Mt V Cl:
a:
Fig. 14. Spectrum of photons reaching detector after ~ .4 ~-~~-l-+--l-~~-+~~~~1--~~~-t-~~~-;

scattering by a conical lead collima tor placed near a point-

isotropic cobalt-60 source. Curve is from a calculation by
Cormack and J ohns (1958) t aking into account si ngle scatte r
only. Histogram is a Monte Carlo resul t. Cont ribution of
photons sca ttered more tha n once in collimator is indicated by
shaded area. Collimator parame ters were ns follows :
r s = 3 cm ; r, = 10 cm; ti = 60 cm; 11 + t s = 100 cm.
20
B.4 Scattered Radiation from CoJlimators
Fig . 16. F raction of collimator exposure C that is con-
Collimators, particularly those designed to minimize tributed by the first t , cm of the collimator (0 ~ ti ~ 20 cm).
unwanted scattered radiation, are usually not. simple Field radius r 1 = 5 cm, other parameters as in Fig. 15. (a)
enough to allow direct. and accurate calculation of the Point source. (b ) Cylindrical source.

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 B.4 Scattered Radiation from Col/imotors . . . 19

TABLE B-3-Calculated ratio (C/P) of the relative exposure due The parameter:) are the collimator length t1, the source·
to scattering from the collimator (C) and due to primary (P) to-detector distance t1 + ~. the distance r2 of closest
radiation (see Section B .4)
approach to the source axis, and the field radius r 1 •
[The configuration is that shown in Fig. 13. A conical lead
collimator is placed near a point isotropic source (r = z = 0). Only radiation escaping through the front face of the
The source-to-detector distance 11 + It = 100 cm. C/P is given source is assumed to be able to reach the collimator.
as function of the collimator length t1 , the field radius r1 , When the radius r and thickness z of the source become
r,
and the distance of closest approach of the collimator to the vanishingly small, the limiting case of a point source
source.)
is reached.
C/ P Figure 14 shows the calculated spectrum of the radia-
Cobalt-00 Caesium-137
tion scattered from a 60 cm long conical lead colli-
ri/cm Ii/an mator near a point cobalt source. The spectral shape in
rs/ an ro/an this case is determined mainly by the relation between
o.s 1.0 2.0 o.s 1.0 2.0 deflection and energy loss for single scattering, and
--
2 10 0.015
------ - - -
0.013
-
0.007
0 .010 0.010 0.009
has a peak not far below the source energy.
Figure 15 shows the ratio C/ P as function of the
20 0.017 0.016 0 .014 0.011 0.011 0.010
0.011 O.Oll 0.010 field radius r1 for a 20 cm long conical lead r.ollirnator,
30 0.017 0.017 0 .017
40 0.017 0.018 0 .019 O.Oll 0.012 0.012 where C is the contribution to the exposure due to
50 0.018 0.019 0 .020 0.012 0.012 0.013 scattered photons from the collimator and is normalized
in the same manner as P and S. Fig. 16 shows the frac -
5 10 0.037 0.033 0 .023 0.025 0.023 0.017
0.027 0.026 0.024
tion of C that is due to photvns scattered from the
20 0.041 0.039 0.036
30 0.042 0.042 0.041 0.028 0.028 0 .027 first t 1 cm of the collimator (O ~ t1 :5 20 cm). It is
40 O.O-t3 0.044 0.046 0 .028 0.029 0 .030 clear from the figure that by eliminating the part of the
50 0.044 0.046 0.049 0.029 0.030 0 .032 collimator closest to the source a considerable amount
0 .044 0.039 0.029
of scattered radiation can be eliminated.
10 10 0.064 0.055 0.039
20 0.071 0.069 0.061 0.048 0.047 0.043 Table B.3 gives calculated values of the ratio C/ P
30 0 .074 0.074 0.072 0.049 0.050 0.049 for cobalt and caesium point sources, as functions of the
40 0.075 0 .078 0.079 0.050 0.052 0.053 various collimator parameters including the field radius
50 0 .076 0.080 0.083 0.052 0.053 0.056
and collimator length.

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Measurements of Equipment
Conversion Ratio
C.l Comparative Measurements on Sources in
the U nited Kingdom
In a large scale comparison, open source exposure
rates measured at Harwell have been compared with
exposure rates from the same sources after installation
in their teletherapy housings (Taylor, 1967). The Har-
well measurements were made with the sources exposed
at 1 m from an ionization chamber in a concrete meas-
1-10 II
0 I _ l_
~ I :Ii
z I
I I
0 The housing can affect the equipment conversion
<I)
I
, /
"'
w y(T
~ 1·00
I
~,,.
8 i.-..,..
....... ~
.....
zw ~V
~ I
::>
So·9o
4 5 6 7 8 910 20 25 30
SQUARE Fl E LO SIDE AT 1 m/cm
Fig. 17. Equipment conversion ratio as a function of
field size for two different teletherapy units.
urement cell of dimensions 3.3 m X 1.7 m X 3.2 m
high. The scatter contribution from the walls of the
cell was estimated both theoretically (Clarke and
Batter, 1963; Hendee and Ellis, 1966) and experimen-
tally, and was found to amount to about 6 % of the
measured radiation for cobalt-60 sources. Measure-
ments in the teletberapy housings were made by hos-
pital physicists under a variety of conditions on uuits
made by several different manufacturers. These ob-
servations probably represent the largest series of equip-
ment conversion ratios at present available and whilst
APPENDIX C
they vary over a considerable range, a number of in-
teresting features have emerged.
The results for each source and housing have been
expressed in terms of the equipment conversion ratio:
Exposure rate at 1 m from front face
of source in housing
Corrected exposure rate at 1 m from front face
of source in Harwell cell
after appropriate corrections for radioactive decay.
This ratio varies with the type of housing and with
___,,-- the setting of the collimator diaphragms, increasing
as the collimator is opened.
7 1 UNIT A
I I I
ratio in two ways; the exposure rate measured with the
,__....,.. VUN- I T source in the housing will include a scatter contribution
8
arising from the housing and collimator, but the pri-
mary and scattered radiation will be reduced by ab-
I I sorption in mirrors, steel or plastic covers or other
I
absorbing material which may be present. The equip-
I I ment conversion ratio can therefore be greater or less
15 than unity depending on the relative magnitude of
these effects. In the present series of measurements, for
example, equipment conversion ratios have ranged over
values from 0.89 to 1.23.
The equipment conversion ratio varies with field size
or collimator setting in a way similar to the variation
in "central beam intensity" first noticed by Kemp and
Burns (1958) and plotted by De Vore and Greenlaw
(1967) in terms of t he "intensity" for a field size of 10
cm X 10 cm. The absolute value of the equipment
conversion ratio for a given field size, however, varies
quite markedly from one make of equipment to another,
depending on the type of collimator, absorbing material
in the beam and other details of construction. Fig. 17
illustrates this variation as a function of field size at 1
m for units made by two different manufacturers.
20
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 C.2 Comparative Measurements in Australia and New Zeo/cind . . .
C.2 Comparative Mellsurements on Sources in
Australia and New Zealand
Similar comparisons have been made in Australia and
·ew Zealand (Gregory, 1967). Measurements were
made in a cell 4.6 m X 1.8 m X 4.6 m high using a
special collimator interposed between the source and
the ionization chamber, which were separated by a
distance of 1 m. The exposure rates measured in this
21
way were compared with mea.surem(mts made in vari-
ous hospitals for a field size "' 10 cm X 10 cm corrected
by inverse square law to a distance of 1 m. The ratio
measurement at hospital
measurement in cell
varied over the range 0.893 to 1.023 for nine units
made by six different manufacturers. All the ratios
except one were less than 1.00.
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 References
AITKEN, J. H. AND HE~RY, W. H . (1964). "Spectra of
the internally scattered radiation from large cobalt-
60 sources used in teletherapy." Internat. J. Appl.
Radiation Isotopes 15, 713.
BERGER, M. J. "The output of large cobalt-60 and
cesium-137 sources." To be published.
BERGER, M. J. AND RAso, D. J. (1960). "Monte Carlo
calculations of gamma ray back scattering." Radia-
tion Research 12, 20.
BLICHERT-ToFT, P. H. (1968). "Experimental decay-
scheme studies of odd-A deformed nuclei." Akadc-
misk avhandling-Chalmers teknisk hogskola, Goth-
enburg, Sweden.
BSI (1962). "Gamma radiography sealed sources~ "
B.S.3513: 1962 (British Standard<> Institution,
London).
CLARKE, E. T. AND BATTER, J. F . (1963). "Gamma-
ray scattering by concrete surfaces." Nucl. Sci. Eng.
17' 125.
CORMACK, D . V. AND JOHNS, H. E. (1958). "Spectral
distribution of scattered radiation from a lcilocurie
cobalt-60 unit." Brit. J. R adiol. 31, 497
CosTRELL, L. (1962a). "Scattered radiation from
large cobalt-60 calibrating sources. " Health Physics
8, 261.
CosTRELL, L. (1962b). "Scattered radiation from large
cesium-137 sources." Health Physics 8, 491.
DE VORE, W. D. AND GREENLAW, R. H. (1967). "An
evaluation of cobalt-60 rotational teletherapy equip-
ment." Am. J. Roentgenol. 99, 600.
GREGORY, J . N. (1967) . Private communication.
GUNTER, A. W. AND BRYANT, J. (1969) . Private
communication.
HENDEE, W.R. AND ELLIS, J . L. (1966). "Scattering of
gamma radiation from semi-infinite slabs." Health
Physics 12, 673.
HENRY, W. H. AND GARRETT, C. (1964). "Fractional
exposure rate due to scattered radiation from a cobalt-
60 teletherapy unit." Internat. J. Appl. Radiation
Isotopes 15, 544.
IAEA (1962). A proposal for standard conditions for
the measurement of the output of teletherapy
sources. (Not published).
22
JCRU (1962a) . Report lOc. Radioactivity. NBS Hand-
book 86 (U.S. Gov't Printing Office, Washington,
D .C.)
ICRU (1962b). Report lOd. Clinical D osimetry. NBS
Handbook 87 (U.S. Gov't Printing Office, Washing-
ton D.C.).
ICRU (1970). Report on measurement of absorbed dose
in a phantom irradiated by a single beam of x or
gamma rays. In preparation.
ISO (1968). Reports on specification of dimensions,
mechanical construction and test requirements for
radioactive sources. (International Organization for
Standardization, Geneva) . In preparation.
KEMP, L . A. W. (1961). "The standardization of high-
activity teletherapy sources." Brit. J . Radio!. 34, 67.
KEMP, L. A. W. AND BURNS, J . E. (1958). "Physical
measurements on the London Hospital Picker C-
3000 uni t." Acta R adiologica 49, 471.
LEDERER, c. M., HOLLANDER, J . M. AND PERLMAN, I.
(1967). Table of Isotopes (John Wiley and Sons, Inc.,
New York).
NCRP (1960). NCRP Report No. 24. Protection
Against Radiations from S ealed Gamma Saurces.
))'BS Handbook 73 (U.S. Oov't Printing Office,
Washington, D.C.).
NCRP (1961). NCRP Report No. 28. A Manual of
Radioactivity Proce,dures. NBS Handbook 80 (U .S.
Gov't. Printing Office, Washington, D.C.).
PERSSON, R . B. R. (1968). " 13'Cs/ 137Cs activity ratio
in the biosphere from 1956 until 1966." Health
Physics 14, 241.
PREISS, K. (1966). Monte Carlo calculations of self
shielding by encapsulated yamma-ray saurces. Nuclear
Radiation Shielding Studies. Report No . I (Uni-
versity of Illinois, Urbana, III. ).
H.1cE, F. G., :vrcGurnE, l\I. A. AND MALONEY, A. R.
(1969). Private communication.
Scn1MGER, J . W. AND CORMACK, D. V. (1963). "Spec-
trum of the radiation from a cobalt-60 teletherapy
unit." Brit. J . Radio!. 36, 514.
TAYLOR, C. B. G . (1967). Private communication.
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 ICRU Reports
ICRU Reports are distributed by the ICRU Publications' office. Information
on prices and how to order may be obtained from:

ICRU Publications
P.O. Box 30165
Washington, D.C. 20014
U.S.A.

The currently available ICRU Reports are listed below.

ICRU
Rep ort No. Title
lOb Ph ysical Asp ects of Irradiation (1964)
lOc Ra dioa ct iv it y (1963)
I Of M ethods of Evaluating Radiological Equipment and Ma -
t erials (1963)
12 Certijication of Standardized Radioactive Sou rces (1968)
13 Neutron Flu ence, Neutron Spectra and K erma (1969)
14 Radiation Dosimetry: X Rays and Gamma Rays with Max-
imum Photon En ergies Between 0.6 and 50 M e V (1969)
15 Cameras for Image Intensifier Flu orography (1969)
16 Linear Energy Transfer (1970)
17 Radiation Dosimetry: X Rays Generat ed at Pot entials of 5
to 150k V(l910)
18 Speci ficati on of High A ctivity Gamma -Ray Sou rce>.~
(1970)
20 Radiation Protection Instrum entation and Its Application
(l 97 l)
21 Ra diation Dosimetry: Electrons with Initial l~nergies Be-
tween I and 50 M e V ( 1972)
22 M easurement of Low-Level Radioactivity (1972)
23 M easurement of Absorbed Dose in a Phant om Irradiat ed by
a Single Bea m of X or Gamma Rays (1973)
24 Determination of Absorbed Dose in a Patient Irradiated by
Beams of X or Gamma Rays in Radiotherapy Procedures
(1976)
25 Conce ptual Basis for th e Determination of Dose Equivalent
(1976)
26 Neutron Dosimetry for Biology and M edicine (1977)
27 An Int ernational Neutron Dosim etry I ntercomparison
(1978)
28 Basic Aspects of High En ergy Particle Int era ctions and
Radiation Dosimetry (I 978)
29 Dose Specifi cation for R eporting Ext ernal Ream Th erapy
with Photons and Elec tron.~ (1978)
30 Quantitative Concept s and Dosim etry in Radiobiolo;:y
(1979)
31 A verage En ergy Required lo Produ ce an Ion Pair (1979)
23
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24 . .. /CRU Reports

32 M eth ods of Assessm ent of Absorbed Dose in Clinical Use of

Radionuclides (1979)
33 Radiation Quantities and Units (1980)

Binders for ICR U Reports are availa ble. Each binder will accommodate
from six to eight reports . The binders carry the identification, " ICRU Re-
ports," and come with label holders which permit t he user to attach labels
s howing the Reports contained in each binder.
The fo llowing bound sets of I CRU Reports a re a lso availa ble:
Volume I. ICRU Reports lOb, lOc, lOf
Volume II. ICR U Reports 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20
Volume IJl. ICRU Reports 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26
Volume IV . ICRU Reports 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32
(Tit les of the individ ua l Reports contai ned in each volume a re give n in the
list of Reports set out a bove.)

The following ICRU Reports were superseded by subsequent Reports and

a re now out of print:
ICR U
Report No. Title and Reference*
1 Discussion on Int ernational Units and Standards for X-ray
Worl<. B ri t. J. Radio!. 23, 64 (1927).
2 International X -Ray Unit of Intensity, Brit. J. Radio!. (new
series) l, 363 (1928).
3 Report of Committee on Standa rdization of X-ra y M ea-
surements, Radiology 22, 289 (1934).
4 Recommendations of th e International Committee for Ra-
diological Units, Radiology 23, 580 (1934).
5 Recomm endations of the International Committee for Ra-
diological Units, Radiology 29, 634 (1937).
6 Recommendations of the Int ernational Commission on
Radiological Protection and of th e Int ernational Com-
mission on Radiological Unit s, National Bureau of Stan-
d a rds Ha ndbook 47 (U.S. Gove rnment Printing Office,
Washington, D.C., 1951).
7 Recommendations of the I nternational Commission for
Radiological Unit s, Radiology 62, 106 (1954).
8 Report of the International Commission on Radiological
Units and M easurements (JCRU) 1956, Nationa l Bureau
of Standa rds Hand book 62 (U.S. Government Printing
Office, Was hington, D.C. , 1957).
9 Rep ort of the Int ernational Commission on Radiological
Units and Measurem ents (JCRU) 1959, National Bureau
of Standa rds Ha ndbook 78 (U.S. Government Printing
Office, Washington, D.C., 1961 ).
l Oa Radiation Quantities and Units, Nationa l Bureau of Stan-
d a rds Handbook 84 (U.S. Government Printing Office,
Was hington, D.C., 1962).
l Od Clinical Dosimetry, National Bureau of Standa rds Handbook
87 (U .S. Government Printing Office, Was hington , D.C.,
1963).

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 ICRU Reports . .. 25

lOe Radiobiological Dosimetry, National Bureau of Standards

Handboo k 88 (U.S. Government Printing Office, Wash-
ington, D.C., 1963).
11 Radiation Quantities and Units (Inte rnational Commission
on Radiation Units and Measurements, Washington, D.C.,
1968).
19 Radiation Quantities and Units (International Commission
on Radiation Units and Measurements, Washington, D.C.,
1971).
19S Dose Equivalent !Supplement to JCRU Report 19] (Inter-
national Commission on Radiation Units and Measure-
ments, Washington, D.C., 1973).

* References given are in English. Some of the Reports were also publis hed in other lan-
guages.

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 INDEX

Absorbed dose (rate), 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 :\l ass of radionuclide, 2

Absorption, 4, 7, 20 Measuring cell
Activity, 2, 5, 7 F:xperimental, 9, 10, 11
Calculation of, 3 H arwell, 20
Exposure-rate equivalent, 4, fl , 7, 8. t:! Low-scatter, 5, 6, 7, 11
High, 1 Medical radiography, 2, 6
Measurement of, 3 Monte Carlo calculatio n, 4 , 7, 12, 17, 18
Array, source, 2, 7 Mul tiple source, 2, G
Assembly, source, 2
Attenuation, 4 Neutron irradia tion, 3
Back-scatter , 10
P hoton radiatio n, measurement of, 2, 3, 5
Caesium-137, 4, 5, 6, 12, 17, 19
Calorimeter, 3
Radiatio n t herapy, 3, 5
Cell
Radiographic source , 2, 4, G, 8
Experimental, 9, 10, 11
futdiography
Ideal, 9
Dental, 6
Low-scatter , 5, 6, 7, 11
I ndustrial, 2
Cobalt-60, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12, 17, 18, rn, 20
Medical, 2, 6
Collimator, 4, 5, 8, 11 , 18, 19, 20
l!adium, 2
Conveying equipment, 2, 6, 8
Hesearch irradiation source, 4, 6
Dental radiography, 6 llesearch irradiator , 2, 7, 8

Element, source, 2, 6, 7, 8 :':icattered rad iation, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 , 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, l:J, 20

Energy release, rate of, 2, 3 8ealed source, 2
Equipment convers ion ratio, 4, 5, 8, 20, 21 ::ielf-absorption, 5, 7
Equivalent activity, exposure-rat<', 4, G, 7, 8, I:! Snu rce a rray, 2, 7
Explanation of term.<;, 2 Assembly, 2
Exposure (rate), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, R, 9, 10, 12, l :J, 17, l !l Element, 2, 6, 7, 8
Exposure-rate equiva lent activi t,,·, 4, G, 7, 8, 13 Industrial, 4, 6
l\fultiple, 2, 6
Geometrical relationships , 9 ltadiographir , 2, 4, 6, 8
Hesearch , 4 , 6
High activity, 1 Sealed . 2
Teletherapy, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9
Industrial irradiator, 2, 7, 8
Specification requirement.", 1
Industrial irradi ation source, ·1, 6
!::'peci fie gamma my constant, 4 , 5, Ii
Industrial radiography, 2
, 'pectral distrib ution, 4, 7, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, l!I
Iodine-125, G
Iridtum-192, 6
I rradiator Tele t herapy
Industrial, 2, 7, 8 Hea d, 15, 16
Research, 2, 7, 8 Sourer , 2,4,5,6, 7,9
T erms , explanation of, 2
Low scatter cell , 5, 6, 7, 11 Therapy , radi ation, 3, 5
Mass of, 11 T hulium-170, 6

27
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