TECHNOLOGY EXPERTS COMPANY

RADIATION PROTECTION CENTER

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF

RADIATION PROTECTION FOR RPO

Prof. Dr. M. FAROUK AHMAD

RIYADH,1437 H, 2016 G
 FOREWORD

،‫ وبعد‬،‫الحمد هلل رب العالمين والصالة والسالم علً رسىله األمين ومن اهتدي بهديه إلً يىم الدين‬

The use of man-made ionizing radiation and radioactive sources are now a day widespread,
and continue to increase around the world. Nuclear techniques are in growing use in industry,
agriculture, medicine, well logging, and research benefiting the society as a whole. Irradiation
is used around the world to preserve foodstuffs. Sterilization techniques have been used to
eradicate diseases and ionizing radiation are widely used in diagnosis and therapy of different
diseases. Industrial radiography is widely used to examine welds and detect cracks and
microscopic bubbles in metallic pipes, tanks and other devices, and help prevent the failure of
engineered structures.
It has been recognized that exposure to an acute dose of ionizing radiation causes clinical
damage to the tissues of the human body. In addition, long term studies of populations
exposed to ionizing radiation have demonstrated that this exposure has a potential for the
delayed induction of malignancies. Due to these risks all activities involving radiation
exposure shall be subjected to certain national and international safety standards, in order to
protect radiation workers, general public and environment from exposure to ionizing
radiation.
One of the requirement of the national and international safety standards is that any
installation, that is acquiring any of the radiation sources shall appoint a radiation protection
officer, RPO, (or officers), to oversee the application of the requirements of the radiation
protection and safety of radiation sources. According to the Saudi national and international
regulations, this individual shall be technically competent in radiation protection scientific
and organizational matters, relevant for a given type of practice. In Accordance with Saudi
national regulations shall be licensed by the national regulatory authority through passing a
qualification exam, which is held periodically by this authority.

For successfully passing this qualification exam, one should study different scientific and
organizational topics, which exists in different English books, and are specialized very deep
in the subjects of interest. It may be very difficult for non specialized individuals in radiation
physics to follow these subjects.

For this reason this booklet is prepared, and will be issued, by the technology experts group,
to cover the fundamentals and all scientific and organizational topics that are necessary for
any radiation protection officer to be qualified as a RPO. Together with the included topics in
this booklet the practical lessons are essential part of the qualification of the RPO. This
practice in the different relevant fields may be gained easily through these practical lessons.

I hope that the booklet will be helpful in acquiring the necessary knowledge in the field.

The author

2
 CHAPTER 1

RADIOACTIVITY AND RADIOACTIVE DECAY

1-1 Some properties of the atomic nuclei:

- Any atom is composed of the atomic nucleus, around which electrons are orbiting in
elliptical shells.
- The radius of the atom is in the order of 10-10 m, while the radius of the nucleus is in the
order of 10-15 m, so that the volume of the nucleus is smaller than that of atom by about
thousand trillions times (trillion = 1012). Due to these dimensions, the atom is similar to the
solar system, with its relative inter- planetary distances.
- Any atomic nucleus consists of nucleons, which are protons or neutrons. The proton mass
is, approximately, higher than that of the electron by about 1836 times, while the neutron
mass is higher by about 1838 times. So, the neutron and the proton may be considered as
particles with, approximately, the same mass. From these data the atomic mass is
concentrated in the atomic nucleus, and the nuclear density is, approximately, constant and
equals 1017 kg/m3 (about 100 millions ton/cm3).
- The charge of the proton equals to the electron charge in magnitude, (which is exactly 1.6
x10-19 Coulomb), but it is positive in sign, while the neutron is neutral (e.g. its total charge
equals zero). So, in a neutral atom the number of the protons in the nucleus equals the
number of the orbital electrons rotating around the nucleus.
- The number of the protons in a nucleus is called its atomic number and is denoted as Z,
while the total number of protons and neutrons, in it, is called the mass number A. So the
number of neutrons N in any nucleus is N = A – Z.
- Symbolically, any atom is represented by the first letter of its Latin name written in capital,
or by the first one in capital and other one written in small. The atomic number is written in
the lower left corner, while the mass number is written in the upper left one. Example of
that is 126 C (or carbon-12), 1735Cl (or chlorine-35), 2351Cr (chrome-51) and 114
48 Cd
(or cadmium-
114).
- The nucleus of any element is composed of the same number of protons Z, but it may have
different numbers of neutrons N. these different forms of the same element are called
isotopes of the element. For example, hydrogen exists in three forms. In the first form the
nucleus of the first isotope known as 11 H contains one proton but no neutron. The second
form known as 12 H (or Deuterium) contains one proton and one neutron and, the third
isotope of hydrogen, known as 13 H (or Tritium) contains one proton and two neutrons.
- The isotopes of any element are characterized by the same chemical properties, while they
have different physical properties. For this reason, isotopes of the same element cannot be
separated by chemical methods but they can be separated by physical methods, such as using
their different masses. Some Elements have more than (30- 35) isotopes.
- Some isotopes or nuclides are stable, while some others are unstable and they may,
spontaneously, decay to a daughter nuclide through processes, known as alpha or beta decays,
or may disintegrate through the emission of gamma radiation. These nuclides are called
radio-nuclides and there atoms are called radio-active isotopes. So, there are three types of
the radioactive decay, which are:

3
 a) Alpha decay (α decay),
b) Beta decay (β decay), and
c) Gamma disintegration (γ disintegration)

1-2 Some properties of the α-decay and α-particles.

- In α decay of a nucleus, an alpha particle (α), which is the nucleus of a helium-4 atom ( 24 He
), is emitted. This particle is composed of 2 protons and 2 neutrons. So, in α decay of a parent
radionuclide the mass number of the daughter nuclide is reduced by 4 while the atomic
number is reduced by 2. An example of alpha decay is the decay of uranium-238 to thorium-
234 with the emission of an alpha particle (α), which is, symbolically, represented as:
238
92 U 234
90 Th + 4
2 He

- Another example of  decay is the decay of Polonium ( 210 206

84 Po ) to the stable lead-206 ( 82 Pb )
with the emission of an alpha particle (α), which is, symbolically, represented as:
210
84 Po  206
82 Pb + α

- Third example of  decay is the decay of Americium-241 ( 241

95 Am ) to the Niptonium-237 (
237
93 Np )with the emission of an alpha particle (α), which is, symbolically, represented as:
241
95 Am  237
93 Np + α
- Alpha particles emitted from a certain radionuclide are characterized by, so called, discrete
energy spectrum. This means that all alpha particles emitted from any nucleus of that
radionuclide will have the same energy value or separated but fixed energy values. So, by
measuring the energy value or values of α particles emitted from a specific radionuclide this
nuclide can be easily identified. In other words, it is known that 238
92 U (for example) emits
α particles with two energy values, which are 4196 and 4149 KeV. So, if these two energy
values for any alpha emitter are detected, then it means that this emitter is 238
92 U . In case of
polonium-210 alpha particles are emitted with a single energy value of 5305 KeV. So, if
alpha particles with this energy value are detected we are sure that the emitter is polonium-
210.
- Alpha decay, mainly, occurs with some isotopes with atomic number Z higher than 82, i.e.
with isotopes of elements higher than lead (Plumbom-82).

1-3 Some properties of β-decay and β –particles

- The beta decay of a radioactive parent nuclide occurs when the relation between the proton
number Z and the neutron number N in the nucleus is out of the stability ratio. This ratio
starts at 1:1 for light elements (for example Carbon-12, Nitrogen-14 and Oxygen-16) and
increases monotonically, with increasing atomic number to reach about 1:1.6 for uranium-
238.
- There are three types of beta decay, which are:

Electron or β-negative decay:

- In this type of β decay one of the neutrons n of the parent nucleus decays, spontaneously, to
a proton p and negatron β- (which is a β negative particle or electron emitted from the
nucleus) and a third particle, named anti-neutrino υ˜
, which has no charge and zero rest mass. This decay is represented, symbolically, as;
n  p + β- + υ˜

4
- One example of β- (or electron decay) is the decay of 60
27 Co (Cobalt-60) to 60
28 Ni (Nickel-60)
with the emission of a β- particle and anti-neutrino υ˜
(see fig. 1-1), which is expressed, symbolically, as:
60
27 Co  60
28 Ni + β- + υ˜
- Other example is the decay of Cesium-137 to Barium-137 with the emission of the same two
particles (see fig. 1-2). This is expressed, symbolically, as:
137
55 Cs  137
56 Ba + β- + υ˜
- Third example is the decay of Iridium-192 to Platinum-192 with the emission of the same
two particles. This is expressed as:
192
77 Ir  192
78 Pt + β- + υ˜
- Fourth example is the decay of Idine-133 to Xenon-131 with the emission of the same two
particles. This is expressed, symbolically, as:
-
131
53 I  131
54 Xe + β- + υ˜
- In beta-negative decay the mass number A of both parent and daughter radio-nuclides
remains constant, while the atomic number Z of the daughter nuclide is increased by one
with respect to that of the parent one, since a neutron is converted into a proton in the
nucleus.

Positron or beta positive decay:

- In this type of β decay, due to the excess number of protons Z with respect to number of
neutrons N in the nucleus, one of the protons of the parent nucleus decays, spontaneously, to
a neutron, and a β+ positive particle (i.e. positron), and a third particle, named neutrino υ,
with zero charge and zero rest mass. This is represented, symbolically, as;
p  n + β+ + υ
- One example of β+ (or positron decay) is the decay of Na-22 (Sodium-22) to Ne-22 (Neon-
22) with the emission of β+ particle and neutrino υ (see fig. 1-4), which is expressed
symbolically as:

60
27 Co

2505 KeV Ni*

1173 KeV γ photon

photonphoton
1332 KeV Ni*

1332 KeVγ photon

60
28 Ni

Fig (1-1): β decay of Co-60 to Nickel*-60 and gamma disintegration of Ni*-60

5
 137
55 Cs
β1
662 KeV Ba*
11 137
56 Ba * KeV

662 KeV γ
βo photon
photonphot
0 KeV
137
on 56 Ba

Fig (1-2): β- decay of Cs-137 to Ba-137 and gamma disintegration of Ba*-137

- In beta-negative decay the mass number A of both parent and daughter radio-nuclides
remains constant, while the atomic number Z of the daughter nuclide is increased by one
with respect to that of the parent one, since a neutron is converted into a proton in the
nucleus.

Nβ

decay energy
or Emax

Eβ
Fig (1-3): The continuous energy spectrum of beta particles

Positron or beta positive decay:

- In this type of β decay, due to the excess number of protons Z with respect to number of
neutrons N in the nucleus, one of the protons of the parent nucleus decays, spontaneously, to
a neutron, and a β+ positive particle (i.e. positron), and a third particle, named neutrino υ with
zero charge and zero rest mass. This is represented, symbolically, as;
p  n + β+ + υ
- One example of β+ (or positron decay) is the decay of Na-22 (Sodium-22) to Ne-22 (Neon-
22) with the emission of β+ particle and neutrino υ (see fig. 1-4), which is expressed
symbolically as:
22 22
11 Na  10 Ne β+ + υ
+
22
- The decay scheme of the positron decay of 11 Na is shown in fig (1-4) and the energy
spectrum of beta positive particles is also a continuous spectrum.

The electron capture:

- In this type of β decay one of the protons of the parent nucleus captures an orbital electron
from the shells, which are very close to the nucleus, forming a neutron and a neutrino υ is
emitted during this process. This is represented, symbolically, as;
e- + p  n + υ
6
 22
11 Na

22
10 Ne * 1274 KeV

1274 KeV gamma photon

22
10 Ne
Fig (1- 4): The decay scheme of Na-22 to Ne-22

- One example of the electron capture is the capture of an orbital electron by Na-22 (Sodium-
22) nucleus to form a Ne-22 (Neon-22) nucleus with the emission of a neutrino υ. This is
expressed, symbolically, as:
22
e- + 11 Na  10 Ne + υ
22

- Another example of the electron capture is the capture of an orbital electron by Ir-192
(Iridium-192) nucleus to form a Os-192 (Osmium-192) nucleus with the emission of a
neutrino υ. This is expressed, symbolically, as:
192
e- + 77 Ir  192Os + υ
76

- In the electron capture no beta particle is emitted, while the only emitted particle is the
neutrino. Moreover, the mass number A of both the parent and daughter nuclides remains
constant and does not change, as in all other types of beta decay, while the atomic number Z
of the daughter nuclide is decreased by one with respect to that of the parent one, since a
proton is converted into a neutron, by the analogy to the beta positive decay.
- It should be mentioned that iridium-192 decays to platinum-192 via beta negative decay in
95.4 % of cases, while it decays to osmium-192 via electron capture in 4.6 % of cases.

1-4 Some properties of gamma disintegration

- If an atomic nucleus is formed, as a result of alpha or beta decay, in, so called, excited
energy state (i.e. in a state with excess energy), it will disintegrate to a state with a lower
excitation energy or to the so called, the ground state (i.e. to the state with zero excitation
energy). This disintegration is accompanied with the emission of a gamma (γ) photon, which
carries an amount of energy equal to the difference between the excitation energies of the
initial and final states. So, the energy Eγ of the emitted γ photon is given as:
Eγ = Ei - Ef (1- 1)
Where, Ei and Ef are the excitation energies of the initial and final states of the gamma
emitting nucleus, respectively.
- Each γ photon is an electromagnetic wave (with zero rest mass) with an ultra-high
frequency f of a given value, which is, in its turn, a characteristic value for this disintegration.
60
- An example of gamma disintegration is the disintegration of 28 Ni * nucleus, which is
60
formed in the fourth excited state, as a result of the beta decay of the Co , with an excitation
27
energy equal to 2505 KeV, and then it disintegrates, promptly, to the first excited state with
an excitation energy equal to 1332 KeV, which, in its turn, disintegrates, promptly, to the
ground state with zero excitation energy. This means that the 28 60
Ni * emits two γ photons, one
with energy Eγ1 = 2505 – 1332 =1173 KeV, and the second with energy Eγ2 = 1332 – 0 =
1332 KeV. These two gamma ray photons are characteristic lines (i.e energies) for the
60 60 60
gamma disintegration of 28 Ni * , and hence for the decay of the 27 Co to 28 Ni * . So, the
7
detection of two gamma ray lines with energies 1173 and 1332 KeV is an indication that the
60
original radio-nuclide is 27 Co .
137
- Other example of gamma disintegration is the disintegration of 56 Ba * nucleus, which is
137
formed in an excited state, as a result of beta decay of the Cs , with an excitation energy
55
equal to 662 KeV, and then it disintegrates to the ground state with zero excitation energy. This
56 Ba * nucleus emits one γ photon with energy Eγ = 662 – 0 = 662 KeV.
means that the 137
137
This gamma ray photon is a characteristic line for the gamma disintegration of 56 Ba * , and
137 137
hence for the decay of the 55 Cs to 56 Ba * . So, the detection of one gamma ray line with
137
energy 662 KeV is an indication that the parent original radio-nuclide is 55 Cs .
192
- Another example of gamma disintegration is the disintegration of 78 Pt * nucleus, which is
formed in different excited states, as a result of beta decay of the 192 77 Ir , and then it
disintegrates, promptly, to lower energy states of platinum-192, or the disintegration of
192
76 Os * nucleus, which is formed in different excited states, as a result of the electron capture

by 192
77 Ir , and then it disintegrates, promptly, to lower energy states. This leads to that there
are more than 12 gamma ray lines emitted from the decay of excited platinum and osmium
obtained as the result of beta decay of iridium-192.
- Gamma ray photons emitted from a certain radionuclide are characterized by, so called,
discrete energy spectrum. This means that all photons emitted from that radionuclide will
have the same energy value, as in the case of Ba-137, where the energy of all emitted photons
is 662 KeV, or separated but fixed values, as in the case of Co-60 where photons are emitted
with two discrete energies, which are 1173 and 1332 KeV, or separated 12 fixed values, as
in the case of Ir-192. So, by measuring the energy value or values of gamma rays the
radionuclide can be, easily, identified. In other words, if photons with energy equal to 662
KeV (for example) are detected, then this means that the parent emitter is Cs-137, and if
photons with energies 1173 and 1332 KeV are detected it means that the parent emitter is Co-
60.
- It should be noticed, that in gamma disintegration, neither the atomic number Z nor the
mass number A change. This is expressed, symbolically, by the following gamma
disintegration:
60
28 Ni*28
60
Ni  1gamma(1173) KeV  1gamma(1332) KeV )
137
56 Ba*137
56 Ba  1gamma(662) KeV

- As mentioned, gamma emitters can be obtained as a result of alpha or beta decays, when the
daughter nuclei are formed in their excited states. Gamma emitters may be obtained, too, by
forming excited states of nuclides during different nuclear reactions. If the half-life time of
the excited states is, extremely, short then the gamma disintegration will be prompt. In case,
if the half-life time of the excited states is long, then this state is called metastable, and the
gamma disintegration occurs during relatively long time. An example of the metastable radio-
nuclides, which is widely used in medicine as a gamma emitter only, is technicium-99m
(Tc-99 m).
- It should be mentioned that in beta or alpha decay followed by gamma disintegration,
number of emitted gamma ray photons from the daughter excited nuclei may be less, equal
or larger than the number of beta or alpha particles emitted from the parent nuclei
during the same time period.
-Another quantity known as the relative intensity of a given gamma ray line, or the f value
for a given gamma ray line, or in other words number of photons with a given energy per
8
one alpha or beta decay may be equal 1 like in case of decay of Co-60, since for each beta
decay there is aproximatly, one photon emitted with energy 1173KeV and one other photon
emitted with energy 1332 KeV, so the f value for both of the two gamma ray lines is 1/1 = 1.
- However the relative intensity of a given gamma ray line, or the f value for a given gamma
ray line, or, in other words, number of photons with a given energy per one alpha or beta
decay may be less than 1 like in case of decay of Cs-137, since for each 1000 beta decays of
1000 Cs-137 atoms there are, only, 851 nuclei decaying to the first excited state of Ba*,
which will yield 851 photons with energy of 662 KeV, while the remaining 149 Cs-137
atoms are decaying to the ground state of Ba-137 and this decay will never lead to any
gamma emission. This means that the f value for the 662 KeV gamma ray line is equal to
851/1000 = 0.851 photon per decay.

1-5 X-rays:
- Based on the origin of x-ray there are two types of this ray which are bremstrahlung
and characteristic x-rays. The frequencies of these rays lay in the region from about 1x1017
up to about 1x1024 Hz and even higher. So, the x and gamma radiation are widely
overlapping with respect to their energies.
- An example of the bremstrahlung x-rays, is the x-rays which are emitted from x-ray tubes
as a result of acceleration of a beam of electrons by a voltage difference V, and then de-
accelerating (or braking) these electrons by high Z elements (e.g. in the electric field of the
orbital electrons or nuclei). These bremstrahlung rays are characterized by a continuous
energy spectrum, (e.g energies of the photons may vary from zero up to the maximum
energy of the accelerated electrons). With some approximation, the average energy of the
bremstrhlung x-ray photons may be considered equal to one third of the maximum energy of
the accelerated electrons.
- An example of the characteristic x-rays is these x-rays which are emitted as a result of the
transfer of some electrons from an orbit with higher energy to another one with a lower
energy, when there is an electron vacancy in the lower shell. Since electronic orbits have
definite discrete energy values for each element, there will be a characteristic x-ray
discrete spectrum for each element. This means that the characteristic x-ray will be
emitted from all atoms of the same element with the same definite energy values, which
are characteristic values for this element. These energy values are used to identify
elements which are emitting these x-ray lines.

1-6 Neutrons and their sources:

- As it has been mentioned, the neutron is a neutral particle (e.g. with total charge equal zero
and with rest mass, very slightly, higher than that of the proton mass. There are no naturally
occurring radionuclides that can emit neutrons. There is only one artificial (man-made)
radionuclide which can decay, partially, through alpha decay in 96.9% of cases, or it can be
subjected to the spontaneous fission with the emission of neutrons in 3.1% of cases. This is
the californium-252 (Cf-252, or 252 98 Cf ) which is considered as an alpha and neutron emitter
with a half-life time of 2.64 years.
- The most commonly used neutron sources in industrial and other applications are: the
americium-beryllium (Am241-Be9) source, the californium252 and the neutron generators.
The nuclear reactors are used as a very powerful neutron sources with a neutron density
ranging from 1013 up to 1018 neutrons per cm3. These reactors are used for energy production,
as well as for thermal neutron irradiation for production of different artificial radioisotopes.
- Neutrons emitted from all neutron sources, generators and even reactors are generated as
fast neutrons, and their energies varies from about 100 KeV up to 14.1 MeV.

9
The Americium-Beryllium neutron sources:
- The (Am241-Be9) neutron source is made by mixing a certain amount of a very fine powder
of americium-241 with a certain weight of a very fine powder of beryllium-9. The Am-241 or
( 241
95 Am ) is a source of alpha particle, which interacts with a beryllium nucleus and produces
a neutrons, in accordance with the following nuclear reaction:
4
2 He + 9
4 Be  12
6 C + 1
0 n

- This reaction is expressed as (, n) reaction on beryllium, where  denotes the projectile
alpha particle and n denotes the resultant neutron emitted in the reaction, while beryllium
denotes the target atom. Activity of about 0.25 Ci of Am-241 with one gram of Be-9
produces a neutron source, with a neutron yield of about 2.2x106 neutrons/second. Earlier,
Radium-226 or Po-210, where used (as alpha emitters) with Be-9. However, the production
of such sources has been stopped due to the explosion hazards of Ra-226 or relatively short
half life time of Po-210. In all alpha beryllium neutron sources, fast neutrons are emitted
with energies varying between some tenths of KeV and about 9.5 MeV

1-6-2 The californium-252:

- Californium-252, which is an isotopic neutron sources, is produced in nuclear reactors as a

6
byproduct. 1 microgram (1 μg) of this 25298 Cf yields about 2.3x10 fast neutrons per second.
Neutron sources with different yields (up to 100 milligrams, e.g. 2.3x1011 neutrons/second)
are available in the international market. Energies of the emitted neutrons from this source
vary from some tenths of KeV up to about 9.5 MeV.

1-6-3 The Photo-neutron source:

- In this type of neutron sources a gamma source which can emit gamma photons with energy
higher than 2.76 MeV is used to interact with beryllium-9 nucleus and split it to two He-4
atoms and a neutron according to the following photonuclear reaction:
γ+ 9
4 Be  2 24 He + n
which is known, symbolically, as (γ, n) reaction on beryllium.
- The most commonly used gamma emitter in the photo-neutron sources is sodium-24 (Na-
24), which emits gamma photons with energy of 2.76 MeV. The fast neutrons emitted from
this source are characterized by a mono-energetic value (e.g. all emitted neutrons will
have the same energy) instead of the continuous energy spectrum which is obtained
from all alpha-beryllium sources or Californium-252 sources.

1-6-4 The neutron generators:

- These devices are small accelerators in which deuterons (denoted as, 12 H or 12 D , which are
nuclei of the second isotope of the hydrogen known as deterium) are accelerated using a
potential difference of 150 (KV), to gain deutron‟s energy of 150 KeV, and then they collide
a tritium (denoted as 13 H or 31T ) target (tritium is another isotope of the hydrogen) to yield an
alpha particle and a fast neutron in accordance with the following nuclear reaction:
2
1 D + 31T  4
2 He + 1
0 n
which is known as (deuteron, neutron) reaction on tritium, and which can be written as
(d, n) reaction on tritium.

10
- The neutrons are emitted from this reaction with a fixed energy value of 14.1 MeV.
Neutron generators of this type are produced with different neutron yields, varying from
about 107 up to 1012 fast neutrons/second.

1-6=6 The nuclear reactors:

The nuclear reactor is a facility in which neutrons are obtained as a result of the nuclear
fission of U-236 or Pu-240 formed as a result of a capture of a thermal neutron by a fissile
material, such as U-235 or Pu-239, respectively, in sustained chain reactions. The emitted
neutrons from the nuclear fission are, also fast neutrons. However, they are moderated
(slowed down, or thermalized ) to thermal neutrons by a moderator, which, usually, is light or
heavy water, graphite, or other light elements. Most of the reactors used for different
applications are operated with thermal neutrons. The neutron density in the reactor core
varies from about 1013 up to 1018 neutrons/cm3, depending on the reactor power.

1-7 Calculation of the source activity A:

- The activity A (in decays per second) of a certain radioactive source or sample is
defined as the number of decays which occur, in first generation, in this source or
sample in one second. If the source contains, at a certain moment, N atoms of a certain type
of a radio-isotope, and if the probability for a single atom of this radioisotope, to decay per
second is λ (per second) then the activity of this source is equal λ N decays/second: e.g:
A=λ N (1-2)

1-8 Specific activity:

- The specific activity is the activity of a sample per unit mass, unit volume, unit area, or unit
length. It represents the amount of activity (or concentration of a radioisotope) existing in any
of these massive, volumetric, surface or line samples or species.

1-9 Decay (or disintegration) constant λ:

- The decay constant λ of a radionuclide is defined as the probability for a single atom of this
radionuclide to decay per second and its unit in SI system of units is (1/s) i,e s-1.

1-10 Units of Activity, the Becquerel and the Curie:

- In the SI system of units the activity A is measured in Becquerel (Bq), which is one decay
(disintegration) per second. So, in a sample with activity of 15 Bq, 15 decays occur per
second from the parent radio-nuclide to the daughter one (i.e in first generation of decay).
- In the classic system of units source’s activity is expressed in Curie (Ci). One Ci was
defined as the activity of one gram of pure radium-226. Later, it has been determined that one
Ci is equal to 3.7 x 1010 decays/second. So, the relation between the Ci and the Bq is:
1 Ci = 3.7 x 1010 Bq
- The SI units of the specific activities are:
Bq/Kg for massive species, such as food, soil and other samples
Bq/m3 for volumetric samples, such as air, water and other samples
Bq/m2 for surface samples such as surface contamination.
Bq/m for line samples such as a long pipes or rods.
- In other systems of units the specific activity may be expressed in Curies/gm, Bq/liter,
Ci/m3, Ci/cm2, Ci/cm, or many other units. One should be able to transfer from these units to
those of the SI system and vice verse.

11
1-11 Physical half-life time T1/2:
- The physical half-life time Tp1/2 of a radio-nuclide, or simply the half-life time T1/2 is defined
as the time period during which one half of the total number of atoms of the sample of that
radio-nuclide decays (disintegrates) and the other half remains without decay (disintegration).
So, if (for example) T1/2 of a certain radio-nuclide is 5.27 years, and if at a certain moment we
have a sample of that nuclide containing 4000 radioactive atoms, then during 5.27 years 2000
atoms decay and the other 2000 remain without decay. During the second 5.27 years one half
of the remaining 2000 atoms decay (e.g 1000 atoms decay and the other 1000 remain without
decay). During the third 5.27 years 500 atoms, from the remaining 1000 atoms decay and the
other 500 remain without decay, etc.

1-12 Biological and effective half-life times:

- When a human being is ingesting or inhaling, or injected by any radioactive isotope (or
radionuclide), then the amount of the radionuclide in his body will be reduced as a function
of time, due to two different effects, which are:
a) The physical decay of the radionuclide, with the physical half-life time Tp1/2, which is not
affected by any physical, chemical or biological factors.
b) The different biological excretion processes, such as urine and other excreta, with
biological have life-time Tb1/2
- The biological half-life time Tb1/2 is defined as the time period during which one half of
the total number of that ingested, inhaled or injected radio-nuclide will be excreted out from
the human body, through all excretion processes, and the other half remains inside the body.
It should be mentioned that although the Tb1/2 is considered constant, it may vary in limited
way, from man to other, depending on the human dietary food habits.
- The effective half-life time Te1/2 is defined as the time period during which one half of the
total number of that ingested, inhaled or injected radio-nuclide will be decayed and excreted
out from the human body, through both the physical decay process and all excretion
processes, and the other half will remain inside the body without decay. The effective half-
life time Te1/2 is related with both the physical half-life time Tp1/2 and the biological half-life
time Tb1/2 by the following simple relation:
(1/ Te1/2) = (1/Tp1/2) + (1/Tb1/2) (1- 3)

1-13 Radioactive decay law:

- This law relates the number of remaining atom without decay N with respect to its initial
number N0 as a function of the consumed time period t. This relation is expressed,
mathematically, as:
N = N0 e – λ t (1- 4)
- The same law is used to express the exponential decrease of a sample activity A with
respect to its reference activity A0 at a certain reference moment t = 0, as a function of the
consumed time period t. It is expressed, mathematically in the following form:
A = A0 e – λ t (1-4)

1-14 Relation between decay constant λ and the half- life time T1/2:

- Using the radioactive decay law and the definition of the half-life time T1/2 it is easy to
show that the decay constant λ is related with the half-life time T1/2 by the following simple
relation:
λ = ln2 / T1/2 = 0.693147 / T1L2 (1- 5)

12
- The biological decay constant λb is related with the biological half-life time Tb1/2 with a
similar relation e.g:
λb = 0.693147 / Tb1/2 ≈ 0.693147 / Tb1/2
and the effective decay constant λe is, also, related with the effective half-life time Te1/2 with
a relation of the same form:
λe = 0.693147 / Te1/2 ≈ 0.693/ Te1/2
- The effective decay constant λe is related with the physical decay constant λp and the
biological decay constant λb as:
λe = λp + λb (1-6)

1-15 Some important multipliers

Subscripts Notation The multiplier

1 deci 1d 1 x 10-1
1centi 1c 1 x 10-2
1 milli 1m 1 x 10-3
1 micro 1μ 1 x 10-6
1 nano 1n 1 x 10-9
1 pico 1p 1 x 10-12
1 femto 1f 1 x 10-15
Superscripts
1 Deco 1D 1 x 101
1 Hekto 1H 1 x 102
1 Kilo 1K 1 x 103
1 Mega 1M 1 x 106
1 Gega 1G 1 x 109
1 Tera 1T 1 x 1012
1 Exa 1E 1 x 1015

13
1-16 Questions for revision:
a) The number of atoms in 0.01 gram of pure Co-60 in metallic form is: (Answer is 1x1020
atoms).
b) If the half-life time of the Co-60 is 5.27 years then the activity of 0.01 gram of this cobalt
is: (Answer is 11.26 Ci)
c) The activity of an Iodine-131 sample with a half-life time 8 days at the moment of
preparation is 30 mCi then its activity after 25 days is: (Answer is 3.44 mCi)
d) Beta particles are:
e) Gamma radiation is defined as ………….. and is characterized with ….:
f) Bremstrahlung x-ray is generated as a result of …………..:
g) Neutrons from the Am-Be sources are produced as ………:
h) Neutrons from different sources and generators are emitted as ……… Neutrons.
i) The activity of a sample is defined as:
j) The decay constant of a radionuclide is defined as:
k) The half-life time of a radionuclide is defined as:
l) The specific activity of a volumetric sample is defined as:
m) The unit of activity in the SI system of units is ………. Which means ……… .
n) The SI unit of a surface contamination is measured in …….. .

14
 CHAPTER 2

INTERACTION OF RADIATION WITH MATTER

2-1 Introduction:
From the view point of interaction between particles or radiation and matter for the purpose
of radiation protection, particles and radiation are divided into four different groups. These
are:
a- Heavy charged particles, such as alpha particles, deuterons, protons, and heavy ions;
b- Light charged particles, such as beta particles or electrons.
c- Electromagnetic radiations, such as x-ray and gamma radiation.
d- Neutral particles such as neutrons.

2-2 Interaction of heavy charged particles, with a matter:

- When a parallel beam of heavy charged particles, such as α (alpha) particles or protons is
incident on a matter, these particles interact, for radiation protection purpose, mainly, with
the orbital electrons of the atoms, which form this matter, through the Coulomb forces that
arise between the charge of the incident particle and the charge of each orbital electron. The
interaction between the incident particles and the atomic nuclei of the matter is, too, limited,
from the point of view of radiation protection. This Coulomb interaction (due to Coulomb
force between the incident heavy charged particle and the orbital electrons) results in
transferring a portion of the energy from the incident particle to the orbital electrons. If the
transferred energy is relatively low (within some electron Volts eV), then the affected
electron can be removed from its orbit to another one in the same atom, but with a higher
orbital energy, in a process called "excitation". If the transferred energy is relatively large,
then the affected electron will be kicked out from its mother atom, in a process called
"ionization", where the electron (with its negative charge) becomes free and the atom
becomes ionized with a positive charge, e.g. it becomes a positive ion. In other words the
energy transfer will lead to formation of the so called electron-ion pair. In case, if the
transferred energy to one electron is larger enough (within some hundreds of eV) then this
kicked electron, in its turn, may, also, ionize a neutral atom or molecule forming a new
electron-ion pair or pairs. In this case the kicked electron is called delta () electron. The
delta electrons represent about 30 % of the total number of free electrons. The main
properties of the interaction between heavy charged particles and matter can be summarized
in the following:
- The main processes by which alpha particles with relatively low energies (from 4 up to 8
MeV) transfer their energy to the matter is the ionization and excitation.
- The track of any heavy charged particle in the matter is a straight line (due to the large mass
of the incident heavy charged particle with respect to the electron mass).
- The amount of energy which is transferred from the incident heavy charged particle to the
primary electron is in relatively small portions. This means that the energy of the incident
heavy charged particle is reduced gradually as it penetrates through the matter. At the end of
the track, the alpha particle will capture two electrons from the neighboring atoms forming an
inert atom of helium- 4.
- The average energy w, which is required to form one electron-ion pair in air, human
tissue, or water is w = 34 eV, so that, the average number of electron-ion pairs formed in the
whole range of one alpha particles with energy 5.1 MeV is:
5100000 eV/ 34 eV = 150000 electron-ion pairs.
- Different particles with the same incident energy will have slightly different rang inside the
matter. This effect is called :straggling". So, that the range of 5 MeV alpha particles is about
15
35- 40 mm in air at standard temperature and pressure, and about 30- 35 micrometers in
water or human tissues.
- The specific ionization s of alpha particles is defined as the number of electron-ion pairs,
formed in 1 mm of the alpha particle track. This specific ionization varies from about 2000
electron- ion pairs/mm at the beginning of the track (when the energy of α particles is about
5000 KeV to more than 6000 pairs/mm at the end of the track. Fig. (2-1) shows the variation
of s as a function of penetration distance in the air. This curve is known as Bragg-Gray curve
for specific ionization.
- The stopping power (dE/dx) of alpha particles in a matter, which is defined as the amount
of energy transferred from an alpha particle to the interacting matter per unit length of the
track is given as the product of the average energy w needed to produce one electron-ion
pair by the specific ionization s, e.g:
dE/dx = w . s (MeV/mm) (2-1)

Fig. (2-1): Dependence of the specific ionization s of alpha particles

on the depth x in the stopping material.
- One can conclude that while a parallel beam of mono-energetic α particles are penetrating
through a matter their energy is decreased, gradually, while their number remains
constant up to just before the end of the track, where they are converted into inert helium
gas atoms.

2-3 Interaction of beta particles with matter:

- Beta particles, which are electrons or positrons emitted from the nucleus, in beta negative or
positive decay of some radio-nuclides, are much lighter than alpha particles by a factor of
about 7350 times. So, the speed of beta particles is higher than that of alpha particles with the
same energy by a factor of about 86 times. So, the speed of beta particles, with 1 MeV maximum
energy is close to the speed of light (which is 3x108 m/s). These high speed of beta particles
together with their small mass lead to that they may loose a considerable part of their energy
not only through ionization and excitation of atoms or molecules, but also by completely
different mechanism, due to the very high de-acceleration of these particles near orbital
electrons or atomic nuclei of the atoms of the matter. This mechanism is the emission of
electromagnetic radiation known as (x-ray).
- As the velocities of the beta particles are very high, comparing with alpha particles with the
same energies, the interaction time between the incident beta particle and the orbital electrons
or nuclei of the atoms is very small, in comparison with the interaction time of an alpha
particle. Moreover, the beta particle and orbital electrons are of the same mass. So, all these

16
factors strongly affect the character of interaction between beta particles and matter. The
main discrepancies between beta and alpha interaction with matter can be summarized in the
following:
- Beta particles transfer their energy to the matter via two mechanisms which are:
a- Ionization & excitation and,
b- Emission of bremstrahlung radiation.
- At comparatively low energy of  particles (up to some hundreds KeV) the main process
for energy loss is the ionization and excitation. As the energy of these particles increases
the contribution of emission of bremstrahlung radiation increases and at very high energies,
this contribution becomes the predominant process of energy loss of beta particles in a mater.
- Moreover, the role of emission of bremstrahlung radiation is strongly dependent on the
atomic number Z of the interacting matter, where it increases with the increase of Z. For this
reason high Z material should not be used for shielding  sources. The best material, that
can be used to shield  sources are the light solid material, such as plastic, plexglass, or
aluminum to reduce the emission of bremstrahlung radiation (x-ray).
- The energy percentage f of beta particles, which is lost via the emission of bremstrahlung
radiation as a function of both beta particles maximum energy Emax (in MeV) and the atomic
number Z of the interacting material is determined as:
f = 0.035 Emax Z % (2- 2)
- The track of beta particles in a matter takes the form of a broken line (fig. 2-2) due to the
similar masses of the two interacting particles.
- The energy transferred from the incident beta particle to the orbital electron in a single
collision varies from a very low portion of the  particle energy up be very high portion of
this energy, so that the complete energy of the incident particle may be transferred in a single
collision. This means that the delta electrons are predominant in  interaction with matter.

Fig. (2-2): The broken track of  particles in the material

- The specific ionization s in beta interaction is much less than that for alpha interaction (by a
factor of more than one hundred times due to the smaller interaction time). So the range of
beta particles is much larger than that of alpha particles with the same energy in the same
matter. The range of  particles with a maximum energy of 1 MeV is about 5- 6 m in air, 6- 8
mm in water, plastic or human tissue, and about 2 mm in aluminum.
- Both  particles (e.g. the electron and the positron) behave in the matter in accordance with
the previously mentioned two mechanisms, although they have different sign of the charge.
However, there is an essential difference between the two particles at the end of their tracks.
When the energy of the positron becomes very low, it annihilates with one of the electrons
of the matter, where they completely vanishes as two masses, and these two masses are
converted into electromagnetic energy in the form of two photons, each with energy of 511
KeV. This last process is known as the annihilation process and the two photons with 511
KeV are called annihilation photons.

17
- It is important to conclude that while a parallel beam of β particles are penetrating a matter,
not only their energies are decreased as a function of depth in the matter, but also their
number will be decreased, due to two facts which are:
(a) The continuous energy spectrum of β particles, so that low energy particles will lose their
energy through, relatively, a very thin layer of the matter, while high energy particles can
penetrate to much higher depth,
(b) A large number of β particles will be deflected from their initial direction due to their
broken track. Due to these factors, the number of β particles which penetrate a certain
thickness x of a matter is decreased exponentially, in accordance with the following (2- 3)
exponential relation:
N = N0 e – μ x (2- 3)
Where N is the number of particles penetrating the absorber with a thickness x, and reaching
a certain point, N0 is the number of particles reaching the same point in the absence of the
absorber, and μ is the attenuation factor. This factor is strongly dependent on both atomic
number Z of the absorber and the maximum energy Emax of the  particle‟s spectrum.

2-4 Interaction of x-ray and gamma radiation with matter:

- When a beam of x-ray or mono-energetic gamma radiation fall on a matter, each photon of
its photons may interact with this matter via one of the following three mechanisms,
depending on the photon energy E & atomic number Z of the interacting matter, which are:
a- The photo-electric effect,
b- Compton scattering, and
c- The pair production.

2-4-1 Photoelectric effect

- In this process, the incident photon interacts with one of the strongly bound orbital
electrons of the atom (e.g. with any of electrons belonging, mainly, to K, or with very low
probability with electrons belonging to L shells, which are the closest shells to the atomic
nucleus). In this type of interaction the photon delivers, completely, its total energy Eγ to the
orbital electron and completely vanishes, and correspondingly, the electron will be knocked
out from the atom, carrying an amount of energy Ee equal to:
Ee = Eγ – B (2- 4)
Where, B is the binding energy of the electron in the corresponding shell, defined as the
amount of energy that should be delivered to the electron just enough to liberate it from this
shell. If Eγ < B, then the process will not occur. Correspondingly, the photo-electric effect
will yield one electron which carries, approximately, the energy of the incident photon.
- The cross- section σph (sigma) of the photoelectric effect, which is defined as the
probability of occurrence of this effect, when a single photon is, perpendicularly, incident on
a unit area (1 cm2) containing a single atom, strongly depends on the photon energy Eγ as
well as on the atomic number of the interacting matter Z. This probability σph decreases very
fast with increasing the photon energy Eγ, while it increases very rapidly with increasing Z,
as Z5 and in few cases as Z4. The unit of σph is the barn (1 barn = 10-24 cm2).
- Dependence of the photoelectric cross section σph on photon energy Eγ is shown on figure
(2-3) where both σph and the photon energy Eγ are expressed in a logarithmic scale.

18
 ln σph
K-edge

ln Eγ
Fig. (2-3): Dependence of the photoelectric cross section on Eγ

2-4-2 Compton scattering:

- In this process, the incident photon interacts, only, with one of the very loosely bound
orbital electrons of the atom, or with a free electron (e.g. with any of electrons belonging
to the outermost shells, which are far away from the nucleus). In this type of interaction the
photon delivers a part of its energy Eγ to the electron and the photon well be deviated
(scattered) from its original direction, carrying the remaining amount of energy.
Correspondingly, the Compton scattering of a photon will yield a scattered photon with a
lower energy and a free Compton electron, which carries the remaining amount of
energy.
- The cross-section σc of Compton scattering, which indicates the probability of occurrence of
Compton scattering decreases slowly with increasing of the photon energy Eγ (fig 2- 4),
while it depends linearly on the atomic number Z of the interacting matter.
lnσc

ln Eγ

Fig: (2-4): Dependence of the Compton cross section on Eγ

2-4-3 The Pair production

- In this process, the incident photon interacts with the strong electric field of the atomic
nucleus, when approaching it very closely, but outside the nucleus (e.g. interaction between
the incident photon and the atomic nucleus), and if the photon energy is higher than 1022
KeV. In this type of interaction the photon vanishes, completely, and one electron-positron
pair with two rest masses equivalent to 1022 KeV is produced. If the energy of the incident
photon Eγ is higher than 1022 KeV, then the excess energy is delivered to the produced
electron and positron, in approximately equal portions. So, the pair production will yield
two particles which are the electron and its antiparticle which is the positron.
- The electron and the positron behave inside the interacting matter in the same way as beta
particles, e.g. they lose their energy on ionization and excitation of the atoms or molecules of
this matter as will as on emission of x- ray, depending on the atomic number of the atoms of
the absorbing matter. When its energy becomes very low each positron annihilates with one
of the orbital electrons, (e.g. this positron and electron vanish as two masses converting into
two photons, each with energy of 511 KeV). These two photons may interact with matter via
photoelectric effect, Compton scattering, or they may escape out from the matter without
19
interaction, in a process known as a double escape, or one photon may interact while the
other may escape in a process known as a single escape.
- The cross section σp of the pair production process increases with the increase of the photon
energy. This increase is relatively slow after the threshold value which is 1022 KeV, and
becomes fast with increasing the energy (fig. 2- 5). This probability σp depends on the atomic
number of the interacting matter as Z2.
lnσp

1022 KeV ln E γ
Fig: (2- 5): Dependence of the pair production cross section on Eγ
- Due to the formation of energetic electrons and positrons, resulting from the three processes
of interaction between gamma radiation or x-rays and the matter these radiation, are known
as indirectly ionizing radiation.
2-4-4 Total gamma cross section σ:
- The total gamma cross-section σ is defined as the total probability for a single incident
photon to interact with a single atom existing in a target of 1 cm2 area when it collides this
area, perpendicularly, via any of the three processes, e.g:
ln σ

σph

σp

σc

1022 KeV ln Eγ
Fig: (2- 6): Dependence of the relative partial cross sections on E γ
σ = σph + σc + σp (2- 5)
- The unit of the partial cross sections or total cross section σ is the barn (1 barn = 10-24 cm2).
These partial and relative cross sections are represented in fig (2- 6).

2-4-5 The linear attenuation coefficient μ:

- By definition, the linear attenuation coefficient μ for a certain matter with atomic number Z
and at a certain photon energy E γ, is defined as the probability of the interaction of a single
photon with this energy with all atoms existing in a cube of 1 cm3 (1 cm2 area and 1 cm
depth) of this matter, on which it falls, perpendicularly, by all the three processes. So, if the
number of atoms in 1 cm3 is n, and the total interaction cross-section is σ, then it is clear that
μ is:
μ = nσ (2- 6)

20
- The unit of the linear attenuation coefficient μ is cm-1 (e.g. per cm). It is also clear from the
behavior of σ as a function of the photon energy that μ depends strongly on both the atomic
number Z of the interacting material and, strongly depends on the photon energy Eγ.

2-4-6 Mass attenuation coefficient μm

- In different references another physical quantity, known as the mass attenuation coefficient
μm, is used instead of the linear attenuation coefficient μ. This new quantity μm is defined by
dividing the linear attenuation coefficient μ by the density ρ of the attenuator, e.g:
m = μ/ρ (2- 7)
- It is seen that the unit of the mass attenuation coefficient μm is (cm2/gm). The reason for
using μm instead of μ is that its value is considered, approximately, constant for different
attenuating materials, for the same photon energy.

The exponential attenuation of x and gamma radiation:

- When a very narrow and parallel beam of mono-energetic x or gamma radiation falls on
a matter of thickness x cm, a part of the incident number of photons No from this beam will
interact with the matter via any of the three known processes, resulting in the reduction of the
number of incident photons as a function of the thickness x of the matter. Number of the
photons N, which will be transmitted behind this thickness x without any interaction with the
matter and which will proceed in the same direction and do not loose any part of their
energies, is expressed, mathematically, by the following exponential law:
N = No e - μ x (2- 8)
- In other words, if there is a beam of mono-energetic parallel and narrow gamma photons
composed of No photons arriving to a certain point per second without any barrier, this
number will be attenuated (reduced) by the barrier of thickness x to N defined by the previous
relation.
- The exponential attenuation (e.g. exponential reduction of the number of photons) is valid
when specific conditions are applied. These conditions are:
a) A very narrow beam consisting of parallel mono-energetic photons.
b) A very small thickness x of the attenuator, so that, multiple Compton scattering is
negligible.
- In all other cases this exponential law is not valid due to Compton scattering of photons
from the broad beam as well as the multiple Compton scattering of some photons due to the
thick layer of the attenuator as well as due to pair production effect. This will be discussed, in
details, in chapter (8).
- If the linear attenuation coefficient μ is used (in cm-1) then the thickness x of the attenuator
should be expressed in linear thickness which is (cm), to get non-dimensional value of the
product μx. However, when the mass attenuation coefficient μm is used (in cm2/gm), then the
thickness of the attenuator should be expressed in the so called mass-thickness xm, which is
obtained as the product of the linear thickness x of the attenuator and its density ρ, e.g:
xm = x ρ (2-9)
- The unit of the mass-thickness xm is (gram/cm2).
- The exponential attenuation of x-ray and gamma radiation makes the concept of the range
for this type of electromagnetic radiation is not valid. A definite portion of the incident beam
will penetrate through the attenuating matter, even when its thickness is too large. For
example, if a Co-60 source is shielded (surrounded) by more than 3 m thick concrete
wall some emitted photons from this cobalt will penetrate through this shield, with the
same incident energy without suffering any kind of interaction.
21
2-4-8 The half value layer (HVL)
- The half value layer (HVL), or thickness, of a specific matter at a certain gamma ray
energy, is defined as the thickness of this matter, which is necessary to attenuate the original
number of the incident photons No, with this energy, to its half value ( e.g. to N = 1/2 No). In
other words, the HVL (or x1/2) is defined as the thickness of a matter which will attenuate 50
% of the number of the incident photons and transmit behind the barrier the other 50 %.
- The HVL is related with the linear attenuation coefficient μ with the relation:
HVL = ln2 / μ (2-10)
- Since μ is dependent on the gamma ray energy E and the atomic number of the material of
the attenuator Z, the HVL is also dependent on these two factors.
- The unit of the HVL is cm when the μ is expressed in cm-1, and its unit is (gm/cm2), when μ
is expressed in (cm2/gm).
2-4-9 Tenth Value Layer (TVL)
- The Tenth value layer (TVL), or Tenth value thickness, of a matter at a certain gamma
energy, is defined as the thickness of a barrier of that matter which is necessary to attenuate
90 % of the original number of the incident photons No, and transmit behind the barrier the
remaining 10 % (e.g. to N = 1/10 No). The TVL has the same units as the HVL, and it is
related with last value with the following relation:
TVL = 3.32 HVL (2- 11)
2-4-9 Energy absorption coefficient μa
- The energy absorption coefficient represents the portion of energy absorbed from x-ray or
gamma radiation in a definite volume of the matter. This coefficient is used to account for the
so called "kerma" or absorbed dose from x or gamma radiation into the interacting matter,
(e.g. in dose calculations). It should be mentioned that authors of some references are using,
by fault, this coefficient to express the attenuation coefficient μ. These Two coefficient (μa
and μ, both linear or mass) have different values, specially at medium and high photon
energies, and should not replace each other, except at very low photon energies (less than
some hundreds of KeV) where they are very close to each other, since the main mechanism
of interaction in this energy region is the photoelectric effect.
- The reason of the discrepancy between μa and μ is the Compton scattering and the pair
production. In Compton scattering the photon is deviated from its original direction,
transferring only undefined part of its energy to the matter, and the scattered photon may
escape out from this matter, so that it has been omitted out from the beam and it does not
transfer its complete energy to the matter. In the pair production the energy may not be
transferred, completely, to the matter, since one or even the two photons, resulting from the
annihilation of the positron with one electron may escape out of the matter.
- Due to the above mentioned reasons μ is almost higher than μa, specially, with increasing
the photon energy.
2-5 Interaction of neutrons with the matter:
- Since the neutrons are neutral particles (e.g. uncharged particles), they do not interact
neither with any of the orbital electrons nor electro-statically with the atomic nuclei. They
may interact only with nuclei via nuclear forces, when they approach, very closely, any of
nuclei. This is the reason of the high penetrating power of neutrons in the matter.
- The most important and efficient mean for energy transfer from neutrons to the matter is the
elastic scattering of the neutron on light nuclei, such as hydrogen (in wax, water,
polyethylene, or plastic), deuterium (in heavy water), beryllium, carbon, and oxygen. With

22
decreasing the mass number of the interacting nucleus, the average energy, transferred from
the neutron to this nucleus, in a single collision, increases. For this reason the hydrogen
nuclei, (which are protons) are considered the best moderator for neutrons, and the materials
which contain high concentration of hydrogen, such as wax, water, Polyethylene, and plastic
are extensively used for effective slowing down of the fast neutrons. In a single collision with
a hydrogen nucleus (protons), the fast neutron looses, in average, 63 % of its energy. This
portion of energy is transferred to a proton, which is the hydrogen nucleus in each collision.
- Since the recoil protons are heavy charged particles, they ionize the matter. So, the neutrons
are, also, considered as indirectly ionizing particles.

2-5-1 Neutron moderation

- Neutron moderation means the slowing down of fast neutrons (e.g. decreasing their
energies from the MeV range to about 0.025 eV. Neutrons with such low energies are called
thermal neutrons, since their motion is controlled by the prevailing temperature.
- For slowing down of the fast neutrons (with energy of about several MeV) to thermal
neutrons, these neutrons should be subjected, in average, to about 18-19 collisions with
hydrogen nuclei (protons). This number of collisions requires a thickness of a solid hydrogen
rich material, such as wax or water of about 18- 22 cm.
- The thickness of the wax or water may be increased over the mentioned values for radiation
protection purposes, since these materials can absorb thermal neutrons with a certain limitted
probability forming deuterium atoms which are stable.
- The role of inelastic scattering of neutrons for neutron moderation is negligible at low Z
materials.

2-5-2 Neutron radiative capture

- When a thermal or a slow neutron approach, very closely, to a nucleus it may be captured in
it, forming a new isotope of the same element, with the emission of a prompt gamma photon.
Example of the neutron radiative capture reactions are:
1
o n + 11 p  12 D + γ
1
o n + 27Co 
59 60
27 Co + γ
1
o n + 114
48 Cd  115
48 Cd + γ
1
o n + 130
53 I  131
53I + γ
1
o n + 191
77 Ir  192
77 Ir + γ
- The probability of the neutron capture is strongly dependent on the neutron energy. The
capture cross-section  (which represents the probability of the neutron capture) increases
strongly with the decrease of the neutron energy, reaching very high values for thermal and
slow neutrons (the slow neutrons are those with energies just higher than that of thermal
neutrons). Moreover, at certain energy values for the slow and thermal neutrons, and for
some nuclides the probability of the neutron capture reaches very high values, known as a
resonance neutron capture or absorption. The energy values at which the resonance neutron
capture occurs depend on the absorbing nuclide. For example, for 114 48 Cd , it has been found

that the resonance capture occurs at thermal and low energies, and the capture probability 
at resonance reaches extremely high values. For this reason, 114 48 Cd is considered one of the
best absorber for thermal and slow neutrons, and it is used for control of the reactor power.
- One of the most effective methods for shielding a neutron source and to reduce effective
doses around it is to put three layers of different materials in the following consequence from
the source:
23
a) About 20 cm layer of wax, plastic or any other solid (or liquid) material, rich with
hydrogen content to moderate fast neutrons and to convert them slow neutrons, then
b) A thin sheet of 114
48 Cd (with about 1 mm thickness) to absorb thermal and slow neutrons,
and finally,
c) A certain thickness of lead to attenuate the prompt gamma radiation emitted in the neutron
radiative capture in 114
48 Cd .
- There are other materials that can be used, practically, to reduce the neutron doses arising
from different neutron sources, by moderation and then absorption of these neutrons, such as
water (normal or light water), boron and others
- In the absence of all mentioned materials one can use other commonly existing materials in
the field, such as the sand and other types of soil to protect people from fast neutrons.
Although their shielding properties is, too, limited in comparison with other materials, a large
thickness of these sand or soil material may reduce neutron doses to lesser values due to the
presence of some light elements such as oxygen and carbon.

24
2-6 Questions for revision:

a) The range of 5 MeV particles in air is about ……. .

b) The specific ionization of charged particles is defined as:
c) The stopping power of heavy charged particles is defined as:
d) Heavy charged particles are interacting with matter via:
e) 5.1 MeV α particles produce in air about ……. Electron-ion pair.
f) Beta particles interact with matter via:
g) The photoelectric effect occurs on ……. And yields …….. .
h) The Compton scattering occurs on ……. And yields …….. .
i) The Pair production occurs on ……. And yields …….. .
j) The linear attenuation factor of γ ray depends on …….. .
k) The half- value layer of a matter is defined as ……… .
l) The tenth- value layer of a matter is defined as …….. .

25
 CHAPTER 3

RADIATION DETECTORS, SURVEY METERS

AND CONTAMINATION MONITORS
3-1 General:
- The main two processes which are used for detection of different types of ionizing radiation
are based on the use of:
a) Ionization of the detector material and formation of electron-ion pairs, or electron-hole
pairs, and collection of these charges or their current.
b) Excitation of the detector material and then measurement of the light photons emitted as a
result of de-excitation process, and collection of this light photons and measurement of their
quantity or current.
- There are other processes, which are used for detection and counting of ionizing radiation.
For example, one of these processes is the use of activation of certain nuclides by irradiation
of certain stable isotopes by neutrons and then measurement of the induced activity due to the
neutron capture.
- The factors which affect the choice of the detector type for identifying and counting of the
ionizing radiation depend strongly on:
a) The type of radiation (e.g. heavy or light charged particles, neutrons, x or gamma radiation.
b) The energy of the measured particles or photons.
c) The intensity of the radiation field (e.g. the particle or photon flounce).
d) The purpose of detection and measurement.

3-2 The gas detectors:

- In all gas detectors, detection of directly and indirectly ionizing radiation is done through
the ionization of some mixture of gases contained in a vessel with a certain shape and
volume.
- For directly ionizing radiation, such as heavy charged particles or beta particles, the
ionization of the gas atoms or molecules occurs inside the detector vessel. The average
number of the, primary, resulting electron-ion pairs in the detector is defined by dividing the
particle energy (in eV) by 34 eV, which is the average energy needed to produce one
electron-ion pair in air, water or human tissue. For detection of heavy charged particles (such
as alpha), the detector wall should be equipped with a very thin window of low Z material
(less than about 30 gm/cm2 of this material) to permit the entrance of these particles inside
the detector, without loosing a considerable part of their energies in this window. For the
detection of beta particles, the window can be done from a thicker material, since the range of
these particles is much higher than that of alpha particles.
- For the indirectly ionizing radiation, namely x-ray and gamma radiation, ionization of the
detector’s gas is done by the primary charged electrons and positrons, emitted as a result of
the interaction of the incident photons with a very thin layer of a high z material, such as lead,
fixed inside the wall of the detector. For detection of x-ray and gamma photons, there is no
need to make a window in the detector wall due to the very high penetrability of photons.
- For neutrons, which are, also, indirectly ionizing radiation, the ionization is done by charged
particles such as protons emitted as a result of the elastic scattering of the incident fast
neutrons with hydrogen nuclei existing in a very thin layer of polyethylene fixed inside the
detector wall, or by alpha particles, which are emitted as a result of the neutron capture of
thermal neutrons in a certain gas material, which is filling the detector, with high reaction
cross-section, such as BF3 gas (Boron tri-Fluoride), He-3 or others. Due to the high
penetrability of the neutrons, there is no need to make any window in neutron detectors.
- There are three types of gas detectors which are:
a) The ionization chamber,
b) The proportional counter, and
c) The Geiger- Muller (GM) counter.
26
- For all types of gas detectors, the intrinsic detection efficiency  (Greck letter abselon) is
100 % only for all heavy charged particles. For beta particles the detector intrinsic efficiency
is slightly less than 100 %, due to the continuous energy spectrum of beta particles, so that a
part of the low energy particles will be absorbed inside the window‟s thickness. The intrinsic
efficiency of all gas detectors for measuring photons or neutrons is, extremely, low and it is
strongly dependent on their energies. For example the intrinsic efficiency  of these detectors
for photons may vary from a fraction of one % (for example 0.1 %) up to some percents.
- the intrinsic efficiency  of a detector, for a certain type of indirectly ionizing radiation at a
certain energy, is defined as the ratio of the number of photons or neutrons detected by the
detector from a given source, in a certain time period to the total number of these photons or
neutrons, incident from the source on the detector surface, during the same time period. To
get the efficiency in percent this ratio should be multiplied by 100. For example, if the
intrinsic detector efficiency for photons with 662 KeV energy is 3 % then this detector will
detect, only, 3 % of photons incident on its sensitive surface with this energy.

3-2-1 Ionization chamber (or Ion Chamber):

- It is a detection device (see fig. 3-1), which consists of:
a- Two electrodes (anode a, and cathode c) connected to a moderate potential difference V
(about 50- 70 volts depending on the chamber volume and pressure) to secure collection of
the majority of the electrons and ions, which are produced by the ionizing radiation inside the
chamber on the anode and the cathode, respectively.
b- A guard grid g between the anode and the cathode to secure independency of the collected
current, or consequently voltage of the output pulse signal, resulting due to the passage of this
current through a high Ohmic resistance R, on the track position of the incident particle.
The ionization chambers can be used in a current regime (e.g. to measure the very low
average electric current, resulting from ionization of gas inside the chamber, by a large
number of incident particles or photons, and then, this chamber is known as a current type
ionization chamber. They, also, can be used to measure consequence voltage pulses resulting
from individual ionization events (particles or photons), and hence, to determine the number
and energies of these particles or photons. In this case the chamber is known as a pulse type
ionization chamber.
- Since the collected current in the ionization chamber is, too, low (in the range of pico-
Amper), both the current and pulse type ionization chambers shall be connected with a direct
current (D.C) amplifier (or a pulse amplifier) with a very high amplification gain (hundreds
of thousands times or more).
a

g c V R

Fig (3-1): A block-diagram of a pulse type ionization chamber

27
- Ionization chambers are characterized by certain characteristics. Some of these
characteristics are:
a) The multiplication gain inside any ionization chamber equals 1, which means that
there is no multiplication of the electric current resulting by ionizing radiation.
b) Relatively, high energy resolution r for the pulse type ionization chambers, which means
that they can be used to differentiate between energies of measured particles or photons with
relatively close energies. The energy resolution of the ionization chambers r varies between
about 2.5 and about 7.5 %, depending on its volume and on the gas pressure inside.
Remark: the energy resolution r of a pulse type ionization chamber is defined as the ratio of
the energy fluctuation E caused by the detection process, to the energy value E of the
particle multiplied by 100 (to get it as a percent) e.g:

r = (E/E)x100 %. (3- 1)
E in this equation, may be replaced by another quantity known as Full Width at Half-
Maximum(FWHM) which represents the full width of the Gaussian fluctuation of the particle
or photon Energy.
c) Relatively, a constant energy response curve, for the current type ionization chambers, in a
wide range of beta and photon energies, comparing with all other detectors, when the
chamber is used as a detector in dose or dose-rate survey meters. The meaning of a constant
energy response curve will be explained later.
d) In some cases the wall of the chamber is made from a material having a similar
composition as the air inside the chamber to correct for energy absorption in different
materials, for more accurate determination of doses or dose rates. In these cases the chamber
is known as air-wall ionization chamber, which is more accurate in determination of dose
rates for beta and gamma radiation, than normal ionization chamber.
e) For measurement of relatively high energy beta particles or gamma photons, it is necessary
to increase the gas pressure inside the chamber to secure full stopping of the ionizing beta
particles or primary electrons or positrons produced as a result of interaction of x and gamma
rays in the chamber within it. In This case the chamber is known as a pressurized ionization
chamber. Such pressurized cambers are important for very accurate dose- rate measurements
in a radiation field with a wide gamma ray energy range due to their very high accuracy.

- The shape of the output pulse from a pulse type ionization chamber, which represents the
detection of a single particle or photon with a given energy value is demonstrated in fig.(3-2).
The polarity of the pulse on this figure is inverted, since it is, originally, negative. The
vertical axis shows the output voltage amplitude of the pulse which is proportional to the
energy of the incident particle or photon, while the horizontal axis shows the time duration of
the pulse with its rise and decay time. The voltage amplitude of the output pulses from a
pulse type ionization chamber lies in the range of much less than one microvolt up to some
tenths of micro-volts, depending on the particle energy. The pulse durations lies between less
than 100 microseconds up to about 1000 microseconds depending on the geometrical
dimensions of the chamber as well as on its internal capacitance and resistance. The values of
the used electronic devises such as the input impedance and capacitance of the chamber and
the circuit, strongly, affect the duration of the output pulses.

3-2-2 Proportional counter

- The proportional counter, (see fig 3-3) is a gas detector of a cylindrical form, where the
metallic cylinder is acting as the detector cathode, while a very thin coaxial metallic wire
with a very regular diameter is used as the anode.
- The applied voltage difference between the anode and the cathode for the
proportionalcounter is much higher than that used in an ionization chamber with the same
dimensions.This increase in the applied voltage difference leads to the acceleration of the
primary electrons and ions, so that they become capable to ionize new atoms or molecules,
28
while they are moving to the anode and cathode respectively. This yields in a high increase of
the electric current caused by ionizing radiations. So, the proportional counter is acting as a
detector and a current multiplier (amplifier).

The pulse amplitude v

The time (microsecond)

Fig (3-2): The pulse shape at the output of a pulse ionization chamber

- The applied voltage difference between the anode and the cathode for the proportional
counter is much higher than that used in an ionization chamber with the same dimensions.
This increase in the applied voltage difference leads to the acceleration of the primary
electrons and ions, so that they become capable to ionize new atoms or molecules, while they
are moving to the anode and cathode respectively. This yields in a high increase of the
electric current caused by ionizing radiations. So, the proportional counter is acting as a
detector and a current multiplier (amplifier).

- For this reason, the multiplication gain inside the proportional counter varies between about
100 to more than one thousand times, depending on the magnitude of the applied potential
difference between its anode and cathode.

Fig. (3-3): A diagram of a proportional counter

- The multiplication gain of the gas in the proportional counter varies between about 100 to
up to one thousand times, depending on the magnitude of the applied potential difference
between its anode and cathode.
- As a result of the multiplication inside the proportional counter the energy resolution r of
this counter is much poorer than that of the pulse type ionization chamber. Its values vary
from about 10 to 30 %.
- Although the energy resolution of the proportional counters is relatively poor, there is still
some proportionality between the energy of the detected particle or photon and the obtained
pulse amplitude (or pulse hight) from this detector. This makes the accuracy of this detector
for dose measurements acceptable and this detector comes, directly, in the next category after
the current type ionization chamber, concerning the accuracy point of view of dose rate
29
measurement, as well as from the constancy of the energy response at, relatively, wide range
of photons energy.
- In spite of the relatively high multiplication gain in the proportional counter it, still, needs
to be connected at the output to a pulse amplifier, but with a lower amplification gain than
that used with the pulse type ionization chambers.

3-2-3 Geiger- Muller (GM) Counter

- From the construction point of view the GM counters are exactly similar to the proportional
counter. The main difference is that the GM counter is operated at relatively higher potential
difference between the anode and the cathode.
- With increasing the applied voltage the current multiplication in the gas of the tube becomes
very high and almost reaches infinity. When an ionizing particle or photon inters the GM
tube, and when it interacts with the detector material causing even one electron– ion pair a
series of consequent ionization occurs making avalanche multiplication. This will cause
induction of electric glow discharge of the detector gas.
- The gas discharge will continue unless, it will be stopped (quenched) by internal or external
reason in a process called quenching. The external quenching may be secured by inserting a
large Ohmic resistance R in series with the high voltage source, while the internal quenching
is secured by the addition of a certain ratio of a mono-atomic gas. The second technique
of quenching is preferred, since the first one leads to a serious increase in the detector dead
time, due to the increase of the magnitude of the resistance.
- As a result of infinite amplification of the GM tubes, particles or photons with different
energies will give the same amplitude of the output pulses independent of the particle‟s or
photon‟s energies, so that, it can be measured without further amplification.
- Due to the complete discharge through the detector tube, the proportionality between the
energy of the incident particle or photon and the pulse amplitude of corresponding signal is
completely lost. In other words the GM counter, completely, does not differentiate between
different energies of the incident particles, and it can be only used to count the number of
pulses (detected particles or photons) independent of their energies.
- The dead time of a pulse type detector is defined as the time period through which the
electrons and ions are collected and treated and converted as a pulse. During the dead time
the detector will not be able to detect any other ionization event. So, if the time separation
between two sequent ionizing events (e.g. two consequent registered particles or photons) is
less than the detector dead time, then they will be detected as a single particle or photon, and
hence there will be some loss of the detected number of particles or photons.
- The energy response curve of the GM counter is, comparatively, worse than that of the
proportional counter or current type ionization chamber. For this reason, special filters are
used with the GM counters to correct for the non-constancy of the response curve.
- It should be mentioned that dose survey meters that use GM counters as a detector, should
not be used in any place containing high radio-frequency (rf) source, such as linear
accelerators, since they are very sensitive to high frequencies and they almost give full scale
reading in these fields without the presence of any type of the ionizing radiation.

3-3 The scintillation detectors:

- In all scintillation detectors, detection of directly and indirectly ionizing radiation is done
through the excitation of some molecules, which are consisted in a solid crystalline or liquid
scintillator. So, any scintillation detector, (see fig 3-4), consists, mainly, of, at least, two
components, which are:
a- The scintillation crystal or liquid (the scintillator)
b- The Photo-Multiplier Tube (PMT).

30
 The PMT

The scintillator The light pipe

Fig. (3- 4): The components of a scintillation detector

c- Sometimes, there is a third component, which is the so called light pipe. This pipe is made
of a highly transparent type of silicon glass, which is acting as a light conductor to transfer
light photons emitted from the crystal (or liquid scintillator) to the photo-cathode of the PMT.
- All the components are matched together, without any air voids or bubbles by putting a
small drop of a silicon oil between any of these components and pressing so that no air
bubbles are existing in between. The detector components are enclosed inside a hermetically
sealed metallic enclosure, so that no light can penetrate through it.
- The function of the scintillator is to emit photons of visible light. The number of these
photons is linearly dependent on the energy of the incident particle or photons. As these
emitted light photons fall on the photo-cathode of the PMT, a limited number of electrons
will be emitted from this photo-cathode. The number of these photo-electrons is linearly
dependent on the number of the incident photons on the photo-cathode, and consequently, on
the energy of the incident particle or photon on the scintillation material.
- The role of the photo-multiplier tube (PMT) is to multiply the number of emitted electrons
from the photo-cathode, by a very large factor (at least some thousands times and even more).
For this purpose the PMT contains a large number of dynodes (from 9 up to 13 dynodes in
different tubes), each of which is covered with a material with high coefficient  of the
electron secondary emission. The emitted photo-electrons are accelerated toward the first
dynode by a positive voltage difference V, so that they gain an amount of kinetic energy
equal V electron volts, and become capable to induce secondary electron emission from the
next dynode, so that their number will be multiplied by a factor equal to the secondary
emission coefficient  of the dynode. This coefficient is strongly dependent on the voltage
difference V and may reach, relatively, high values (up to 3 and more) with the increase of V.
Electrons emitted from the first dynode are, again, accelerated toward the second dynode by
another positive voltage difference V, giving rise to another step of a secondary emission
from this second dynode, and yielding second stage of a multiplication  of number of
electrons. Then the consequent acceleration processes toward the next dynodes with a
multiplication factors of  on each one of these dynodes will yield a total multiplication
factor of n (if the value of  is the same for all dynodes), where n is the number of dynodes
in the PMT. After multiplication a huge number of electrons are emitted from the last dynode
and these electrons are collected on the anode of the PMT, giving a negative pulse on the
output of this anode due to the presence of a high anode resistance.
- The anode pulse (or output pulse) represents the registration of a single particle or photon in
the detector and the amplitude of this pulse is proportional to the energy of the incident
particle or photon. So, the number of the registered pulses is reflecting the number of the
incident particles or photons, while the amplitude of each pulse represents the energy of the
registered particle or photon. Output pulses on the anode of the PMT have a similar form of
the pulses from an ionization chamber shown on fig. (3-2), but the time duration of the pulse
may be more or less than that of the ionization chamber for some types of scintillation
crystals.

31
- It should be mentioned that the electron multiplication gain M of the PMT, (which is
approximately equal to the coefficient  raised to the power n (i.e. M  n)) is strongly
dependent on the biasing voltage V which is supplied to the PMT Anode or cathode. This
voltage is divided by a potential divider using a set of resistances to bias the cathode, all
dynodes and the anode with the nominal operating voltages. It is recommended to supply the
PMT with the nominal voltage, since the increase of the applied V will, strongly, increase the
factor M, but at the same time it will shorten, strongly, the service life-time of the PMT.
- Different types of radiations are detected using different scintillators. Table (3-1) represents
the most widely used scintillators for different types of radiation. All these scintillators emit
violet light with wave length shown in the table.
- Alpha particles and protons can be easily detected using a thin layer (about 1mm thickness)
zinc-sulphide crystal doped with silver (ZnS-Ag), while electrons and positrons can be
detected using organic crystals such as Stylbene or Athracene or other liquid scintillators.
- The Sodium Iodide crystal with Thallium NaI(Tl) is the best scintillation crystal that can be
used to detect x and gamma radiation with a higher efficiency, due to its high density.
Moreover, the addition of a small ratio of Thallium to the Sodium Iodide makes the crystal
capable for emission of light photons at room temperature in the deep violet range. To meat
the required detection efficiency of gamma radiation, the NaI(Tl) crystal is grown with a
different thicknesses. These crystals are available in the market, mainly, in a cylindrical form
with dimensions ranging from 1/2 inch diameter x 1/2 inch height, up to about 15 " diameter x
12 " thickness. Generally speaking, the scintillation gamma detectors are much sensitive to
detect gamma radiation, in comparison with gas detectors, and the detector with 3" x 3"
NaI(Tl) crystal is considered as a reference one, so that, the relative efficiency of any other
gas or solid detectors for gamma ray is given referring to this reference one.
- Fast neutrons can be easily detected by scintillation detectors using secondary charged
particles, which arise as a result of fast neutron elastic scattering on hydrogen nuclei or
nuclear reaction. For example, these neutrons can be detected by putting a very thin layer of
polyethylene in front of the ZnS(Ag) crystal, so that neutrons will collide with hydrogen
nucleus of the polyethylene, yielding recoil protons, which are detected in this crystal.

Table (3-1): Scintillation Materials used for detection of different radiations

Name and characteristics of the scintillation material Type of radiation

Name Physical form Density Decay Wave length
(g/cm3) time (sec) (nanometer)
Zink sulphide With Solid crystal, 3.67 1x10-5 450 Alpha and protons
Argentum ZnS(Ag) Low transparency
Sodium iodide Solid crystal, 4.1 2.5x10-7 410 Gamma & x rays
With Thallium NaI(Tl) High transparency
Anthracene Organic 1.25 2.7x10-8 440 Beta particles
compound
Stylbene Organic 1.15 4x10-9 410 Beta particles
compound

- Fast neutrons can be easily detected by scintillation detectors using secondary charged
particles, which arise as a result of fast neutron elastic scattering on hydrogen nuclei or
nuclear reaction. For example, these neutrons can be detected by putting a very thin layer of
polyethylene in front of the ZnS(Ag) crystal, so that neutrons will collide with hydrogen
nucleus of the polyethylene, yielding recoil protons, which are ionizing and consequently
detected in this crystal.
- Thermal neutrons may be, also, detected either through using of a lithium Iodide doped with
thallium LiI(Tl) crystal as a scintillator, which has characteristics very close to those of
NaI(Tl), or by using a mixture of lithium or boron compound with the ZnS(Ag) crystal.

32
Thermal neutrons interact with the boron-10 atoms of the crystal, giving rise to charged
particles, which, in their turn, cause the scintillation in the ZnS(Ag) crystal.
- The energy resolution r, of different scintillation detectors depends, mainly, on the volume
of the used crystal, and with a lower degree, on the characteristics of the used PMT. Small
crystals have better energy resolution r, while large ones are characterized with, relatively,
bad resolution. The value of r varies between about 2.5 and 10 %, depending on the volume
of the crystal.
- However, the efficiency of the scintillation detectors for x and gamma radiation is much
higher than that of all gas detectors, but, its response curve to dose-rate variations with
radiation energy is poor, comparing with other detectors. For this reason, scintillation
detectors are not, widely, used in different survey meters, for dose or dose-rates
measurements or for radiation dosimetry. These detectors are very widely used to search
for a lost gamma source, as will as for radiation counting and spectroscopic
measurements, as well as in surveying ground resources of nuclear ores due to their
high efficiency in detection of gamma radiation.

3-4 The Semi-conductor detectors:

- The semi-conductor materials used in manufacturing electronic devices and radiation
detectors are the silicon and germanium. Both of these elements have tetravalent atoms, and
their crystalline structure is formed, so that, each atom has a covalent bond with four
neighbor atoms. When radiation interact with one of these atoms an electron of the four
covalent electrons may be ejected, and it becomes free, and then its atom is left without an
electron. This free place of an electron is known, in semiconductor as a hole. So, while
interacting with a silicon or germanium crystal radiation will generate electron-hole pairs.
The energy required electron- hole pair in silicon is about 1.1 eV , in average, while the
energy required to produce one pair for germanium is about 0.7 eV. For this reason, the
number of electron-hole pairs formed in silicon by a an ionizing particle or photon with
certain energy is higher than the number of electron-ion pairs produced in an ionization
chamber by a factor of about 30 times for silicon and of about 48 times for germanium. As a
result of that, the energy resolution of semiconductor detectors is much better than that of the
pulse type ionization chamber or scintillation detectors. For example, the energy resolution r
of a germanium gamma detector with a cylindrical crystal of about 70 mm diameter and 70
mm height is about 1.7 KeV for the 1332 KeV gamma ray line of Co-60,
(which is about 0.13 %).
- At present, hyper-pure germanium crystals of different shapes and volumes are produced for
use as a powerful tool for high energy resolution for gamma ray spectrometry in the fields as
well as in the fixed laboratories. Additionally, the relative efficiencies of semiconductor
detectors for x and gamma radiations cover a very wide range of intrinsic efficiencies,
starting from about 10 % up to more than 100 % with respect to the 3" x 3" NaI(Tl) detector.
The only disadvantage of these detectors is that they require a very deep cooling, prior to
their operation, and this is achieved, mainly, through cooling by liquid nitrogen (- 189 oC) or
by electric cooling.
- Silicon surface-barrier detectors are produced, since the sixties of the 20th century up to
now, with different shapes and thicknesses, to detect heavy charged particles of different
energies, and they are widely used in high resolution alpha spectrometry, as well as in
spectroscopic measurements of other heavy charged particles (such as protons, deuterons and
others). Their energy resolution is as good as about 0.4- 0.5 %, and they do not require any
cooling.
- Other pure silicon crystals are produced to be used for high energy resolution spectroscopic
measurements of x-ray and low energy gamma radiation up to about 100 KeV. These
detectors, again, require the deep cooling as germanium ones prior to their operation.

33
3- 5 Radiation Survey meters

One of the required activities that must be conducted, regularly, in all areas, where radiation
sources are used, and around these areas, to evaluate the radiation levels and, consequently to
assess the radiation doses to the occupational workers as well as to the general public.
- There is no single survey meter, which can be used to survey all types of radiations, and the
choice of the survey meter is strongly dependent on the type of radiations or particles, their
energy, as well as on their intensity.
- Any survey meter consists, mainly, of:
a- A radiation probe or detector, which is assigned for a certain type of radiation, or
sometimes for more than one type (such as beta and gamma, and for a certain range of
energy, as well as for a certain range of radiation intensities or dose rates,
b- An electronic circuit for current or voltage amplification.
c- A measuring device to measure the amplified electric current or to count the pulse rate or
the number of pulses during a defined time interval.
d- A devise, which convert the current intensity or the pulse rate or the number of pulses to
dose rate or accumulated dose through the defined period of time.
e- Some types of survey meters are equipped with a sound device that gives sound clicks as
an alarm indicating pulse counting rate. This is essential to demonstrate by sound the
radiation level, without the need to look to the scale of the survey meter.
- Any survey meter should be characterized by a constant relative response curve over the
whole energy range existing in the surveyed radiation field. The relative energy response
curve of a survey meter is defined as the ratio of the current intensities at different
energies, to that current intensity at a certain reference energy (or the ratio of the pulse
numbers per unit of time at different energies to the pulse number per unit of time at a
certain reference energy), when the radiation field is homogenous and constant for
different energies. Fig. (3-5) represents the relative response curves for an ionization
chamber (curve a), GM counter (curve b), and NaI(Tl) scintillation detector (curve c). From
this curve it is, easily, seen that the ionization chamber is characterized by a relatively
constant response curve, in the energy range from about 10- 40 KeV, up to about 2 MeV,
while the GM counter, and specially the scintillation detector, have a strongly varying
response curve with respect to energy of radiation. With respect to the GM counter, better
response may be attained by using a set of filters, made from different materials such as lead
and others.

3-5-1 Calibration of the survey meters:

- Survey meters used for determination of dose or dose rates arising from beta particles, x and
gamma radiation, and neutrons should be recalibrated periodically, each six months,
depending on the prevailing working conditions. For example, in practices of industrial
radiography, which may lead to serious radiological hazards, it is required to carry out the
recalibration each six months, while for other practices with lower source activities, the
recalibration may be repeated yearly in some cases.

34
 Fig. (3- 5): Energy response curves for some detectors
An ionization chamber. - - - - - - A GM counter without filters
A Scintillation detector.

- The recalibration should be conducted, only, by recognized and authorized laboratories, and
by qualified persons from the national regulatory authority. The recalibration should cover all
ranges and scales of the survey meter. Moreover, each scale should be recalibrated, at least,
at two points, to assure the accuracy in the full range of the scale. A recalibration certificate
should be issued, showing the date of recalibration, the name of the specialist, who conducted
it, the recommended date for the next recalibration, and comments about the constancy of the
calibration constants of the device.
- The recommended radiation sources for recalibration of different devices are:
a) X-ray machines with proper high voltages for calibration of survey meters used with x-ray
sources.
b) Cesium-137 and Cobalt-60 sources for calibration of gamma survey meters.
c) Sr-90 sources for calibration of beta survey meters.
d) Am-Be source or Cf-252 sources for calibration of neutron survey meters

3-6 Contamination monitors

- A contamination monitor is a device used to detect contamination of surfaces, hands and
feet, clothes and surface contamination on equipments with any radionuclide. There are other
contamination monitors that are used to detect contamination of air with radionuclides, such
as iodine monitors, which are, widely, used in laboratories of nuclear medicine in hospitals.
Any contamination monitor should be able to detect very small contamination (up to 185 Bq
which is equal to 0.005 micro-Curie). For detection of a lower contamination, another
procedure, known as wipe test, should be conducted.
- To detect surface contamination with any radionuclide (except Tc-99m), only alpha or beta
particles should be detected, since gamma radiation and neutrons have a very high
penetration power, and hence, they will be detected independent of their location inside the
sealed container or on the external surface of this container. For this reason, any
contamination monitor consists, mainly, of;
a- An alpha or beta detector prepared with a very thin window, which permits these particles
to penetrate through it, to be detected in the detector.
b- An electronic amplifier circuit for voltage amplification, to get measurable pulses.
c- A measuring device to count the pulse rate or the number of pulses during a defined time
interval.
d- The contamination monitors are, always, equipped with a sound device that gives clicks
indicating pulse counting. This is essential to demonstrate by sound the contamination level,
without the need to look to the scale of the monitor.

35
- To detect surface contaminations with alpha emitters or with beta emitters, with relatively
high beta particles energy, using a wipe test, an appropriate alpha or beta counter should be
used for high contamination levels.
- For detecting surface contaminations, of low contamination levels, with alpha emitters or
with low energy beta emitters, such as tritium (H-3), or C-14, using a wipe test, a liquid
scintillation detector should be used for increasing the solid angle and the detection
probability. The same technique is also used for detection of surface contamination with very
low concentrations.
- The wipe test, for detection of any contamination on the external surface of the source
should be conducted, periodically, each six months. If the counting facilities and experts
needed to detect the surface contamination of the sources are not available at the licensee,
then he should contract a qualified and recognized party to conduct these tests on behave of
him.

3-7 Devices for personal dosimetry:

- In all controlled areas monitoring of the personal doses of the radiation workers must be
done using, internationally, recognized personal devices, such as either the Thermo-
Luminescent Dosimeters (TLD) or the Film badge. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.,
the TLD is the only recognized device, and not only for controlled areas but also for
supervised and other forbidden areas.
- Some of the widely used TLDs are the lithium fluoride (LiF) or calcium fluoride (CaF) non-
metal crystals and many others. When the ionizing radiation fall on any of these crystals and
interact with orbital electrons of their molecules, some of the electrons are transferred from
the, so called, equivalence band to a higher band. One of the main characteristics of these
crystals is that the transferred electrons remain in the new band at the prevailing temperature.
When the crystal is heated up to a temperature of 200 Celsius degrees, the transferred
electrons return back to their original band, with the emission of an amount of visible light.
The amount of the emitted light linearly depends on the amount of radiation energy absorbed
in the crystal. So, measurement of the amount of the emitted light using a device, such as a
photo-multiplier tube, is a good indication of the amount of energy delivered from the
ionizing radiation to the air or the human body.
- The CaF crystal is characterized by, relatively, a high sensitivity to radiation, however its
energy response curve is narrow, while the LiF is characterized by a good energy response
curve, but its sensitivity is limited.
- Another, internationally recognized, personal dosimeter is the, so called "film badge",
consisting a plastic film covered with a silver bromide (AgBr) emulsion. When ionizing
radiations interact with the silver bromide emulsion some electrons are ejected out, and this
will lead to breaking the covalent bond between silver and brome atoms. When the film is
processed the silver atoms are collected in gray dots forming some darkness in the plastic
film. This darkness is a measure of the amount of radiation energy, to which the film was
exposed. To differentiate between different radiations and energies, different filters are used
between the film and its badge.
- The advantages of the film badge, in comparison with the TLD, is that it is cheaper,
considered as a document, since the darkness remains for long time. The disadvantages of
film badges with respect to the TLD, is the limited accuracy and the need to isolate it from
the direct light.
- In some countries the personal doses in supervised areas may be evaluated by measuring the
maximum dose rates in the place where the radiation workers are working, and by registering
the total time during which the worker is existing inside the area. In this case the dose rate
should be measured as the maximum value between the head and the knee. In the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia The TLDs shall be used in all controlled, supervised and
other classified areas.

36
3- 8 Questions for revision:

a) The factors which affect the recombination between electrons and ions in gas detectors
are:
b) The amplification gain of electron ion pairs inside an ionization chamber is equal:
The most accurate device for measuring the dose rate is:
c) The full width at half maximum of a pulse type ionization chamber used to measure α
particles with energy of 5.305 MeV is 250 KeV, then you can conclude that:
d) The amplification gain inside a proportional counter depends on:
e) Factors affecting the amplitude of the outputpulse from a GM counter are:
f) The ZnS(Ag) detector is used with …… to detect ……… .
g) The detector with the maximum efficiency to detect gamma radiation is:
h) The main disadvantage of the germanium detectors is:
i) To detect very low concentration of a surface contamination or low energy beta
emitter one should use:
j) To detect fast neutrons one should use:
k) The recommended personal dosimeter, internationally, are:
l) The energy response curve for a gamma survey meter is defined as:

37
 CHAPTER FOUR
SOME RADIATION MEASURMENT TEQNIQUES
AND THE STATISTICAL FLUCTUATIONS IN RADIATION MEASURMENTS

4-1 Introduction:
- In this chapter, a very limited number of gamma measurement techniques, including both
relative and absolute measurements, together with some factors affecting the accuracy of
these measurements, will be touched.
- Our discussion will be limited to the case when the radiation source is located outside the
radiation detector. In this case, there are different source-detector configurations, described as
good or bad geometrical configurations, depending on the source and detector sizes, as well
as on the distance R between the source and the detector.
- The good geometrical configuration is defined as that one, at which the size of the source
can be considered as a point, and the source detector distance R is  than the largest
dimension of the detector, so that the different rays emerged from the source toward the
detector are approximately parallel in the detector material. For realistic situations, with some
approximation, the good geometrical configuration is considered that one, in which the
source-detector distance R is, at least, ten times larger than the larger dimension of the source
or the detector. For radioactive sources, with relatively low activity, it is impossible to realize
a good geometrical configuration, since the number of particles or photons emitted from the

Good geometrical configuration

The source

Bad geometr. configurations

The source The detector
The detector

Bad geometrical configurations

A well detector
The A A marinelli beaker

Fig (4- 1). Good and bad geometrical configurations

Radiation source toward the detector will be too limited, so that the measurement can
consume a very long time, or it cannot be carried out due to the existence of an intensive
background intended radiation emitted from the source. In these conditions, the
measurements can be conducted, with a good accuracy, in the so called bad geometrical
configuration. So, one can conclude that the source detector configuration is determined by
many(d)factors, such as size and shape of the source and the (e)detector, the source activity, the
type of radiation,
Configuration (b,c,and purpose
d, and of measurements.
e ) are belonging to the badFig. (4-1) represents
geometrical some of the
configuration
experimentally
Fig. (4-1) used source-detector configurations both good and bad.
- The advantages of a good geometrical configuration are that the detector solid angle Ω (fig.
4- 1) through which the detector sees the source can be easily and accurately calculated.
Moreover, in this configuration the detector intrinsic efficiency ε is constant and does not
change with a relatively small variation of the source location.
38
4-2 The solid angle 
- Consider an isotropic point source with activity A Bq at a certain distance R from the
detector (fig 4-1 a). Since the particles (or photons) are emitted from the source with equal
probability in all directions, only a small portion of these particles (or photons) have a chance
to fall on the sensitive detector surface. This portion is equal to the ratio between the detector
sensitive surface area, which faces the source, and the area of the sphere, on which the
detector surface is, directly, located and at center of which the point source is located, and the
radius of which is R. In other words the solid angle  in a good geometrical configuration is
defined as:
Number of photons emitted per second inside the space defined by the contours
of the source and detector aperture.
=
Number of photons emitted per second from the source in all directions.
- So, the solid angle  for a point isotropic source and a detector with a circular aperture with
radius r, located at a distance R from the source, in a good geometrical configuration is
given, in general, as:
 = r2 / 4R2 (4- 1)
- Suppose there is a Cesium-137 point source with activity 1 micro Curie, located at a
distance of 40 cm from a detector with a circular sensitive cross-sectional circle with a radius
2 cm and depth of the detector equal 2cm. Then the biggest dimension of the detector is its
diameter which is 4 cm, so it is the biggest dimension. Since the distance between the source
and the detector is 40 cm, which equals ten times more than the diameter of the detector, the
then can be considered good geometrical configuration, and then the solid angle is:
 =  (2)2 / 4  (40)2 = 4/6400 = 6.25 x 10-4 = 25 / 40000
This means that from each 40000 photons emitted from the source, in all directions, only 25
photons will reach the detector sensitive area, while all other photons will go away from the
detector.
- By multiplying the source activity A (in Becquerels) by the f value of the certain gamma ray
line with a given energy, which represents the fraction of photon with the given energy per
one decay of the parent radionuclide. The number of photons emitted per second from the
source with the given energy is obtained as the product f * A which represents number of
photons with the given energy, emitted per second, from the source with activity A. In case of
a 1 micro-Curie (1 µCi) Cs-137 source, emitting photons with energy 662 KeV, for which f
value equals 0.851, the number of these photons emitted from this source in all directions per
second is:
f A = 0.851 x 3.7x104 = 3.1487 x104 photons/sec.
- By multiplying the product f A (which is 3.1487x104 in this example) by the element of the
solid angle , then the number of photons, which reaches or impinges the detector sensitive
surface each second will be defined as:
N =  f A = 3.1487 x 104 x 6.25 x 10-4 = 19.68 photons/sec
provided that, no photons will be absorbed in the air between the source and the detector.

4-3 The detector intrinsic efficiency 

- In case of the indirectly ionizing radiation, such as gamma photons, the detector can only
detect a limited portion of the incident photons on its sensitive surface. The detector photo-
peak intrinsic efficiency ph is defined by the next equation (4- 2) as:

39
 Number of photons detected in the detector per second.
ph = (4-2)
Number of photons impinging on the detector per second
- For photon detectors, there are different intrinsic efficiencies, such as the photo-peak
intrinsic efficiency ph, Compton intrinsic efficiency c, and full peak intrinsic efficiency f.
In gamma spectroscopic measurements we are considering only photons detected through
photo-effect, and then we are dealing with the photo-peak intrinsic efficiency ph defined by
the previous relation:
- The intrinsic photo-peak efficiencies of a detector are, strongly, dependent on:
a) The energy of detected photons,
b) The type and dimension of the detector,
c) The density of the material used as a detector, and
d) The nature of the source, its density and dimension, in some conditions.
- So, the efficiency determined for a certain detector and at a given gamma ray energy must
not be used for another detector or at other energy or for a source of other density or shape.

4-4 Relation between the count rate C and source activity A:

- The photo-peak count rate C of a counting detector is defined as the number of counts
(photons) detected through photo-effect by this detector in one second. So, using the
definition of the intrinsic photo-peak efficiency ph, (from 4-2) and the number of photons N
=  f A, impinging on the detector sensitive surface, it is then clear that:

ph = C /  f A
- So, the source activity A is related with the counting rate C, detector photo-peak efficiency
ph, the detector to source solid angle , and f value of the certain gamma line with a simple
relation, which is:

C = ph  f A (4- 3)
- In a bad geometrical configuration this relation is not used, due to the large uncertainties in
calculation of the solid angle , even by using very complicated computer programs, as well
as in determination of the detector photo-peak intrinsic efficiency ph. For this reason, another
quantity known as the overall efficiency  is introduced, which combines both photo-
peak intrinsic efficiency ph and element of the solid angle  together, i.e:  =  . The
relation between the counting rate C, the overall efficiency  and the source activity A then is
given as:

C=fA (4- 4)
- When this last relation is used, the overall efficiency  is, preferably, to be determined
experimentally, using a standard source with, previously, known activity Akn, and by
measuring the count rate of the known source Ckn the overall efficiency  is then
experimentally determined. Then activities A of unknown sources, can then be easily
determined using the experimentally determined , provided that all sources are measured in
the same geometrical configuration (i.e the same sample volume, the same sample shape, the
same sample location and the same sample density) and using the same energy lines.

4-5 Factors affecting the accuracy of measurements

- In performing relative and absolute measurements there are many other factors, which may,
strongly, affect the accuracy of the obtained results. Some of these factors are the source
itself, the medium between the source and the detector, and the detector itself.

40
4-5-1 Role of the source effects
- One of the important effects of the accuracy of measurement result is the self absorption
inside the source. The size and, in particular, the way the source is made may have strong
effect on accuracy of the results. Whether the source is a solid material or a thin deposited
evaporated layer on a rigid disc, this may make a difference. For gamma measurements, the
effect of the source thickness is relatively limited, while it is very strong in measurement of
beta particles. In all cases, self absorption factor fa in the source should be taken into
consideration, since it reduces the experimentally determined activity. For this reason,
sources of the beta particles (and, especially, alpha particles) should be very thin (not more
than few micrograms/cm2.
- The second important effect of the source is the backscattering effect on source backing.
The source is, commonly, deposited on a metallic backing or support. This backing may lead
to the backscattering of beta particles. The particles which are directed from the source
toward the backing may suffer backscattering, so that they will be reflected back to the
detector‟s direction, increasing the count rate over the real value. The backscattering factor
fb, strongly depends, on
a) The atomic number Z of the backing material,
b) Backing thickness x and,
c) Kinetic energy E of the particles.
Increasing Z, backing thickness x or energy of beta particles E will strongly increase the
backscattering factor fb. For this reason the source backing should be made from a material
with low Z and should have the minimum thickness. The backscattering may increase the real
count rate by a value of up to 70 – 80 %.

4-5-2 Role of the medium

- The effect of the medium between the source and the detector is important, too, in some
circumstances. Normally the medium between the source and the detector for gamma
measurements is air which has a very low density. For this reason this medium will have
ignored effect on the measurement results for photons and neutrons. If the measured particles
are charged, then all the particles will suffer some energy loss, and some of them (especially
beta particles with low energy) may be completely absorbed, while some others may be
scattered in or out of the detector. To eliminate these effects, source of the charged particles
and detector should be placed in an evacuated chamber.
- To demonstrate the role of the medium, it is important to remind that alpha particles with
energy 5 MeV loose completely, their energy during about 4 cm of air, while beta particles
with Emax of 1 MeV loose their energy in the air within a layer of about 5 m.

4-5-3 Role of the detector

- In absolute majority of cases the source is located outside the detector. The radiation must
penetrate the wall of the detector in order to be counted. Interaction between the impinging
radiation on the detector window and the material from which this window is made, may
scatter and absorb some of the impinging charged particles and even low energy photons.
This will lead to lowering the measured count rate with respect to the real one.

4-6 Dead- time correction

- the dead time , or resolving time of a detector or counting electronic system, is defined as
the minimum time that can elapse between the arrival of two successive photons or particles
at the detector, so that two distinct pulses are produced. The most important is the dead time
of the system, as a whole, which may be composed of a detector, preamplifier, amplifier,
ADC (Analogue-to Digital Converter) and the multi-channel analyzer (MCA). However,
since the dead time of the detector is much longer than that of the associate electronics, the

41
later may be ignored (except the dead time of the MCA). So, the total or detector‟s dead time
, as appropriate, should be taken into consideration when counting ionizing radiation..
- As a result of the dead time, some pulses are not produced in the detector, or not registered
in the MCA, so that they are lost. The effect of lost counts will be particularly important in
the case of high counting rates. Obviously, the measured counting rate Cm should be
corrected for the loss of some counts due to the dead time. When the count rate is too high,
then the system will stop functioning (counting) and it seems to be dead all the time.
- If the dead time of the system (or the detector) is  seconds, (this is the time duration
through which the detector or system is dead when it is counting each pulse) and the
experimentally measured counting rate is Cm (counts per second), then the fraction of time
during which the system was dead equals  Cm second. When the product  Cm is  1, then
the system will stop counting. The relation between the true counting rate Ctr, the measured
count rate Cm and the system dead time  is:
Ctr = Cm / (1 –  Cm) (4- 5)
- For clarifying the role of the dead time suppose that the dead time of a system is 400
microseconds (s), and that the measured count rate was 30000 counts per minute (cpm). In
this case the system will be dead in each second for:
400 x 10-6 s x (30000 cpm /60 s) = 0.2 second
So, during each second, the system will be dead for 0.2 s,which means that the percentage of
the dead time is 0.2 x 100 = 20 %. The true counting rate per s is then:
Ctr (per second) = (30000/60)/(1- 0.2) = 500/0.8 = 625 cps
and Ctr (per minute) is:
Ctr (per minute) = 625 x 60 = 37500 (cpm)
- For more clarification, suppose that the same system will be used to register a measured
counting rate of 150000 (cpm). In this case the system, during one second, will be dead for
400 x 10-6 x ( 150000/60) = 1 second, which means that the percentage of the dead time is 1 x
100 = 100 %, i. e. the system will be dead all the time and it will stop counting.

4-7 The statistical fluctuation in radiation measurements

- The radioactive decay is a truly random process, since no one can predict when a certain
single atom will be subjected to decay. So, all radiation measurements are subjected to two
types of errors which are statistical and systematic errors. The next paragraphs will deal
briefly with some concepts of the statistical errors, which should be described in statistical
terms. The random processes obey the, so called, Gaussian distribution.
- According to this Gaussian distribution, the standard error in a mean value n of a set of
readings ni, consisting of N readings, is defined in terms of the, so called, standard deviation
 (sigma) of the distribution. This deviation  is defined as:
 = [(1/ N)  ( ni – n )2 ]1/2 (4- 6)
- In practical situations, scientists are making a single measurement rather than many
measurements to determine the true mean. In this case if the number of the detected events is
m then the standard deviation  (sigma) of this value may be given as:
 = (m)1/2 (4- 7)
So, any measured value is reported as m = m(m)1/2.
- The percentage statistical error E % is defined as:
E % = (/m) x 100 = 100/(m)1/2 % (4-8)
So, it is seen that the percentage statistical error E % decreases when the amount of the

Table (4- 1)
42
 Number The Result with absolute and percentage Error %
of counts standard 1 2 3
in the deviation absolute % error absolute % error absolute % error
reading m = (m)1/2
1 1 1±1 100 % 1±2 200 % 1±3 300 %
4 2 4±2 50 % 4±4 100 % 4±6 150 %
16 4 16 ± 4 16 ± 8 50 % 16 ± 12 75 %
25 5 25 ± 5 20 % 25 ± 10 40 % 25 ± 15 60 %
100 10 100 ±10 10 % 100 ±20 20 % 100 ±30 30 %
400 20 400 ± 20 5% 400 ± 40 10 % 400 ± 60 15 %
10000 100 104 ± 100 1% 104 ± 200 2% 104± 300 3%
1000000 1000 106 ±103 0.1 % 106 0.2 % 106 0.3 %
±2x103 ±3000

measured counts m is increased. This fact is represented in table (4- 1), showing the number
of the registered counts in each measurement, together with its standard deviation and
percentage error in three cases known as; lower, medium and higher confidence level,
corresponding to 1 , 2 , and 3  respectively.
- To get acquaint with the so called lower, medium and higher confidence level, suppose that
a certain experiment with a long lived radioactive isotope, such as uranium (with a half life
time of 4.468 x 109 years), have been repeated 1000 times, with a mean count of 400. The
long half-life is intended to be sure that no change has been occurred during the 1000
measurements. In this case, according to the laws of the statistical distribution, the counts
measured in these thousand runs will be as shown in table (4- 2)

4-7-1 Standard error in the counting rate:

- In practice, the number of counts recorded in the presence of a given source, is usually
recorded either in a scalar or as the total (gross) counts G in a peak of interest in a multi-
channel analyzer, during a certain time period of measurement tg. However, the reported
result is the counting rate, i.e., counts recorded per unit time (namely per second), which is Cg
= (G/tg).
Table: (4- 2)

The range of the experimental readings among the The number of repetitions of
thousand readings readings
380 – 420 which meat (m  ) 680
360 – 380 which lie between [(m-2) and (m-) 136
420 – 440 which lie between [(m+) and (m+2) 136
340 – 360 which lie between [(m-3) and (m-2) 23
440 – 460 which lie between [(m+2) and (m+3) 23
Less than 340 1
More than 460 1
The lower confidence level includes all reading higher than (m-1) i.e higher than 380
or lower than (m+1), i.e. lower than 420. These are 680 +136 + 23 +1 = 840
readings among the thousand, with 84 % confidence
The medium confidence level includes all reading higher than (m-2) i.e higher than
360 or lower than (m+2) i.e. lower than 440. These are 680 +136 +136 + 23 +1 =
976 readings among the thousand, with 97.6 % confidence.
The higher confidence level includes all reading higher than (m-3) i.e higher than
340 or lower than (m+3), i.e. lower than 460. These are 680 +136 + 136 + 23 + 23
+1 = 999 readings among the thousand, with 99.9 % confidence

43
- In some cases, especially, when dealing with a gamma source, the number of the detected
background gamma radiation B may be comparable with or even higher than the radiation
emitted from this source, and it should be taken into consideration, to get the net count rate
Cnet from the source.
- For this reason, the background counts B should be measured, in the absence of the source,
during an appropriate time period tb, and the background count rate Cb = (B/tb) is determined.
To get the net count rate Cnet, resulting from the source alone, the background count rate Cb
should be subtracted from the gross count rate Cg, i.e.,
Cnet = Cg – Cb = ( G/ tg ) – ( B/ tb ) (4- 9)
In calculation of the overall error  in a quantity resulting from different partial sources of
errors 1, 2, 3,…….,etc, such as error of the reference source activity, error in photo-peak
area determination, and statistical error of the measured count rate the overall error  is,
simply, calculated from all the partial errors as:
 = [12 + 22 + 32]1/2 (4- 10)
- Using this rule the standard deviation net in the net count rate Cnet is defined as:
net = [G /( tg)2 + B /( tb)2 ]1/2 (4- 11)
- To reduce the error which may arise due to the background radiation in measurements of
low activity gamma sources, both the source and the detector are placed inside a special
shield.

44
4- 8 Questions for revision:

a- The solid angle in radioactivity measurements is defined as:

b- The intrinsic efficiency of a NaI(Tl) detector is defined as.
c- Factors affecting the detector intrinsic efficiency for photopeaks are:
d- Switching on your survey meter and while approaching a gamma source the reading of the
device was, gradually, increased and suddenly the device stopped reading. The reason is:
e- The count rate of a Cs-137 source located at a distance of 70 cm from a detector with a
circular area of 9 π cm2 was found 4.2x104 counts/min. If the photo-peak efficiency of the
used detector for gamma ray from Cs-137 is 6x10-2, then the source activity is: (the answer
0.81 mCi)
f- The measured count rate of a single gamma ray line emitter was found as 22800 cpm. If
the dead time of the used device is 3 ms, then the corrected count rate is: (25624 cpm).
g- In the previous problem the result with the first confidence level is (25624 ± 170).
h- A survey meter counted 36 counts during a certain period of time and displayed the dose
rate from this number as 9.5 µSv/h, then the dose rate in the second confidence level is:
(9.5 ± 3.2 µSv/h).
i- When the background count was measured for 40 min. by a counting system it yielded
6000 counts, and when the source was measured by the same system and in the same
background for 5 min. it yielded 5800 counts, then the net count rate from the source
within the third confidence level is: (1010 ± 46)

45
 CHAPTER FIVE
DOSIMETRY QUANTITIES AND THEIR UNITS

- The quantities used to measure the dosimetry quantities of ionizing radiation are based on
the gross number of this radiation in a defined situation or the gross amount of energy,
deposited in a defined mass of material.

5-1 The Exposure:

- The exposure, as a physical quantity, is defined as the exposure of the dry air at standard
temperature and pressure (STP), to x-ray or low energy gamma radiation (up to 3 MeV).
- In the classic system of units exposure is expressed in Roentgen, abbreviated (R).
- In the SI (Systeme Internationale) system of units the exposure is expressed in Coulomb
per Kg dry air.
- The Roentgen is defined as the amount of exposure of the dry air at the standard
temperature and pressure, which yields a charge of 2.58 x 10-4 Coulomb/Kg dry air of each
sign (Electrons or ions). So, that the relation between the two units is
1 R = 2.58 x 10-4 Coulomb/Kg dry air

5-2 The absorbed dose D:

- The fundamental dosimetry quantity in radiation protection is the absorbed dose. The
absorbed dose D is defined as the ratio of the amount of energy E deposited from the
ionizing radiation to a mass element of m of a matter e.g:
D = E/m (5- 1)
In other words, the absorbed dose is defined as the amount of energy deposited from any type
of ionizing radiation, into a unit mass of any matter.
- The units of the absorbed dose are:
a- the "rad" in the classic system of units (CGS which is Centimeter Gram Second),
or also called scientific system of units or Gaussian system of units and,
b- the "Gray Gy" in the SI system of units.
- One rad is defined as deposition of 100 ergs of energyinto each one gram of matter. The
word rad is the abbreviation of a sentence which is "radiation absorbed dose”, so:
1 rad is equivalent to 100 erg/gram (5- 2)
- The Gray "Gy" is the SI unit of the absorbed dose (which is the MKS system of units
(Meter, Kilogram, Second). One Gray is defined as deposition of 1 Joule of energy into
each Kilogram of matter.
- It should be mentioned that the absorbed dose is defined in terms that allow it to be
specified at a point, but it is used to mean the average dose over a tissue or organ.
- Using the relation between the Joule and the erg, which is:
1 Joule = 107 erg,
it is clear that:
1 Gy = 100 rad (5- 3)

5-3 The equivalence between the Roentgen R, rad and Gy

1 R is equivalent to 87 erg/gm = 0.87 rad = 0.0087 Gy in air
1 R is equivalent to 96 erg/gm = 0.96 rad = 0.0096 Gy in the human tissue
- So, one can consider, with acceptable approximation that:
1 R  1 rad = 0.01 Gy (5-4)

46
5-4 The Kerma K:
- The Kerma K is defined as:

K = Etr /m (5- 5)

Where, Etr is the sum of the initial kinetic energies of all charged ionizing particles,
liberated by the uncharged ionizing particles (x and gamma radiation and neutrons) in a mass
element m of material.
- The units of the Kerma are the same units of the absorbed dose.
- It should be mentioned that the Kerma is, approximately, equal the absorbed dose at low
photon energies where the prevailing mechanism of interaction is the photoelectric effect, but
it becomes less than the absorbed dose, at medium and relatively high photon energies.

5-5 The Radiation Weighting Factor WR:

- It has been found that the probability of the so called stochastic effects (defined in chapter
6) depends not only on magnitude of the absorbed dose, but also on the type and energy of
radiation delivering this dose. This is taken into account by weighting the absorbed dose by a
factor related to the quality of the radiation for causing health stochastic effects. In the past,
this weighting factor has been applied to the absorbed dose at a point and was called the
quality factor Q. The weighted absorbed dose by the Q factor was called the dose
equivalent.
- The new radiation weighting factor WR is a multiplier of the absorbed dose to account for
the relative effectiveness of different types of radiation in inducing stochastic health effects.
The values of this factor for different types and energies of radiation are given in table (5- 1).
Table (5- 1): values of WR for different radiations and energies

Type and energy range of radiation Radiation weighting factor WR

Photons, of all energies 1
Electrons and beta particles of all energies 1
Neutrons, energy:
Less than 10 KeV 5
From 10 KeV to 100 KeV 10
More than 100 KeV to 2 MeV 20
More than 2 Mev to 20 MeV 10
More than 20 MeV 5
α particles and fission fragments. 20

5-6 The Equivalent dose HT:

- It is the absorbed dose averaged over a tissue or organ T, due to radiation of type R, and
weighted by the radiation weighting factor WR , e.g:
HT = WR * DT, R (5- 6)
- When the radiation field is composed of different radiation types with different values of
WR, then the equivalent dose to this tissue is given as:
HT = R
WR * DT, R (5- 7)

- One should differentiate between the equivalent dose HT in a tissue or organ and the dose
equivalent H, which was used by the ICRP before 1990. The dose equivalent H represented
the dose in a point rather than in a tissue or organ, since the quality factor Q, used for
weighting, represented this factor at the point.
- The units of the equivalent doses are:
The "rem" (roentgen equivalent man) is the unit of the equivalent dose in the classic system,
where the absorbed dose is measured in "rad".
47
The Seivert "Sv" is the unit of the equivalent dose in the SI system, where the absorbed dose
is measured in Gray "Gy".
The relation between the rem and Seivert is
1 Sv = 100 rems (5- 8)

5-7 Tissue weighting factor WT:

- The relationship between the probability of stochastic effects and equivalent dose is found,
also, to depend on the irradiated tissue or organ. The factor which represents the relative
contribution of a certain tissue or organ to the total detriment, from a uniform irradiation of
the whole body is called the tissue weighting factor WT.
- The tissue weighting factor WT is a multiplier of the equivalent dose HT to an organ or
tissue, to accounts for the different sensitivities of different tissues and organs to the
induction of stochastic effects. The recommended by the ICRP values of the tissue weighting
factors are given in table (5- 2)

5-8 Effective dose E:

- The effective dose E is defined as the sum of the weighted equivalent doses in all the tissues
and organs of the human body. In other words it is defined as the sum of the tissue equivalent
doses, each multiplied by the appropriate tissue weighting factor. It is given by the
Expression:
E =  WT * HT (5-9)
T
- The units of the effective dose are the same units which are used for the equivalent dose in
both classic, and SI systems, i.e: the "rem" and the Seivert "Sv' respectively.
- Both effective and equivalent doses are quantities intended for use in radiation protection,
including the assessment of the risks in general terms. They provide a basis for estimating
probability of stochastic effects, for absorbed doses well below the thresholds for
deterministic effects.

Table (5- 2): Tissue weighting factors averaged over the sexes and ages

Tissue or organ Tissue weighting factor WT

Gonades 0.20
Red bone marrow 0.12
Colon 0.12
Lung 0.12
Stomach 0.12
Bladder 0.05
Breast 0.05
Liver 0.05
Oesophagus 0.05
Thyroid 0.05
Skin 0.01
Bone surface 0.01
The remainder 0.05
The whole body 1.00

48
5-9 Committed equivalent or effective dose:
- Following an intake of a radio-nuclide into the human body, there is a period during which
this nuclide gives rise to equivalent doses in the tissues of the body at varying rates. The time
integral of the equivalent dose rate is called the committed equivalent dose H(). Where
 is the integration time in years following the intake. If  is not specified, it is considered to
be 50 years for adults and 70 years for children.
- The committed effective dose E() is similarly defined as the committed equivalent dose.
- Both committed equivalent dose and committed effective dose have the same units as the
equivalent or the effective doses.

5-10 Collective equivalent or collective effective dose

- All the dosimetry quantities mentioned before relate to the exposure of an individual.
However, other quantities, related to the exposure of a group of workers or general
population, are necessary. These quantities are the collective equivalent dose ST, in a certain
tissue of a group of people and the collective effective dose S of this group.
- The collective equivalent dose ST is the equivalent dose incurred in a defined tissue or organ
T by a group of workers or by a critical group of people. The collective equivalent dose is
defined as the product of the number N of exposed individuals and their average equivalent
dose HT, when the amount of this dose is equal for each member of the group.
- The collective effective dose S is the effective dose incurred by a group of workers or by a
critical group. The collective effective dose is defined as the product of the number N of
exposed individuals and their average effective dose E.
- If several groups are involved, in the exposure, then the total collective effective dose is the
sum of the collective doses for all groups.
- The classic unit of the collective equivalent dose or collective effective dose is the
"man.rem", while the SI unit is man.Seivert" man.Sv". The relation between these two
units is:
1 man. Sv = 100 man. rem
- The collective quantities represent the total consequences of exposure of population or
group of workers. For example, when the risk factor R (per man. Sv) for lethal cancer is
given, it is very easy to assess the Additional Cancer Deaths (ACD), induced by radiation,
among a group of N exposed persons, each of them is getting annual effective dose of E (Sv),
regularly, during a period of radiation work equal Y years, by multiplying their collective
dose during this period (which is (N E Y man. Seivert) and the risk factor R, using the
following relation:
(ACD) = N * E * Y* R fatalities (5- 10)

49
5- 11 Questions for revision:

a- The exposure as a physical quantity is defined as:

b- The SI unit of the exposure is ….. , while its classic unit is …. :
c- The absorbed dose is defined as:
d- The SI unit of the absorbed dose is …., while its classic unit is ….., and they are related as
……… .
e- The rem is ……….. …… , while the Seivert is ……….. .
f- The Kerma is defined as ………. and its SI unit is:
g- The Roentgen R is related with the Gray for human tissue as …… while for air the relation
is …… .
h- The quantity used to assess cancer probability in the whole body is called …….. .
i- The committed dose arises due to …. and its SI unit is …… :
j- The collective dose is defined as:
k- 100 radiation workers are working in an installation with radiation sources. Suppose each
one of them is getting 20 mSv/year regularly, and they are working with radiation for 25
years. If the risk factor for cancer fatalities is 4x10-2 per man. Sv. then the additional
cancer fatalities among this group due to this exposure are: (the answer is 2)
l- The lung of a technician was exposed to 1, 3, and 15 rad from inhaling of an alpha emitter,
exposure to external neutrons with energy of 14.1 MeV and gamma radiation respectively,
then the equivalent dose in the lung and the whole body effective dose are: (0.65 Sv and
78 mSv).

50
 CHAPTER SIX
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF IONIZING RADIATION

6-1 Direct and indirect actions of ionizing radiation on cells:

- The gross biological effects, resulting from exposure to ionizing radiation are due to long
and complex series of events, which are initiated by ionization of relatively few molecules in
the organism. For example, the lethal dose for 50 % of the exposed people within 30 days
(LD-50/30) is known to be about 4 Gy of gamma rays. This high and lethal dose affects only
1 atom from each about 10 millions atoms.
- It is known that most of the human body is water (about 70 % of human molecules are
water molecules) , and most of the direct action of radiation is, therefore, on water. The result
of energy absorption from ionizing radiation by water molecules is the production of highly
reactive free radicals, which are chemically toxic, and may exert their toxicity on other
molecules (a free radical is a fragment of a compound or an element, that contains an
unpaired electron). When a water molecule is irradiated, it may become ionized, i.e;
H2O  H2O+ + e-
This is known as the physical stage, and it occurs within few femto-seconds from the moment
of irradiation (1 femto-second = 10-15 s).
The resulting positive ion dissociates immediately according to:
H2O+  H+ + (OH)
The electron from first reaction will be captured by a neutral water molecule forming a
negatively charged water molecule according to the reaction:
e- + H2O  H2O-
This last negative ion dissociates, too, immediately as:
H2O-  H + (OH)-
The last three reactions are known as the physio-chemical stage, and they occur within few
microseconds of the moment of irradiation. The positive and negative ions H+ and OH- are of
no consequence, since all body fluids contain significant concentrations of them. The free
radicals H and OH may combine with like radicals, or with other molecules, specially, in case
of irradiation of the human body with high LET (Linear Energy Transfer) particles, such as
alpha particles or fast neutrons. This combination yields a hydrogen peroxide molecule
(H2O2), which is a stable compound and capable to diffuse far from the point of its
generation.
OH + OH  H2O2
Moreover H2O2 is a very powerful oxidizing agent and can affect cells and molecules that did
not suffer radiation damage directly. If the irradiated water contains dissolved oxygen
molecules, then the free hydrogen radical may combine with the oxygen, to form the hydro-
peroxyl radical:
H + O2  HO2
This radical has a greater stability and can diffuse away and combine with a free H radical to
form hydrogen peroxide, thereby further enhancing the toxicity of the ionizing radiation.

- Our knowledge is still too limited concerning the gross of biological effects, which may
occur long after irradiation.

51
6-2 Radiation effects:
- As a result of the processes discussed in the previous paragraph, the living cell may be
damaged. The most important damage is that which may occur in the DNA. Damage in the
DNA may prevent the survival of the cell, affect its reproduction, or modify the cell itself.
- If enough cells in the organ or tissue are killed or prevented from functioning normally,
there will be a loss of the organ function, which is known now as a deterministic effect. The
loss of function will become more serious as the number of affected cells is increased. Many
organs and tissues are not affected by small reductions in the number of the available cells
and the body will attempt to repair this damage. However, if the decrease is large enough,
then the body cannot repair the damage, and the end result will be the death.
- The response of the body to develop a clone of modified somatic cells is complex. The
development of such a clone may be inhibited, unless it is promoted by an additional
agent, before or after irradiation, and the clone may be eliminated or isolated by the body’s
defenses. However, if it is not, it may result after a prolonged or variable delay, called the
"latency period", in the development of malignant conditions in which the proliferation of
modified cells is uncontrolled. Such conditions are grouped together and called cancer. A
modified germ cell in the gonads will transfer genetic information to the descendants of an
exposed individual, which may cause severe harm to some of these descendants, known as
hereditary effects. The somatic and hereditary effects are known as "stochastic effects".
- There is some experimental evidence that radiation appears to enhance immunological
responses and to modify the balance of hormones in the body, thus, strengthening the natural
defense mechanisms of the body. Most of the data on such effects termed "hormesis" have
been inconclusive because of statistical difficulties at low doses.

6-3 Deterministic and stochastic effects:

- The deterministic effects are the radiation effects for which a threshold level of dose
exists, and above which the severity of the effect is greater with increasing the dose above the
threshold value. Deterministic effects occur from acute doses and some of these effects are
radiation disease, cataract, erythema, destruction of the CNS Central Nervous System)
and others. Deterministic effects are belonging to prompt somatic effects, which means
that they appear promptly after exceeding the threshold value on the exposed person.
- The stochastic effects are radiation effects, generally occurring without a threshold level
of dose (i.e they may occur from low doses as well as from high doses), and their probability
is proportional to the incurred dose, and their severity is independent of the dose. Examples
of the stochastic effects are different cancers, leukemia’s, and hereditary effects. The
stochastic effects are considered as delayed effects.

6-4 Acute deterministic effects:

- Acute exposure is defined as any single exposure to high dose of ionizing radiation, during
a short period of time, and which produce biological effects within a short time after exposure
so, they are called prompt effects. All deterministic effects arise due to acute exposures.
These exposures may lead, also, to stochastic effects. The acute radiation syndrome is
subdivided into three classes. In the order of increasing severity, these are:
a) The hemopoietic syndromes.
b) The gastrointestinal syndromes
c) The central nervous system (CNS) syndromes
- Certain diseases or effects are common to all these classes, which are grouped under one
name as "radiation disease or sickness", which includes nausea and vomiting, malaise
and fatigue, increased temperature, and blood changes.
- The blood changes are reflected in the changes of the blood count. These changes, usually,
do not appear before gamma ray doses of 250- 500 mGy, but they, certainly, appear after
500 mGy. The white blood cells known as leucocytes, which are counted in healthy adults as

52
7000 cells/mm3 of blood are responsible for combating the infecting organisms. There are
two main types of the leucocytes, which are granulocytes and lymphocytes, with relative
proportion of about 70- 75 % and 30- 25 % respectively. The granulocytes are produced in
the red bone marrow and circulate for about 3 days before death, while lymphocytes
are produced in the lymph nodes and spleen, and remain alive for 24 hours. After an
acute exposure in the sub-lethal range there is a sharp increase in the number of granulocytes,
followed within a day by a very sharp decrease to reach the minimum for several weeks or
months after exposure. The lymphocytes drop sharply after the exposure, and remain
depressed for several months.
- The hemopoietic syndrome appears after a gamma dose of about 2 Gy. This disease is
characterized by depression or ablation of the red bone marrow. The onset of the disease is,
rather, sudden, and is heralded by nausea and vomiting within several hours after
overexposure. At 4-6 Gy complete ablation of the bone marrow occurs. An exposure
about of 7-8 Gy or greater leads to irreversible ablation of the bone marrow. The LD-
50/30 is in the range of 3-5 Gy.
- The gastrointestinal disorders may appear from relatively small doses (about 1-2 Gy) due to
the death of a part of cells of the intestinal epithelium, but the syndrome is severe after about
10 Gy. This syndrome is a consequence of the desquamation of the intestinal epithelium, and
its signs are severe nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, which begins very soon or immediately
after exposure and the death within 1-2 weeks is the most likely outcome.
- Central nervous system (CNS) syndrome occurs, after relatively high dose of acute
exposure, which is not less than 20 Gy. Its sign is the occurring of unconsciousness, within
minutes after exposure, and the death occurs during several hours to few days.
The skin may be subjected, due to its location to more radiation exposure, especially in the
case of low energy x-ray and beta particles. An exposure of the skin to about 300 R
(approximately 3 Gy) in the diagnostic x-ray results in erythema, while higher doses may
cause pigmentation, blistering and ulceration.
The gonads are particularly radiosensitive. A dose of about 150- 200 mGy to the tests in a
single exposure results in temporary sterility among men, but in case of prolonged exposure
the dose rate threshold is 0.4 Gy/year The corresponding values for permanent sterility are
about 3-6 Gy for acute exposure and 2 Gy/year for prolonged one. For women, the
threshold for permanent sterility is an acute absorbed dose to the ovaries, in the range of
about 2.5- 6 Gy.
The threshold for opacities of the eye lens (cataract), which occur after some delay, seems to
be in the range of about 8-10 Gy for an acute exposure to low LET radiation. For high LET
radiation the absorbed dose threshold is 2 -3 times less.

6-5 The stochastic effects:

- As it has been mentioned, all cancers and hereditary effects belong to the stochastic effects.
For these effects there is no threshold for their induction. As a somatic effect in humans, the
period between exposure to radiation and recognition of a cancer lasts a number of years,
known as latency period. The median latency period seems to be about 7- 8 years for
leukemia, while it seems to be two three times longer for many solid tumors, such as
breast or lung cancers. However there are some types of cancers that may appear after
about two years latency.
- Up to now, Epidemiologic data on carcinogenicity of low doses of radiation are
contradictory and inconclusive. For this reason it is prudent to estimate the risk probability at
low doses by extrapolation from the probabilities at high doses. At high doses, there are many
evidences that the cancer dose response is linear or linear-quadratic, for human beings and for
some other biological species. So, at present, the accepted evaluation model for excess cancer
deaths due to radiation is based on a linear zero-threshold for the extrapolation to low doses.
A typical dose to cancer relationship for low and high-LET radiations is illustrated on fig. (6-
1).

53
- The excess mortality from all cancers, attributed to a collective effective dose of 1 man.Sv,
in an acute uniform whole body exposure by low LET irradiation, (or in other words the risk
factor R, which represents the probability of death from induced cancer by radiation per 1
man.Seivert) is illustrated in table (6-1). These values were obtained and corrected by
different national and international scientific committees, as indicated in this table.

Fig. (6-1): Dose effect relationship for low and high- LET radiations

Table (6-1): The excess mortality from all cancers

attributed to a collective effective dose of 1 man.Sv,

Source of estimate The risk factor per 1 man.Sv

Additive model Multiplicative model
BEIR I, 1972 1.2 x 10 -2 6.2 x 10 -2
UNSCEAR, 1977 2.5 x 10 -2 -
BEIR II, 1980 0.8 x 10 – 2.5 x 10
-2 -2
2.3 x 10 -2 - 5.0 x 10 -2
NUREG, 1985 2.9 x 10 -2 5.2 x 10 -2
UNSCEAR, 1988 4.0 x 10 – 5.0 x 10
-2 -2
7 x 10 -2 – 11 x 10 -2
BEIR V, 1990 - 8.85 x 10-2

- The relative probabilities of fatal cancers in different organs and the total Risk factor for
Japanese population, sexes-averaged, ages 0- 90 years, 0- 19 years, 20- 64 years, Evaluated
by Japan and the National Institute of Health (NIH) of USA, are tabulated in table (6-2). It is
evident that the relative probabilities vary with age group by a factor of about 2 for leukemia
and colon cancer.
Table (6-2): Relative probabilities of fatal cancers in different
organs and the total Risk factor for Japanese population

The relative probability

Organ Multiplicative model NIH
0- 90 y 0- 19 y 20- 64 y 0- 90 y 0- 19 y 20- 64 y
esophagus 0.038 0.021 0.061 0.042 0.024 0.063
Stomach 0.291 0.266 0.305 0.268 0.225 0.301
Colon 0.180 0.255 0.089 0.121 0.171 0.066
Lung 0.174 0.191 0.159 0.221 0.297 0.129
Breast 0.023 0.025 0.022 0.027 0.034 0.019
Ovary 0.014 0.009 0.023 0.019 0.013 0.025
Bladder 0.052 0.030 0.082 0.052 0.028 0.080
Bone marrow 0.077 0.052 0.109 0.100 0.055 0.165
Remainder 0.150 0.050 0.150 0.150 0.150 0.150
54
 All cancers 0.999 1.000 1.000 0.998 1.000 1.000

6-6 Hereditary effects

- Two kinds of radiation induced genetic damage, when one of the two parents is irradiated,
are considered important. These two kinds are gene mutations (alterations in the genes) and
gross chromosome aberrations (alteration in the structure or number of the
chromosomes). This damage may be transmitted and become manifest as hereditary
disorders in the descendants of the exposed individual.
- Hereditary effects vary widely in their severity, when the induction of dominant mutation
occur. It may lead to genetic diseases, in the first and second generation progeny after
exposure, and they may be seriously harmful and life-threading. Chromosomal aberrations
may also result in congenital abnormalities in children. Moreover, Interaction of genetic and
environmental factors may lead to the so called multi- factorial disorders.
- For low doses and dose rates, the ICRP estimates the nominal hereditary effect probability
coefficient for severe effects (excluding multi-factorial effects), related to the gonad doses,
and over all generation, to be about (0.6- 1.1) x 10-2 per man.Sv.
- The principal effects of irradiation on the mammalian fetus include:
a) Lethal effects in the embryo.
b) Malformations and other constructional changes.
c) Mental retardation.
d) Introduction of malignancies including leukemia.
e) Hereditary effects.
- Lethal effects can be induced in experimental animals by small doses (0.1 Gy) immediately
after implantation of the embryo into the uterine wall. Human pregnancy loss is known to
occur following exposure to ionizing radiation. However, data on the probability of fetal
death, for different dose are sparse, and it is difficult to conclude on the dose- effect
relationship coefficient.
- Malformation can arise spontaneously, as well as from radiation. The most dangerous
period of exposure is during the most active phase of cell multiplication and differentiation in
the structure of the concern. However, malformation may also occur at all stages, especially
in the later phase of pregnancy. The malformations appear to result from the killing of cells.
Dose-effect relationship is not derived for humans, and the corresponding relationship for
animals may be applied.
- Mental retardation was not observed to be induced by radiation prior to 8 weeks from
conception, or after 25 weeks. During the most sensitive period, which is 8-15 weeks after
conception, the fraction of those exposed which became severely mentally retarded increased
by approximately 0.4 per Sv. For exposure during weeks 16-25, it is increased by about 0.1
per Sv. Moreover mental impairment of lower severity is also apparent in children exposed in
uteri. Evidence of such impairment is still being collected.
- Irradiated fetuses seem to be susceptible to childhood leukemias and the childhood cancers,
which are expressed during, approximately, the first decade of life. The risk of fetal
childhood cancer due to prenatal exposure has been estimated to be 2.8 x 10 -2 Per Man. Sv.
Constancy of risk throughout the pregnancy was assumed.

55
6- 7 Questions for revision
a- Ionizing radiation is starting destruction of human cells due to:
b- Effects which are requiring that the dose shall exceed a threshold and their severity
depends on the dose behind the threshold are:
c- Effects which are somatic, hereditary and delayed are called:
d- Three diseases belonging to the deterministic effects are:
e- Two diseases belonging to the stochastic effects are:
f- The LD 50/30 means ……. And is about ……… :
g- If each member of a group of people got 10 Sv whole body acute dose then the probability
of death among this group is:

56
 CHAPTER SEVEN
DOSE CALCULATION

7-1 Dose calculation from point sources:

- Effective dose rates from point exposed sources, existing outside the human body,
which emit beta particle, gamma radiation and neutrons can be easily calculated with high
accuracy, using very simple mathematical relations. For alpha emitters the external
irradiation of the human body is, completely of no importance, since the energy of alpha
particles is completely absorbed in about 4 cm of air. Even, if a person is very close to an
alpha emitting source, the emitted particles will be fully absorbed in a very thin layer of the
dead skin. However, the radio-nuclides which emit alpha particles are considered the most
hazardous particles if these nuclides are ingested or inhaled or taken by any other mean of
intake, (internal exposure), due to the high linear energy transfer from these particles and,
correspondingly, due to the high specific ionization and high radiation weighting factor of
heavy charged particles.

7-2 Dose calculation for the beta emitters:

- For any beta emitting source, which is relatively small in dimension, so that it may be
considered as a point source, and which is very thin enough, to neglect the self absorption of
beta particles inside the source, the dose rate Ė (in microSeivert/hour Sv/h) resulting at a
point p, existing at a distance d (in meters) from the source center can be calculated with `` a
good accuracy using eq. (7-1):
Ė (Sv/h) = (5 A Eav) / d2 (7-1)
Where Eav is the average energy of the beta particles emitted from the beta source (in
MeV), and A is the source activity (in Mega Becquerell, MBq). If the average energy Eav of
the beta emitting radionuclide is not known, then it can be easily approximated with accepted
degree of accuracy from the maximum energy Emax (i.e. end point energy) of this
radionuclide as; Eav = Emax /3 .
- When the relation (7-1) is used to calculate the dose rate Ė of beta emitters, the distance d
between the source and the point of interest should be limited enough (up to about 2 m), to
ignore the absorption of beta particles in air, which may play a considerable role, specially
when the emitted particles are of relatively low energy.
- When the average energy, Eav of the beta particles is relatively small, then energy
absorption in the source material, air and detector window should be taken into consideration.
The percentage of the absorbed energy in these media should be subtracted from the dose rate
calculated by equation (7-1).

7-3 Dose calculation from external gamma sources:

- For a relatively small gamma emitting source, so that it may be considered as a point
source, and which is relatively thin, to neglect the self absorption inside the source, the dose
rate Ė (in microSeivert/hour Sv/h) resulting at a point p, which exists at a distance d (in
meters) from the exposed source, which emits gamma ray can be calculated with a good
accuracy using eq.(7-2).
Ė (Sv/h) = Γ A/ d2 (7-2)
where, A is the activity of the source (in Mega Becquerel MBq), Γ is the so called
gamma specific constant (or gamma exposure rate constant) for the given radionuclide.
- The gamma specific constant Γ of a radionuclide, in the SI system of units, is defined as the
dose rate (in µSv/h) at a distance of 1 m from a source of this radionuclide with activity of (1
MBq) and its unit in this system is (Sv.m2/h. MBq)

57
In the classic system of units, the gamma specific constant is known as gamma exposure rate
constant Γ of the radionuclide. In this system of units, it is defined as the exposure rate (in R
/h) at a distance of 1 m from a source of this radionuclide with activity of (1 Ci). The unit of
this constant in this case is (R.m2/h.Ci)
The gamma specific factor Γ can be easily calculated for gamma emitters which are emitting
gamma radiation with a single gamma ray energy as:
Γ = 0.142 f Eγ (MeV) (7- 3)
Where, f is the relative intensity of the gamma ray line emitted from the daughter nucleus per
one alpha or beta decay of the parent nucleus. In other words f represents the probability of
emission of one photon with the specific energy per one beta or alpha decay and Eγ is the
energy of the gamma line in (MeV).
If the source emits more than one gamma ray line (i.e. it emits gamma ray with different
fixed energy values Ei , then the gamma specific factor is calculated using equation (7- 4);
 = 0.142 ∑i (fi Ei) (7-4)
Where, the summation ∑i is taken for all gamma ray lines i , and the product (fi Ei)
represents the product of fi for the i line, and its energy Ei (in MeV) .
- Up to now, some books and references are using the classic system of units. For this reason,
one should be capable of transferring this  constant between the two systems of units. For
this purpose, equation (7- 5) represents the relation between them.
(Sv.m2/h.MBq) = (R.m2/h.Ci)/3.7 (7- 5)
- Table (7-1) displays the values for the gamma specific factor for some widely used
radionuclides in some practices, in the two systems of units.
Table (7-1): the gamma specific factor for some radionuclides

The radionuclide The gamma specific constant 

(Sv.m2/h.MBq) (R.m2/h.Curie)
Cesium Cs-137 0.087 0.325
Cobalt Co-60 0.356 1.32
Gold Au-198 0.0622 0.23
Iodine I-131 0.0595 0.22
Iridium Ir-192 0.13 0.48
Radium Ra-226 0.223 0.825
Sodium Na-24 0.497 1.84

7-4 Dose calculation from neutron sources

- It should be mentioned that all neutron sources, used in different practices, are emitting fast
neutrons with either a continuous spectrum (i.e. with energy varying from some tens of KeV
up to about 9.5 MeV) with a homogeneous energy distribution, or with a single energy value
such as neutrons from neutron generators or photonuclear sources.
- Neutron sources, with isotropic neutron distribution, may be considered as a point source.
The dose rate Ė (in Sv/h) resulting at a point p, which exists at a distance d (in meters)
from the source, can be easily calculated using eq.(7- 6).
Ė (Sv/h) = (0.08 C N)/d2 (7- 6)
Where, C is the neutron to effective dose rate conversion factor, which is tabulated in some
references, N is the number of neutrons emitted from the source or generator per second.
-Table (7- 2) represents the values of the conversion factor C, for some neutron energies, in a
unit to get the neutron effective dose rate in (Sv/h).

58
 Table (7- 2): the neutron to dose rate factor in (Sv.m2/h.one n)
for some neutron energies
The neutron energy C The neutron energy C
1 KeV 3.74 x 10-6 1 MeV 1.32 x 10-4
10 KeV 3.56 x 10-6 5 MeV 1.56 x 10-4
100 KeV 2.17 x 10-5 10 MeV 1.47 x 10-4
500 KeV 9.25 x 10-5 Am- Be source, Cf 1.45 x 10-4

7-5 The Inverse square law for external exposure:

- This law is applicable to all gamma and neutron point sources. For beta particle sources, the
law may be applied, only for relatively small distances d from the source, due to the
absorption of a fraction of beta particles energy in air. This law states that, the effective dose
rate Ė from a point source inversely depends on the square of the distance d between the
source and the intended point. This means that when the distance from the source is doubled
the dose rate will be decreased four times, and when the distance is increased three times,
the dose rate will be decreased 9 times (32 = 9). In mathematical representation, when there
are two points from a source, located at distances d1 and d2, and the dose rates at these points
are Ė1, and Ė2 respectively, then the inverse square law states that, the dose rates and their
distances are related by the following equation:
Ė1 d 1 2 = Ė 2 d 2 2 (7- 7)

7-6 Role of time:

- It is well known that the second important principle of radiation protection is the time
duration of exposure. This principle states that increasing of the time period t of exposure to
ionizing radiation will linearly increase the incurred dose E. In other words the total incurred
dose E at a certain point from a source is related with the dose rate Ė at the same point and
during time duration t of exposure as:
E=Ė*t (7- 8)

7-7 Dose calculation from internal exposure:

- When radio-nuclides are intaken inside the human body via ingestion, inhalation, injection,
or through a wound in the skin, the exposure, then, is called internal exposure and the
effective or equivalent dose arising due this are described as committed equivalent of
effective doses. Any radioisotope or its compound, when ingested or inhaled inside the
human body, behaves in a different manner, and its metabolic behavior depends on many
factors including dietary habits of the human beings. The simplest and most accurate
approach to evaluate the effective committed dose E, (in Seivert) from the intake (internal
contamination with a certain radionuclide), via ingestion or inhalation can be easily done
using equation (7- 9), in case of intake of a different radionuclides. The total committed dose
is determined as:
E (Sv) = i Ci Ai (7- 9)
Where, Ci is the dose conversion factor of the intake of one Becquerel of a radionuclide i (in
Sv/Bq), and Ai is the activity of the intaken amount of the radionuclide i (in Bq). The
summation should be taken for all these radionuclides (by ingestion or by inhalation,
depending on the pathway).
- It should be mentioned that the dose conversion factor Ci strongly depends on the pathway
of the intake (ingestion, inhalation or through skin), as well as on the chemical and physical
form of the ingested or inhaled radionuclide, as well as on the solubility of the chemical
compound in which it is existing. Moreover, the factor is strongly age dependent. For this

59
reason The ICRP, IAEA and UNSCEAR have Published these factors separatelely for
ingestion and inhalation and for different age groups (less than 1 year, from 1- to 2 years,
from 2- to 7years, from 7- to 12 years, from 13- to 18 years, and adults). The obtained
committed doses using these conversion factors refer to the dose incurred up to 70 years of
age.

7-8 The Annual Limit on Intake (ALI):

- It is the intake by ingestion or inhalation, of a given single radionuclide in a single year, by
the reference man (70 kg mass), which would result in a committed effective dose equal to
the relevant annual dose limit for the occupational workers. The ALI is expressed in the unit
of activity.
- For occupational workers, where the dose limit, now, is 20 mSv, the ALI for a certain
radionuclide i (in Bq) can be determined, using the dose conversion coefficient Ci for this
radionuclide, (in Sv/Bq) for adults, which represents the committed effective dose per intake
of 1 Bq, via the defined mode of intake by the following (7- 10) relation.
ALIi (Bq) = 20x10-3 / Ci (7- 10)
- It should be mentioned that intake of 1 ALI by any mean of intake, in one year, is
equivalent to an effective committed dose of 20 mSv/year

7-9 The Derived Air Concentration (DAC)

- It is defined as the maximum concentration (in Bq/m3) of a single radionuclide in the air at
the working place of an occupational reference man, breathing of which during the whole
working hours through the year (2000 hours/year), would result in a committed effective dose
equal to the relevant occupational dose limit (i.e 20 mSv).
- The DAC of a certain radionuclide is derived using the volume of the breathed air during
the work hours. According to the used model, the reference man breathes, in average, 1.25 m3
of air during one working hour, if the work is of a moderate nature. This means that the
inhaled volume of air during the 2000 working hours/year is 2500 m3 for the reference man.
So, the (DAC) is defined in terms of ALI, as:
(DAC)I (Bq/m3) = (ALI)I / 2500 (7- 11)
- It should be mentioned that inhalation of 2000 (DAC. hours) by any worker in one year is
equivalent to an effective committed dose of 20 mSv/year. In other words, one (DAC.hour) is
equivalent to 10 microSeivert.

60
7-10 Questions for revision:

a- The gamma specific factor in the SI system of units is defined as:

b- The unit of the gamma specific factor in the classic system is:
c- The beta dose rate at a distance 40 cm from a small thin Cs=137 source with activity 3 Ci,
which emits beta particles with maximum energy of 512 KeV is: (59.2 rem/h)
d- The gamma dose rate at a distance of 80 cm from a Co-60 source, with activity 400 mCi
is: (8.2 mSv/h)
e- The neutron dose rate at a distance of 0.5 m from a Cf-252 neutron source which emits 1.2
x !09 neutrons per second is: (0.93 mSv/h)
f- The three principles of radiation protection are:
g- The ALI for a radionuclide is defined as:
h- The DAC for a radionuclide means:
i- 1 DAC.h is equivalent to: (1o microSeivert)
j- A technician in a nuclear medicine lab. Ingested in a given year 0.3 ALI and inhaled 800
DAC.h in the same year, then his total committed dose in that year is: (14 mSv)
k- The dose rate from an Ir-192 source at a distance of 1 m from the exposed source is 481
mSv/h, then the dose rate from the same source at a distance 10 cm is: (48.1 Sv/h)
l- A technician is working in a controlled area with a radiation level of 6 µSv/h for 8 hours
daily, then his accumulated dose in on year is: (12 mSv)

61
 CHAPTER EIGHT
RADDIATION SHIELDING

8- 1 Shielding of sources of alpha particles:

- It has been mentioned, in chapter 2, that alpha particles, emitted from all their natural
sources, are absorbed within a relatively thin layer of air (about 3.5- 4 cm for 5 MeV
particles). So all external sources of alpha particles do not require any shield, provided that
there are no other types of radiation (beta, gamma or neutrons) emitted from these sources.

8- 2 Shielding of sources of beta particles:

- To make a proper shield for a beta source one should use, only, light rigid material, with
low atomic mass number Z, since high Z materials interact with these particles, yielding a
considerable portion of highly penetrating x rays. The portion f (in percent %) of beta particle
energy transferred to emit bremstrahlung radiation (x-ray) is defined from the maximum
energy of the beta spectrum Emax (in MeV), and the atomic number Z of the interacting
material as:
f = 0.035 Z Emax % (8- 1)
- Although beta particles are characterized by a continuous energy spectrum, their mass
range Rm in any matter can be easily calculated using the maximum energy Emax of the beta
spectrum. For this purpose, the mass range Rm in (gram/cm2) is defined as the linear range R
(in cm) in the defined material, multiplied by its density , i.e:
R m = R . (8- 2)
- The mass range Rm of beta particles in a given material is defined as a function of the
maximum energy Emax of the beta spectrum from the given radionuclide, using the following
(8- 3) relation, provided that Emax is expressed in MeV:
Rm(gm/cm2)=0.412 Emax(1.265 - 0.0954 ln Emax) (8- 3)
- Equation (8- 3) is applied when the beta particles maximum energy is in the range between
0 up to 2.5 MeV. At higher beta particles energies other equation is used for determination of
Rm, which is:
Rm (gm/cm2)= 0.53 Emax - o.106 (8- 4)
It should be mentioned that the thickness Rm of the shield for beta particles, which is
sufficient to, completely, absorb these particles does not depend on the activity of the
source, so that the shield which is sufficient for any small activity is also sufficient to shield
any other much larger activity of the same beta emitter. This principle is not valid for x-ray or
gamma radiation, where the source activity is the most important factor in determination of
the thickness of the shield.
Due to the energy loss of some beta particles energy via emission of the bremstrahlung
radiation (x- ray), the shields of all beta sources, which must be made from low Z material
should be surrounded by another shield, which is made of a high Z material to absorb the x-
rays, emitted during the interaction of the beta particles with the beta shield. Calculation of
the later shield will be covered in the next paragraph.

8- 3 Shielding of x and gamma radiation sources

- In chapter 2, the linear attenuation coefficient μ for a certain matter and at a certain photon
energy as well as the mass attenuation coefficient μa have been defined and used in an
exponential form to express the attenuation of the number of x or gamma photons as a
function of the thickness x of the material. Number of the photons N, which will penetrate the

62
thickness x without any interaction with the matter was expressed, mathematically, by the
exponential law:
N = No e - μ x
- This exponential attenuation (e.g. exponential reduction of the number of photons as a
function of x) is valid for calculation of the thickness of the shield for electromagnetic
radiation, only, when the beam of parallel mono-energetic photons is very narrow, and
the thickness x of the attenuator is very thin.
- In order to calculate the effective dose rate Ė of x or gamma radiation due to a certain
shield, one should use the mass-energy absorption coefficient μa instead of the mass
attenuation coefficient μm, due to the reasons, mentioned in chapter 2. So, the relation
between the dose rate Ė in the presence of the shield of a thickness x and dose rate without
this shield Ė0 is:
Ė = Ė0 e – μa x (8- 5)
- In all other cases, when the photon beam is not narrow, or the shield is not thin, this
exponential law is not valid, due to the so called "build up" of photons in the point of interest.
This build up arises due to two modes of photon interaction with the matter, which are:
Compton scattering and pair production, while the photoelectric effect does not yield any
build up. Due to Compton scattering some photons, which are emerged far away from the
point of interest may be scattered, and as a result of this first scattering it may reach the point
of interest (see the photon 1 in fig 8- 1). Additionally, multiple Compton scattering may arise
due to the large thickness of the shield, increasing the number of photons that may reach the
point of interest (see the photon 2 on fig. 8- 1). In the pair production the energy may not be
transferred completely to the matter, since one or even the two photons, resulting from the
annihilation of the positron with one electron may escape out of the matter, reaching the point
of interest (the photon 3 on fig 8- 1).

Fig. (8- 1)

- The build up factor B is defined as the ratio of the total number of photons It, which arrive
the point of interest directly Id from the source and due to scattering, multiple scattering, or
pair production Is to the number of photons, which arrive the same point directly Id, i.e:
B = It / I d
= ( Is + Id ) / Id (8- 6)
- The build up factor B, strongly, depends on photon energy E, as well as on the atomic
number Z of the shield, and on the thickness of this shield x. Its magnitude may vary from 1
in an ideal geometry (i.e. when the photon beam is very narrow and the shield thickness is
very thin, i.e. there is no build up) to some orders of magnitude for the practical conditions.
This makes the application of the relation (8-5) for calculation of the shield thickness
practically invalid for real conditions, since it will yield much less thickness. For this reason,
63
the build up factor should be taken into consideration, in shield calculation. The correct
equation that should be used, to take into consideration the build up factor is:
N = N0 B e – μa x (8-7)
- It should be mentioned that the thickness x, which is sufficient to decrease the dose rate at
the point of interest to a certain value, is dependent on the activity of the source. Increase of
the activity of the gamma-ray source requires corresponding increase of the shield thickness x
to reach the required dose rate outside the shield.

8- 4 Shielding of the neutron sources:

- It has been mentioned in chapter 2 that the material with low atomic number Z, especially
hydrogen, are considered as the best moderators for fast neutrons, since these neutrons (with
energy higher than 100 KeV) requires not more than 18 collision, in average, with the
hydrogen nuclei (protons) to moderate them to thermal neutrons with energies of about 0.025
eV. In light materials, rich with hydrogen, such as paraffin wax, plastics, and water the
thickness which is required to moderate or slow down the fast neutrons varies within 18- 23
cm. So, the use of a layer with this thickness, of any of these materials will be sufficient to
moderate fast neutrons to thermal ones.
- One of the main principles used to shield the neutron sources is, first, to moderate fast
neutrons, which are emitted from all neutron sources and generators, then to capture
moderated neutrons by other material with a high probability for neutron capture of thermal
and slow neutrons, and finally, to attenuate the gamma radiation emitted during the neutron
radiative capture.
- There are some elements, such as cadmium, boron and others, which are characterized with
a very high cross section for thermal and slow neutron radioactive capture (i.e. thermal
neutron absorption with the emission of gamma photon). So, after moderation of fast
neutrons, a layer of about 1 mm thickness of cadmium (Cd-114) is sufficient to capture the
majority of the moderated neutrons.
- Due to the radioactive capture of the thermal neutrons gamma ray photons will be emitted,
so that, an additional layer of a material with high atomic number Z, such as lead is required
to attenuate these radiations. For this reason, a third layer, with a reasonable thickness of
lead, is used to absorb gamma photons emitted from cadmium layer.
- So, the ideal shield for neutron sources consists of three consequent layers which are:
a) About 20 cm wax, plastic or water, surrounded by,
b) About 1 mm Cadmium114 sheet, which in its turn, is surrounded by
c) A reasonable thickness of lead or any other high Z material.
- Neutron shields may be made by a single layer of a low Z material, such as paraffin wax,
plastic, water or others. This is related with the limited ability of hydrogen and some other
light (or low Z) material to capture thermal neutrons after their moderation. The main
requirement for such shields is to increase the thickness of the layer to a sufficient value, so
that the reduction of the dose rate, arising from the moderated neutrons outside the shield is
achieved. Examples of such shields are the neutron semi-spherical howitzers made of wax
around the neutron sources used for educational and other purposes. The thickness of the
paraffin wax or the water around the source may vary from about 50 to more than 150 cm,
depending on the neutron yield of the source.
- In case of accidents with neutron sources, one may use any available light materials to
shield the exposed neutron source, including water bags, sands and rocks, and even pieces of
wood.

64
8- 5 Questions for revision:

a- The best material to be used to prepare a shield for a high activity beta source is the
material with:
b- The Sr-90 decays through beta decay with an end point of 546 KeV to Y-90, which is also
beta emitter with an end point of 2290 KeV, if the activity of the S-90 is 3 Ci and it is in
equilibrium with Y-09, then the required thickness of Aluminum with density of 2.7 g/cm3
shall be not less than: (4.14 mm).
c- The build-up factor in shielding of gamma sources depends on:
d- If the ratio between the primary and the secondary numbers of photons arriving to a
specific point behind the shield is 1 : 5, then the build-up factor is …. , and contribution of
secondary photons at this point is …. : (6, and 83%).
e- The most efficient material that shall be used to shield x or gamma ray is the material with
f- The relaxation length of a barrier which is (0.693 x/x1/2) equals 10, then the transmission
factor behind this barrier is: (4.54x10-5)
h- It is required to reduce the radiation level at a point outside an irradiation facility from 100
millions Sv/h to 0.2 µSv/h, using a concrete wall with a half value layer of 6 cm, then the
required thickness of this concrete wall shall be: (203 cm)
i- The principle in shielding neutron sources is:

65
 THE ORGANIZATIONAL ASPECTS
OF RADIATION PROTECTION

FIRST: GENERAL FRAMEWORK AND

REQUIREMENTS FOR RADIATION PROTECTION

1 INTRODUCTION:
- Occupational exposure to radiation can occur as a result of various human activities,
including the use of radioactive sources and x-ray machines in medicine, scientific research,
agriculture, industry, and other practices, associated with the different stages of the nuclear
fuel cycle, and occupations that involve the handling of materials containing enhanced
concentrations of naturally occurring radionuclides
- This part addresses the organizational aspects of radiation protection, in situations of both
normal and potential exposures. The intention is to provide an integrated approach to the
control of normal and potential exposures, due to external and internal irradiation from both
artificial and natural sources of radiation.
- The term “protection” is used by the IAEA and other international sponsoring organization
to mean protection of people against ionizing radiation, while the term safety is referring to
safety of radiation sources.

2 ADMINISTARATIVE REQUIREMENTS:

2- 1 The practice and the intervention:

- The practice is defined as the human activities that add radiation exposure to that which
people normally receive from existing radiation sources, or that increase the likelihood (i,e
probability) of their incurring exposure. For a practice, provisions for radiation protection and
safety should be made before its commencement, and the associated radiation exposures and
their likelihood can be restricted from the outset.
- The interventions are human activities that seek to reduce the existing radiation exposure,
or the likelihood of incurring exposure, and which are not part of a controlled practice. In the
case of intervention, the circumstances giving rise to exposure or the likelihood of exposure
already exist, and their reduction can only be achieved by means of protective or remedial
actions.

2- 2 Requirements of radiation protection:

a- The basic (or general) obligation:
- This obligation states that:
- No practice shall be adopted, introduced, conducted, discontinued or ceased and no source
within a practice shall, be mined, milled, processed, designed, manufactured, constructed,
assembled, acquired, imported, exported, distributed, sold, loaned, hired, received, sited,
located, commissioned, possessed, used, operated, maintained, repaired, transferred,
decommissioned, disassembled, transported, stored or disposed of, except in accordance with
the national requirements, unless the exposure from such practice or source is excluded from
the requirements, including the requirements of notification and authorization.

b- Authorization, registration, or licensing:

- The legal person responsible for any sealed source, unsealed source or radiation generator
(including x-ray machines, accelerators and neutron generators) shall apply to the Regulatory
Authority for an authorization which shall take the form of a license.

66
- The legal person responsible for any irradiation installation, mine or mill processing of the
radioactive ores, installation processing radioactive substances, nuclear installation or
radioactive waste management facility, or for any use of a source shall apply to the regulatory
authority for an authorization which shall take the form of a license.
- Any legal person applying for an authorization shall:
(1) Submit to the regulatory authority the relevant information necessary to support the
application.
(2) Refrain from carrying out any of the actions described in the basic obligation until the
license has been granted.
(3) Make an assessment of the nature, magnitude and likelihood of the exposures attributed to
a source and take all necessary steps for the protection of workers, general public and
environment and for the safety of this source.
(4) If the potential for an exposure is greater than any level, specified by the regulatory
authority, a safety assessment shall be made and submitted to the regulatory authority as a
part of the application.
- The legal person responsible for a source, to be used for medical exposure, shall include in
the application for license:
(1) The qualifications in radiation protection of the medical practitioners who are to be so
designated by name in the license; or
( 2) A statement that only medical practitioners with the qualifications in radiation protection
specified in the relevant regulations or to be specified in the license will bepermitted to
prescribe medical exposure by means of the authorized source.
- The licensee shall bear the responsibility for setting up and implementing the technical and
organizational measures that are needed for ensuring protection and safety for the sources for
which he is authorized. He may appoint other people to carry out actions and tasks related to
these responsibilities, but he shall retain the responsibility for the actions and tasks himself.
- The licensee shall specifically identify the individuals responsible for ensuring compliance
with the national requirements.
- licensee shall notify the regulatory authority of his intentions to introduce modifications to
any practice or source for which he is authorized, whenever the modifications could have
implications for protection or safety, and shall not carry out any of such modification unless,
specifically, authorized by the regulatory authority.

c- Inspection:
- The Licensee shall permit duly authorized representatives of the regulatory authority, and of
the relevant sponsoring organizations when applicable, to inspect their protection and safety
records and to carry out appropriate inspections of their authorized activities. Some
inspection should be announced and the others must not be announced.

d- None-compliance:
- In the event of a breach of any applicable requirement of the regulations, the licensee shall
investigate the breach and its causes, circumstances and consequences, take appropriate
action to remedy the circumstances that led to the breach and to prevent a recurrence of
similar breaches, and communicate to the regulatory authority on the causes of the breach and
on the corrective or preventive actions taken or to be taken.
- The communication of a breach of the regulations shall be prompt, and it shall be immediate
whenever an emergency exposure situation has developed or is developing. Failure to take
corrective or preventive actions within a reasonable time in accordance with the
national regulations shall be grounds for modifying, suspending or withdrawing any
authorization that had been granted by the regulatory authority.

67
2- 3 Basic framework of radiation protection:
- The basic framework of radiation protection includes the principles of radiation protection
and safety. The components of this framework are as follows:
(a) Justification of practices:
- Justification of a practice means:
“Any practice, or a source within the practice, shall not be authorized unless this practice
produces sufficient benefits to the exposed individuals or to society to offset the radiation
harm that it might cause; that is: unless the practice is justified, taking into account the social
and economic factors of the country”.
- The process of determining whether a practice is justified involves consideration of all the
radiation doses received by workers and members of the general public, for present and
next generations.

(b) Optimization of radiation protection and safety:

- Optimization of radiation protection and safety means:
- In relation to exposures from any particular source within a practice protection and safety
shall be optimized in order that, the magnitude of individual doses, the number of people
exposed, and the likelihood of incurring exposures, all be kept as low as reasonably
achievable, (ALARA principle), economic and social factors being taken into account, with
the restriction that the doses to individuals delivered by the source be subject to dose
constraints.
- Senior management should translate their commitment to optimization of radiation
protection into effective action by establishing appropriate radiation protection program, and
local rules commensurate with the level and the nature of the radiological risk presented by
the practice.
- In order to reduce or avert exposures in intervention situations, protective actions or
remedial actions shall be undertaken whenever they are justified.

(c) Dose limitation:

- “The normal exposure of individuals shall be restricted, so that neither the total effective
dose nor the total equivalent dose to relevant organs or tissues, caused by the possible
combination of exposures from authorized practices, exceeds any relevant dose limit,
specified by the national regulatory authority.
- The dose limits are applied, only, for occupational and general public exposures, while they
are not applied for medical exposures or exposures during emergencies.
- The limit on effective dose represents the level above which the risk of stochastic effects
due to radiation is considered to be unacceptable, while it is much less than the thresholds for
deterministic effects. For localized exposure of the lens of the eye, extremities and the skin,
this limit on effective dose is not sufficient to ensure the avoidance of deterministic effects,
and therefore limits on equivalent dose are specified for such situations.

(d) Guidance levels for medical exposure:

- Guidance levels for medical exposure shall be established for use by medical practitioners.
The guidance levels are intended to be a reasonable indication of doses for average sized
patients. They are needed to provide guidance on what is achievable with current good
practice rather than on what should be considered optimum performance;

68
3- MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR PROTECTION:
3- 1 Safety culture:
- One of the definitions of the safety culture is that it is consisting of the assembly of
characteristics and attitudes in the organization and individuals, which establishes that, as an
overriding priority, protection and safety issues receive the attention warranted by their
significance.
- A safety culture shall be fostered and maintained to encourage a questioning and learning
attitude to protection and safety and to discourage complacency, which shall ensure that
policies and procedures be established that identify protection and safety as being of the
highest priority, and problems affecting protection and safety be, promptly, identified and
corrected

3- 2 Quality assurance:
- Quality assurance programs shall be established, that provide adequate assurance that the
specified requirements relating to protection and safety are satisfied, and quality control
mechanisms for assessing the effectiveness of protection and safety measures are fulfilled.

3- 3 Human factors:
- Provision shall be made for reducing as far as practicable the contribution of human error
to accidents and other events that could give rise to exposures, by ensuring that all personnel,
on whom protection and safety depend, be appropriately trained and qualified so that they
understand their responsibilities and perform their duties according to defined procedures,
and appropriate equipment, safety systems, and procedural requirements be provided and
other necessary provisions be made to reduce, as far as practicable, the possibility of the
human errors.

3- 4 Qualified experts:
- Licensee should identify qualified experts and shall make available the expertise for
providing advice on the observance of the regulations.

4- PRINCIPAL REQUIREMENTS
4- 1 Security of sources:
- Sources shall be kept secure, so as to prevent their theft or damage and to prevent any
unauthorized legal person from carrying out any of the actions specified in the basic
obligation for practices, by ensuring that control of the sources is ensured against loss or
theft, and that any source shall not be transferred unless the receiver possesses a valid
authorization. A periodic inventory of all sources, especially, movable shall be conducted at
appropriate intervals to confirm that they are in their assigned locations and are secure.

4- 2 Defense in depth:
- A multilayer system (or defense in depth) of provisions for protection and safety,
commensurate with the magnitude and likelihood of the potential exposures involved, shall
be applied to sources, such that a failure at one layer is compensated for or corrected by the
subsequent layers, for the purposes of preventing accidents that may cause exposure and
mitigating the consequences of any such accident that does occur; and restoring sources to
safe conditions after any such accident.

69
4- 3 Good engineering practices
- As applicable, the sitting, location, design, construction, assembly, commissioning,
operation, maintenance and decommissioning of sources within a practice shall be based on
sound engineering which shall take account of approved codes and standards and other
documented instruments. This includes taking into account of relevant developments in
technical criteria, as well as the results of any relevant research on protection and safety and
lessons from previous experiences.

5- VERIFICATION OF SAFETY:
5-1 Safety assessments:
- Safety assessments related to protection and safety measures for sources within a practice
shall be made at different stages, including sitting, design, manufacture, construction,
assembly, commissioning, operation, maintenance and decommissioning, as appropriate, in
order to identify the ways in which normal and potential exposures could be incurred,
account being taken of the effect of events external to the sources, as well as events directly
involving the sources and their associated equipment and to assess the quality and extent of
the protection and safety provisions.

5- 2 Monitoring and verification of compliance:

- Monitoring and measurements shall be conducted of the parameters necessary for
verification of compliance with the requirements and regulations. For this purpose, suitable
equipment shall be provided and verification procedures introduced. The equipment shall be
properly maintained and tested and shall be calibrated at appropriate intervals with reference
to standards traceable to national or international standards.

1. 5- 3 Records:
2. Different records shall be maintained for the practices and sources and records for the
results of monitoring and verification of compliance, including records of the tests
and calibrations carried out in accordance with the national standards.

6- CONDITION OF SERVICE:
-------------------------------------------
- A female worker should, on becoming aware that she is pregnant, notify the employer in
order that her working conditions may be modified. The notification of pregnancy shall not
be considered a reason to exclude a female worker from work, however, the employer of a
female worker, who has notified pregnancy, shall adapt the working conditions in respect of
occupational exposure, so as to ensure that the embryo or fetus is afforded the same broad
level of protection as required for members of the public.

6-2 Conditions for young persons

- No person under the age of 16 years shall be subjected to occupational exposure, and no
person under the age of 18 years shall be allowed to work in a controlled area unless
supervised, and then only for the purpose of training.

6- 3 Classification of areas
- The licensee shall designate controlled and supervised areas, in which specific protective
measures or safety provisions are required for controlling normal exposures or preventing the

70
spread of contamination, during normal working conditions. The licensee shall delineate
controlled and supervised areas by physical means.
- According to Saudi national regulation, the controlled area is defined as the area in which
the annual effective dose may reach 3/10 the occupational annual dose limit (i.e may reach 6
mSv/year, presently).
- According to Saudi national regulation, the supervised area is defined as the area in which
the annual effective dose may reach 1/10 the occupational annual dose limit (i.e may reach 2
mSv/year presently).

6- 4 Local rules and supervision:

- The licensee shall establish in writing local rules and procedures necessary to ensure
adequate levels of protection and safety for workers and general public, and shall include in
these rules the values of any relevant investigation level or authorized level, and the
procedure to be followed in the event that any such value is exceeded. The licensee shall
make local rules known to those workers, to whom they apply and to other persons who may
be affected by them.

6- 5 Personal protective equipments:

- The licensee shall ensure that workers are provided with suitable and adequate personal
protective equipment which meets any relevant specifications, including protective clothing,
protective respiratory equipment, protective aprons and gloves, and organ shields. The
workers must receive adequate instruction in the proper use of protective equipment,
especially respiratory equipment, including testing for good fit. All personal protective
equipment shall be maintained in proper condition and tested at regular intervals.
- Tasks requiring the use of some specific personal protective equipment shall be assigned,
only to workers whom the basis of medical advice, are capable of safely sustaining the extra
effort necessary.

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 SECOND: RESPONSIBILITIES OF PARTIES

1- RESPONSIBLE PARTIES FOR RADIATION PROTECTION:

- The regulatory authority (and the intervening organizations in the case of intervention) shall
be responsible for the enforcement of the regulations.
- The principal party having the main responsibilities for the compliance with the regulations
is the licensee.
- Other parties, who have subsidiary responsibilities for the application of the regulations
include:
(a) The radiation protection officers;
(b) The qualified experts;
(c) The medical practitioners;
(b) The workers;
(e) The suppliers;
(f) The Ethical Review Committees; and
(g) Any other party to whom a principal party has delegated specific responsibilities.
- All the parties shall have the general and specific responsibilities set out in the national
regulations.

2- RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE LICENSEE:

2-1 The general responsibilities:
- The general responsibilities of the principal party (the licensee), within the requirements
specified by the regulatory authority, are:
(a) To establish protection and safety objectives in conformity with the requirements.
(b) To develop, implement and document a protection and safety program, commensurate
with the nature and extent of the risks associated with the practices and interventions under
his responsibility, and sufficient to ensure compliance with the requirements.
(c) To determine the measures and resources needed to achieve the protection and safety
objectives and to ensure that the resources are provided, and the measures are properly
implemented.
(d) To keep the measures and resources continually under review, and to verify that the
protection and safety objectives are being achieved.

(e) To identify any failure and shortcomings in the protection and safety measures and
resources and to take steps to correct them and prevent heir recurrence.

2-2 Specific responsibilities of the licensee:

- The licensee, who is engaged in activities involving normal or potential exposure, shall
appoint radiation protection officer (officers) RPO, for carrying out the technical actions
and tasks related to his responsibilities, but the licensee shall retain the responsibility
for these actions.
- The licensee (employer of workers) shall be responsible for the protection of workers from
occupational exposure and for compliance with the relevant requirements of the national
regulations.
- To fulfill his responsibilities, the licensees shall ensure, for all workers engaged in activities
that involve or could involve occupational exposure, that:
(a) The occupational exposures are limited to the national limits.
(b) The occupational protection and safety are optimized in accordance with the national
requirements.
(c) Decisions regarding measures for occupational protection and safety are recorded and
made available to the relevant parties.

72
(d) Policies, procedures and organizational arrangements for protection and safety are
established for implementing the relevant requirements.
(e) Suitable and adequate facilities, equipment and services for protection and safety are
provided, the nature and extent of which are commensurate with the expected magnitude and
likelihood of the occupational exposure.
(f) Necessary health surveillance and health services are provided.
(g) Appropriate protective devices and monitoring equipment are provided, and arrangements
are made for its proper use.
(h) Suitable and adequate human resources and appropriate training in protection and safety
are provided, as well as periodic retraining and updating, as required, in order to ensure the
necessary level of competence
(i) Adequate records are maintained as required by the regulations
(j) Arrangements are made to facilitate consultation and co-operation with workers with
respect to protection and safety.
(k) Necessary conditions to promote a safety culture are provided.

2-3 Specific responsibilities of the RPO:

- The RPO is an individual, technically competent in radiation protection matters, relevant to
a given type of practice, who is qualified through the judgment of the regulatory authority,
and who is designated by the licensee to oversee the implementation of the requirements of
the regulations.
- Some of the responsibilities of the RPO are:
(a) Preparation of all technical aspects and procedures of radiation protection program
(including emergency plan and quality assurance program) under the supervision of the
qualified expert.
(b) Following-up of the implementation of the rules and procedures for protection and safety,
specified by the licensee, and overseeing of the proper use of the surveying and monitoring
devices, the protective equipment, and all other equipments.
(c) Conduct all technical aspects, related with radiation protection and safety, including
different radiological surveys, monitoring, tests and calibrations, or supervise their
conduction at the authorized parties.
(d) Co-operate with the licensee and the regulatory authority with respect to protection and
safety and the proper operation of radiological health surveillance and dose assessment
programs.
(e) Register all technical data and personal dose information in the records timely, and notify
the workers who approach dose limit, and discuss all protection affairs with workers and
involved parties.
(f) Conduct demonstrations and technical training on job concerning radiation protection and
safety of the authorized practices.
(g) Stop, promptly, any violation of the local rules or regulation, and report to both the
licensee and regulatory authority.

2-4 Specific responsibilities of the workers:

- The workers can, by their own actions, contribute to the protection and safety. Workers
shall:
(a) Follow the rules and procedures for protection and safety, specified by the licensee;
(b) Use properly the monitoring devices, the protective equipment, and clothing provided.
(c) Co-operate with the licensee with respect to protection and safety and the operation of
radiological health surveillance and dose assessment programs.
(d) Provide to the licensee information on their past and current work as is relevant to ensure
effective and comprehensive protection and safety for themselves and others;
(e) Abstain from any willful action that could put themselves or others in situations that
contravene the requirements of regulations.
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- The workers are, also, responsible for providing feedback to the management, particularly
when adverse circumstances arise related to the radiation protection program.
- Female workers have responsibilities regarding the protection of the embryo or fetus. The
worker herself “should, on becoming aware that she is pregnant, notify the licensee in order
that her working conditions may be modified if necessary.

3. COOPRATION BETWEEN LICENSEES AND EMPLOYERS:

- The management of the occupational protection and safety of transient, temporary or
itinerant workers, and others who are employed under contracts to organizations other than
the operator, presents a major concern. In order that these workers are adequately protected
and do not exceed any appropriate dose limit, there should be an adequate degree of co-
operation between the employer, the workers and the management of the plants.
- If workers are engaged in work that could involve a source that is not under the control of
their employer, the licensee responsible for the source and the employer, shall co-operate by
the exchange of information to facilitate proper protective measures and safety provisions of
workers.

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 THIRD: SAUDI ARABIN NATIONAL DOSE
LIMITS FOR RADIATION EXPOSURES

1- THE TERMS "LIMIT" AND "LEVEL":

- The term "limit" is defined, for radiation protection purposes, as the value of a quantity
used in a certain specified activities or circumstances, such as effective dose or equivalent
dose, which must not be exceeded.
- The term "level" is defined, for radiation protection purposes, as the value of a specified
quantity at or above which appropriate actions should be considered:
- Among levels used in radiation protection, some most important levels are:
(a) The action level: is the level of dose rate or activity concentration at or above which
remedial actions or protective actions should be carried out in chronic or emergency exposure
situations, such as sheltering, immigration or others. Action levels often serve to protect
members of the public, but they also have relevance in the context of occupational exposure
in chronic exposure situations, particularly, that involving exposure to radon in workplaces.
(b) The clearance level: is a value, established by the regulatory authority, and expressed in
terms of activity concentration or total activity, below which sources of radiation may be
released from regulatory control.
(c) The guidance level for medical exposures: is the value of dose, dose rate, or activity,
selected by professional bodies in consultation with the regulatory authority, to indicate a
level above which there should be a review by medical practitioners, to determine wither, or
not, the value is excessive, taking into account the particular circumstances and applying
sound clinical judgment.
(d) The intervention level: is the level of avertable dose at which a specific protective action
or remedial action is taken in an emergency or chronic exposure situation. The use of this
term is normally confined to interventions related to the protection of members of the public.
(e) The investigation level: The value of a quantity, such as effective dose and dose rate,
intake, or contamination per unit area or volume, at which an investigation should be
conducted.
(f) The recording level: is a level of dose and dose rate, exposure or intake specified by the
regulatory authority, at which values of these quantities, received by workers are to be
entered in their individual exposure records.
(g) The Reference level: is defined as a general term which can refer to an action level, an
intervention level, an investigation level or a recording level. Such levels are helpful in the
management of operations as „trigger levels‟ at or above which some specified action or
decision should be taken.

2- RADIATION EXPOSURES:
- Radiation exposure is, generally, defined as the act or condition of being subject to
irradiation by ionizing radiation. The term exposure is also used, in radio-dosimetry, to
express the amount of ionization, produced in dry air by x and low energy gamma radiation.
- In the general definition, exposure can be either external exposure, when the irradiating
source or sources are located outside the body or internal exposure when the source or
sources are inside the body (by inhalation, ingestion, injection or any other pathway of
intake). Moreover, exposure can be classified as:
(a) Either normal or potential exposure.
(b) Either occupational medical or general public exposure.
(c) In intervention situation, either emergency or chronic exposure.
2-1 The normal exposure:
- The normal exposure is defined as an exposure which is expected to be received under
normal operating conditions of an installation or a source, including possible minor mishaps
that can be kept under control.

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2-2 The potential exposure:
- It is defined as the exposure that is not expected to be delivered with certainty, but may
result from an accident at a source or owing to an event or sequence of events of a
probabilistic nature, including equipment failures and operating errors.

2-3 Occupational exposure:

- It is defined as all exposures of workers incurred in their work, due to this work, with the
exception of exposures excluded from the national regulations, and exposures from practices
or sources exempted by these regulations. The exposure of medical doctors and other
technical and nursing staff belongs to occupational exposure.

2-4 Medical exposure:

- It is defined as exposure incurred by:
(a) Patients as a part of their own medical or dental diagnosis or treatment.
(b) Exposures incurred by persons, other than those occupationally exposed, knowingly while
voluntarily helping in the support and comfort of patients.
(c) Exposures incurred by volunteers in a program of biomedical research involving their
exposure.

2-5 General public exposure:

- It is defined as exposure incurred by the members of the general public from radiation
sources, excluding any occupational or medical exposure and the normal local natural
background radiation, but including exposure from authorized sources and practices and
intervention situations.

2-6 Chronic exposure:

- It is defined as exposure persisting in time and incurred with, relatively, small dose rates.

2-7 Acute exposure:

- It is defined as exposure incurred in a short time interval (minutes, hours or days) with very
high dose rate.

2-6 Emergency exposure:

- It is defined as exposure incurred in an emergency situation.

3- THE OCCUPATIONAL ANNUAL DOSE LIMITS:

3-1 The occupational annual dose limits for adult workers:
- The limits on the effective dose for occupational exposure apply to the sum of effective
doses from external sources and committed effective doses from intakes in the same period.
- The occupational exposure of any worker must not exceed the following values:
(a) An effective dose of 20 mSv per year (2 rem/year) averaged over five consecutive years.
(b) An effective dose of 50 mSv (5 rem), in any single year, provided that the effective dose
does not exceed 100 mSv (10 rem) over any five consecutive years.
(c) An equivalent dose to the lens of the eye of 20 mSv (2 rem) in a year.
(d) An equivalent dose to the extremities (hands and feet) or the skin of 500 mSv (50 rem) in
a year.

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3-2 Occupational limits for apprentices of 16- 18 years age:
- Separate dose limits are specified for apprentices of age 16–18 years, who are subjected for
training for employment involving exposure to radiation, and for students of age 16–18 years,
who need to use sources in the course of their studies.
- The occupational exposure for this age category of trainees must not exceed:
(a) An effective dose of 6 mSv (0.6 rem) per year.
(b) An equivalent dose to the lens of the eye of 20 mSv (2 rem) per year.
(c) An equivalent dose to the extremities or the skin of 150 mSv per year.

3-3 Occupational limits for pregnant workers:

- The Occupational exposure for pregnant woman must not exceed an effective committed
dose of 1mSv (0.1 rem) in the total period of pregnancy, when the irradiation is internal (i.e
intake), and the effective dose must not exceed 2 mSv (0.2 rem) when the irradiation is
external, during the 9 months of pregnancy, in order to keep the effective dose to the embryo
and fetus not more than 1 mSv (0.1 rem) in the nine months.

4- THE DOSE LIMITS FOR GENERAL PUBLIC:

- The estimated average doses to a relevant critical group that are attributable to practices
must not exceed the following limits:
(a) An effective dose of 1 mSv per year averaged over five consecutive years.
(b) In a special circumstances, an effective dose of up to 2 mSv per year provided that the
effective dose does not exceed 5 mSv over any five consecutive years.
(c) An equivalent dose to the lens of the eye of 15 mSv (1.5 rem) per year
(d) An equivalent dose to the extremities (hands and feet) or the skin of 50 mSv (5 rem) per
year.

5- THE DOSE LIMITS FOR MEDICAL EXPOSURES:

- For medical exposure there are no limits.
- In medical exposure there is a dose limit for those persons, who are offering comfort or
supporting patients, undergoing medical diagnosis or treatment, or visitors of such patients.
The dose for these comforters or visitors of patient shall be constrained to 5 mSv (0.5 rem)
during the period of diagnosis or treatment of the patient.
- The dose to children visiting patients who have ingested radioactive material shall be
constrained to 1 mSv (0.1 rem).

6- THE DOSE LIMITS FOR EMERGENCY EXPOSURES:

- For emergency situations the objective should be to keep doses to intervening personnel
below an effective dose of 100 mSv (10 rem) or equivalent doses of 1 Sv (0.1 rem) to the skin
and 300 mSv (30 rem) to the lens of the eye in some situations.
- However, where life saving actions are concerned significantly higher levels of dose could
be justified, although every effort should be made to keep doses below ten times the
maximum single year dose limit (i.e. below 500 mSv (50 rem) in order to avoid
deterministic effects on health.

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 FOURTH: THE RADIATION PROTECTION PROGRAM (RPP)

1. INTRODUCTION
- It has been mentioned that the licensee shall establish a radiation protection program (RPP),
which is one of the requirements for all phases of a practice, and to the lifetime of the facility,
from design through process control to decommissioning. The general objective of RPP is to
reflect the application of the management responsibility for radiation protection and safety
through the adoption of management structures, policies, procedures and organizational
arrangements that are commensurate with the nature and extent of the risks.
- Prior to establishment of the RPP for a practice, a radiological evaluation shall be conducted
to describe, as precisely as necessary, the situation involving occupational, medical and
public exposures. This evaluation should include all aspects of operations and identification
of the sources of routine and potential exposures and a realistic estimate of the relevant doses
and probabilities.
- The legal person (licensee) applying for a license should make an assessment of the nature,
magnitude and likelihood of the exposures and, if necessary, a safety assessment. Such a
safety assessment should contribute to the design of the RPP.

2-STRUCTURE OF THE RPP

- The RPP covers the main elements contributing to protection of workers, general public and
environment against ionizing radiation and safety of radiation sources of the practices and is,
therefore, a key factor for the development of protection and safety.
- The RPP is composed of six main elements (or components), which are:
(a) A committed administration (management) to protection and safety.
(b) Selection of personnel and their training.
(c) An effective surveillance (control) for occupational exposure.
(d) An effective surveillance (control) for general public exposure.
(e) A proper quality assurance program.
(f) An emergency response plan and preperdness.

2-1. A COMMITTED ADMINISTRATION (MANAGEMENT) AND ASSIGNMENT

OF RESPONSIBILITIES:
- The highest managerial level should submit, in written, the policy statements which ensure
that radiation protection and safety in the practices, related with radiation exposure, deserves
the highest consideration at all levels. The licensee shall appoint other people to carry out
actions and tasks related to their responsibilities in radiation protection aspects, but he shall
retain the responsibility for the actions and tasks himself. The licensee shall, specifically,
identify the individuals responsible for ensuring compliance with the national regulations.
The responsibilities of each level, from the top management up to the workers, regarding
each aspect of the RPP should be clearly delineated and documented in written policy
statements to ensure that all are aware of them. Radiation protection officer (or officers) must
be appointed, to oversee the application of the regulatory requirements.
-The organizational structures at the licensee should reflect the assignment of responsibilities,
and the commitment of the organization to protection and safety. The management structure
should facilitate co-operation between the various individuals involved. The RPP should be
designed in such a way that the relevant information is provided to all involved parties.

2-2. SELECTION OF PERSONNEL AND THEIR TRAINING:

- Criteria for selection of personnel should be defined, including medical and moral aspects,
and technical educational levels.
- It may be appropriate, depending on the size of the organization, to create a specific
committee with representatives of those departments concerned with radiation exposures.
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The main role of this committee would be to advise senior management on the RPP
individuals in charge of the various aspects of the work.
- Qualified experts in radiation protection should be identified and shall be made available for
providing advice on the observance of the standards.
- Senior management should be trained in the risks associated with ionizing radiation, the
basic principles of radiological protection, their main responsibilities regarding radiation risk
management and the principal elements of the RPP.
- Training for workers, directly, involved in work with radiation sources should include
relevant information, presented in the form of documents, lectures and applied training,
which emphasizes procedures specific to the worker‟s job assignment.
- Training programs should be documented and approved at an appropriate level within the
organization. Such programs should be reviewed periodically to ensure that they remain up to
date.

2-3. AN EFFECTIVE SURVEILLANCE (CONTROL) FOR OCCUPATIONAL

EXPOSURE:
- An effective surveillance (control) for occupational radiation protection shall be established.
This surveillance shall include:
a- Systems and procedures, necessary for securing radioactive source (or sources), and an
accountability procedure, which includes records for these sources.
b- A health surveillance program should be prepared and health criteria should be established
for radiation workers.
- Classification of working areas, whenever there is occupational exposure to radiation.
These areas should be clearly defined as part of the RPP, and their classification should result
from the prior radiological evaluation. The two types of areas, which are controlled and
supervised, shall be delineated. Restriction of access to the controlled and supervised by
permits, and physical barriers, locks or interlocks shall be provided.
- Establishment of occupational radiation protection and safety measures, including rules and
procedures that are appropriate,
- Local rules, describing the organizational structures and the procedures to be followed in
classified areas, should be developed by management and written down. The rules should be
prominently displayed or readily available in the workplace, and they should include
procedures and values of any relevant investigation level or authorized level, and the
procedure to be followed in the event that any such value is exceeded.
- A radiological monitoring program for workplaces shall be established and
implemented. The nature and extent of the monitoring program shall provide the primary
justification for radiological protection. Monitoring program can be divided and subdivided
into a number of different types. The first division relates to the objectives of the monitoring.
At this level, three types of monitoring are conducted for radiation protection purposes. These
are routine monitoring, which is associated with continuing operations and is intended to
demonstrate that the working conditions, including the levels of individual dose, remain
satisfactory, and to meet regulatory requirements, task related monitoring which applies to a
specific operation, and special monitoring which is investigative in nature and typically
covers a situation in the workplace for which insufficient information is available to
demonstrate adequate control.
- Individual monitoring for internal or external dose assessment shall be undertaken for any
worker who is regularly employed in a controlled or supervised areas, or who enters a
controlled and supervised areas only, occasionally. Individual monitoring in a supervised area
shall not be required but the occupational exposure of the worker shall be assessed. This
assessment shall be done on the basis of the results of monitoring of the workplace or
individual monitoring. The nature, frequency and precision of individual monitoring shall be
determined with consideration of the magnitude and possible fluctuations of exposure levels
and the likelihood and magnitude of potential exposures.

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- To secure the necessary accuracy and precision, individual dosimetry should be
performed, whenever possible, by an approved dosimetry service. The regulatory authority
should give consideration to the establishment of a national accreditation procedure, as a
basis for the approval of dosimetry services.
- Record keeping is an essential part of the individual monitoring process. In making
records of dose assessments it is important to establish system for keeping records of the
individual doses for all workers.
- Many of records, for example the full details of a particular radiation survey, are transitory
in nature, and are only relevant for the lifetime of an established review period, and there may
be no need to retain such records for extended periods. Other records may be related to
decisions about the definition of the workplace, and these records may be relevant for the
lifetime of the workplace.
- Exposure records for each worker shall be preserved during the worker‟s working life and
afterwards at least until the worker attains or would have attained the age of 75 years, and for
not less than 30 years after the termination of the work involving occupational exposure.

2-4. AN EFFECTIVE SURVEILLANCE (CONTROL) FOR GENERAL PUBLIC

EXPOSURE:
- An effective surveillance for radiation protection of the general public and the environment
shall be established. This surveillance shall include:
a) Establishment of the efficient systems which will ensure securing of the radioactive
sources against accessing them by any unauthorized person and against their loss and theft.
b) Establishment of an effective surveillance for conduction of all necessary radiological
surveys and monitoring in all places accessed by the general public around the controlled and
supervised areas, either locally or by contracting with an authorized party.
c) A radiological monitoring program for areas, which may be affected by the licensed
sources or authorized releases of radionuclides, shall be established and implemented. The
nature and extent of the monitoring program shall provide the primary justification for
radiological protection for general public. This monitoring should include conduction of
environmental radiological monitoring in these areas, by studying samples taken from these
areas and their radiological analyses to assess any environmental hazards.
d) Establishment of safety measures for radioactive releases to the environment, including
rules and procedures that are appropriate,
e) Optimization of the generation of radioactive waste, as low, as reasonably achievable, and
establishment of measures, criteria and procedure for safe interim storage of the generated
radioactive waste from the authorized practices and for safe disposal of that waste, in
accordance with the national regulations for waste disposal.
f) Record keeping, of all information related with all radioactive releases, waste generation,
and waste disposal of used sources, radionuclides, or wastes.
g) Establishment of measures, rules and procedures, that should be implemented for safe
transport of the radioactive material, and record keeping for all transport process, so that to
minimize the general public exposures from the transport activities.

2-5 THE PROPER QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM:

- A quality assurance (QA) program shall be established as a part of the RPP. The licensee
shall be responsible for establishing the quality assurance program required by the principal
requirements of the national regulation. The nature and extent of the quality assurance
program shall be commensurate with the magnitude and the likelihood of the potential
exposures from the sources for which they are responsible
- The quality assurance program shall provide for planned and systematic actions, aimed at
providing adequate confidence that the specified design and operational requirements related
to protection and safety are satisfied, including provisions for feedback of operational
experience. Additionally, it shall provide for validation of designs, and supply and use of
materials, of manufacturing, inspection and testing methods, and of operating procedures.
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- Maintaining the effectiveness of any RPP relies on the ability of those in charge of
implementing its various components to adopt a QA program and to pay as much attention as
possible to lessons learned from experience. The evaluations through appropriate reviews and
audits, of the way in which the RPP is implemented are key elements of an effective quality
assurance program.
- Management should be committed to QA and should provide the financial and human
resources necessary to achieve quality standards and to maintain them continuously.
- The RPP should be assessed on a regular basis. Audits and reviews of activities within the
RPP should be scheduled on the basis of the status and importance of the activity.
Management should establish a process for such assessments to identify and correct
administrative and management problems that may prevent the achievement of program
objectives. Audits and reviews should be conducted by persons who are technically
competent to evaluate the processes and procedures being assessed, but do not have any
direct responsibility for those activities.
- Audits and reviews should be performed in accordance with written procedures and
checklists.
2-6 THE EMERGENCY PLANNING AND PREPAREDNESS:
- The licensee, responsible for sources for which prompt intervention may be required, shall
ensure that an emergency plan exists that defines on-site responsibilities and takes account of
off-site responsibilities appropriate for the source and provides for implementation of each
form of the protective action.
- The emergency or contingency plans should specify how the responsibilities for the
management of interventions will be discharged on the site, off the site and across national
boundaries.
- The emergency and contingency plans should include objectives of the plans, scenarios for
all possible accidents and incidents with the authorized practices and sources and actions that
should be taken in each scenario.
- The emergency plans prepared in advance should include definition of the roles and
responsibilities of all workers concerned in the emergency response. Details of protective
actions to be taken, protective clothing and monitoring instruments to be used, and dosimetry
arrangements should be, also, specified.
- The dose limits for workers should be assumed to apply unless there are overriding reasons
not to apply them. However, exceeding the dose limit of exposure in an emergency situation
may be permitted, exclusively, for volunteers who know how to act correctly in the prevailing
situation. There are three situations where it would be justified for the dose limits to be
exceeded, which are:
a) For the purpose of saving life or preventing serious injuries.
b) If actions intended to avert a large collective dose or to prevent the development of
catastrophic conditions.
- An emergency team should be formed, and this team should be trained on actions hat should
be undertaken in different scenarios. Additional training should be provided on use of
protective clothing, respiratory protective equipments, the means of shielding, and iodine
prophylaxis. Where workers may be exposed to radiation fields with relatively high dose
rates, pre-established guidance should be given on dose, dose rates and air concentrations for
the appropriate time period.
- Doses incurred by workers during the emergency phase of the intervention should be
recorded separately, if possible, from the doses incurred during routine work, but should be
noted on the workers‟ dose records.
- In accordance with the conditions of authorization, management should draw up formal
plans to deal with situations in which workers might be overexposed. These plans should
address the management of overexposed workers and the health consequences that might be
encountered. They should specify the necessary actions to be taken, and management should
allocate resources for carrying out those actions.

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 FIFTH: RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION

Introduction:

- Radioactive contamination is defined as the presence of a radio- active substance inside

another material or on its external surface or in the human body, where it is undesirable or
could be harmful. In this part, the surface contamination, only, will be considered since it
plays an important role in all practices, where sealed and, specially, unsealed sources are
used.
- Volumetric and surface contamination:
Example of the volumetric radioactive contamination is the presence of a radioactive
substance in a unit volume of the other material, such as the Derived Air Contamination
(DAC).
- The (DAC) for a single radionuclide in air in any working area with unsealed source (such
as a in nuclear medicine lab shall not exceed the values given in the Saudi national
regulations for each specific radionuclide.
Surface radioactive contamination is classified into fixed and non- fixed contamination.
The non-fixed contamination is defined as the surface contamination which can be
transferred, easily, during routine handling of the surface to hands or to any other touching
device.
- The fixed contamination is defined as any other contamination, which can‟t be, easily,
transferred during routine handling of the surface.
- There are different methods for measuring the concentrations of the surface contamination.
The most accurate method for measuring surface contamination is the well known “wipe
test method”, where a soft tissue is used to wipe a certain area of the contaminated surface,
and then the activity which is transferred to the tissue (the swap) is counted to define the
transferred activity.
Low level surface contamination, or contamination with low energy beta emitters, such as
tritium (T-3) or carbon-14 (C-14), can be measured, mainly, using the wipe test method with
the use of a liquid scintillation detector, which is considered a 4π detector.
- Generally speaking, the device which shall be used to detect a surface contamination must
be capable to measure activity equal 185 Bq (0.005 µCi).

3-Units and limits of radioactive contamination:

- The SI unit for volumetric contamination is Bq/m3, while the SI unit of massive
contamination is Bq/Kg.
- The SI unit of surface contamination is Bq/m2, however in absolute majority of cases
surface contamination is measured in Bq/cm2.
- The limits for surface contamination and some other devices, in accordance with the
Saudi national regulation, are tabulated in table (5- 1), and if the contamination level
exceeds the tabulated values for each surface or device then the work with this surface or
device shall be, completely, stopped and it must be subjected to decontamination prior to
continuation of the work.
- When a decontamination process of a surface is started, then the decontamination shall
begin from the lower contaminated areas and after assuring its decontamination then
move to decontaminate the area with a higher concentration. The aim, here, is to
prevent transfer of the contamination from higher concentration to lower one.

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3- Some responsibilities of the licensee for decontamination:
- The licensee who is licensed to use unsealed sources shall:
a) Provide human experts who are capable to detect the radioactive contamination and to
measure contamination level of different radio-nuclides.
b) Provide the devices and equipments which are necessary for measurements of the
contamination.
c) Provide personal facilities to protect radiation workers, general public and environment.
d) Provide the monitoring facilities in places where the unsealed sources are used.
e) Provide all equipments, which are necessary for conduction of the decontamination
processes near the working areas with the unsealed sources and supply these areas with
the necessary washing material, needed for decontamination.
f) Control the accesses to working areas with unsealed sources.
g) Use the proper separate ventilation system for the labs using all unsealed sources.
h) Provide the required records to record all actions conducted with the unsealed sources.

Table (5- 1): limits of radioactive contaminations of some surfaces and devices in (Bq/cm2)

Surface or device Beta and gamma emitters & High toxicity alpha
low toxicity alpha emitters
Surface fixed contamination. 4 0.4
Surface non-fixed contamin. 0.4 0.04
Skin and extremities. 2 0.2
Personal coats inside labs. 4 0.4
Personal clothes outside labs. 0.4 0.04

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 SIXTH: RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL

1- Definitions:
- The radioactive waste is defined as any material, whatever its physical form, remaining
from practices or interventions, and for which no further use is foreseen, and that contains
or is contaminated with a radioactive substance and has an activity or activity
concentration higher than the level for clearance from the regulatory requirements, and
exposure to which is not excluded from the standards.
- The radioactive waste management Facility is defined as the facility, specifically designed
to handle, treat, condition, temporarily store or permanently dispose of radioactive waste.

2- Classification of the radioactive waste:

- With respect to the physical state point of view, the radioactive waste is defined as solid,
liquid and gas waste.
- With respect to concentration of radio-nuclides in the waste the radioactive waste is
classified into low level, medium level and high level waste. However at present, low and
medium level wastes are collected in one class known as low level rad-waste.
- With respect to the half-life time of the radio-nuclides in the rad-waste they are classified
to short, medium and long lived rad-waste.
- With respect to treatment procedures the rad-waste is classified into soluble and insoluble
in water waste, compressible and non-compressible waste, and combustible and non-
combustible waste.
- Every class of the rad-waste shall be collected separately from any other class in separate
vessels. These vessels shall be painted from outside by a yellow color paint, and the
radiation tri-foil sign shall be fixed on the external surface of the vessel and all
information about the contents shall be displayed. All vessels containing the rad- waste
shall be stored safely in secured stores until they will be disposed off in accordance with
the proper procedure, commensurate with its hazard.
- Some methods for rad-waste disposal in the Kingdom of SA:
- Some methods applied at present (since 2005) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are:
a) All sealed sources and other solid sources which cannot be dispersed in the environment
they must be sent back to the producer (country of origin). In case if this is impossible it
shall be stored, safely, at the licensee, until it will be delivered to the national facility for
waste disposal after its establishment.
b) With respect to all short lived rad-waste, (Short lived rad waste in the Kingdom of SA are
radio-nuclides with a half-life time of up to one month= 30 days), it shall be stored, safely,
for decay for a certain time period, until its activity will reach to low value (defined by the
national regulatory authority), and then it can be released with normal waste.
c) With respect to long lived and liquid sources (such as C-14), which are soluble in water, it
shall be, first, diluted by water until its concentration will reach to low value (defined by the
national regulatory authority), and then it can be released to the sanitary system.
d) It is, completely, forbidden to release any insoluble material in water or any organic
material to the sanitary system before filtration of this material and making it soluble in
water. All the acidic rad-waste shall be normalized, first, prior to its release, and shall be
filtered in case if it contains solid precipitant. The tube during which the soluble material is
released shall be washed with a sufficient amount of water and other solvent after release.
e) With respect to solid low level waste which contains long lived radio-nuclides from the
naturally, occurring, radio-nuclides, such as uranium, thorium and others, it may be disposed
of by containing in shallow repositories.
e) With respect to solid high level waste which contains long lived radio-nuclides from the
naturally occurring, radio-nuclides, such as uranium, thorium and others, it may be disposed
of by concentrating the radio-nuclides in a small volume, then by confinement these nuclides

84
in stainless steel barrels by solidification (cementation) and then containing these barrels in
deep repositories for final disposal.
f) With respect to gas rad-waste, it may be disposed off by release to the open air, provided
that the activity concentration or the total activity does not exceed the limits established by
the regulatory authority. The release shall be done through a very high shemny, not less than
2 meters above any upper ceiling of surrounding building. The exit of the shemny shall be far
away from any window.

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 SEVENTH: RADIATION PROTECTION RECORDS

1- General:
- The principal party who is the (licensee) having the main responsibilities for the compliance
with the national regulations for radiation protection and safety of radiation sources and all
other parties, who have subsidiary responsibilities for the application of the regulations
including:
(a) The radiation protection officer,
(b) The qualified experts,
(c) The medical practitioners,
- The licensee shall establish and keep all the required records in these regulations for the
licensed practice and for all radiation sources used in this practice.
- Records are official documents that will be referred to, when necessary. Each record shall
be prepared as a book with a hard and strong cover, so that it can be kept for without any
damage for some tenths of years. All pages of the record shall be numbered, so that no
new page can be added or cancelled. All information in the record shall be recorded by the
hand of the RPO or the qualified expert, timely, and shall be approved by the licensee,
periodically, through short periods.
- All detailed records shall be kept for not less than ten years, and brief record shall be kept
for not less than thirty years. With respect to exposure records for the occupational
radiation workers as well as medical exposure records for patient they shall be kept for not
less than thirty years or until the worker or patient will reach the age of 75 years,
(whatever longer).
- The national regulatory authority has the full right to review all records of the practice and
to take copies of these records. Additionally, the radiation worker has the full right to see,
only, his own records, and to take copies of these records when leaving the work in the
installation.

2- Types of the required records:

The licensee shall keep and maintain the following records of the licensed practice and the
sources within this practice:
a) The practice record,
b) Record of sealed sources,
c) Record for radiation emitting devices
d) Record of unsealed sources,
e) Records of movement of mobile sources,
f) Record of the medical fitness of radiation workers,
g) Record of Training of radiation workers,
h) Personal dose records for occupational workers,
i) Record of medical exposures of patients (in hospital),
j) Record of radiation survey around working areas,
k) Record of monitoring of working areas,
l) Record of the radioactive waste,
m) Records of recalibration of survey meters & devices.
n) Maintenance & repair record of devices,
o) Record for the wipe tests of sources,
p) Inventory record,
Q) Accident record.

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 EIGHTH: SAFE TRANSPORT OF
RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL

1. INTRODUCTION
- The transport regulations establish standards of safety which provide an acceptable level of
protection against ionizing radiation and thermal hazards to persons, property and the
environment that are associated with the transport of radioactive material. This protection is
achieved by requiring:
a) Proper containment of the radioactive contents.
b) Control of the external radiation levels
d) Prevention of damage caused by heat.
- These requirements are satisfied firstly, by applying a graded approach to content‟s limits
for packages and conveyances, to the performance standards applied to package designs,
depending upon the hazard of the radioactive contents. Secondly, they are satisfied by
imposing requirements on the design and operation of packages and on the maintenance of
packaging, including a consideration of the nature of the radioactive contents. Finally, they
are satisfied by requiring administrative controls including, approval by the regulatory
authorities.

2. DEFINITIONS
- For safe transport of radioactive material, special definitions are applied. Some of these
definitions are:

2-1 A1 and A2
- A1 means the activity value of a special form radioactive material which is used to
determine the activity limits in a type A package.
- A2 means the activity value of a radioactive material, other than special form radioactive
material, which is used to determine the activity limits in a type A package.

2-2 Approval
- For transport purposes there are two types of approval which are:
a) Package design approval and,
b) Shipment approval.
- Unilateral approval means an approval of a design which is required to be given by the
regulatory authority of the country of origin of the design only.
- Multilateral approval means approval by the regulatory authority of the country of origin
of the design or shipment and also, approval by the regulatory authority of that country,
where the consignment is to be transported through or into any other country. The term
“through or into” specifically excludes “over”, i.e. the approval shall not apply to a country
over which radioactive material is carried in an aircraft, provided that there is no scheduled
stop in that country.

2-3 Carrier:
- Carrier means any person, organization, or government undertaking the carriage of
radioactive material by any means of transport. The term includes both carriers for hire or
reward (known as common or contract carriers in some countries) and carriers on own
account (known as private carriers in some countries).

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2-4 Consignee:
- Consignee means any person, organization, or government which receives a consignment.

2-5 Consignment
- Consignment means any package or packages, or load of radioactive material, presented by
a consignor for transport.

2-6 Consignor
- Consignor means any person, organization, or government which prepares a consignment
for transport.

2-7 Contamination
- Contamination, for transport purpose, means the presence of a radioactive substance on a
surface in quantities in excess of 0.4 Bq/cm2 for beta and gamma emitters and low toxicity
alpha emitters, or 0.04 Bq/cm2 for all other alpha emitters.
- Non-fixed contamination means contamination that can be removed from a surface during
routine conditions of transport.
- Fixed contamination means contamination other than non-fixed contamination.

2-8 Conveyance
- Conveyance means:
a) For transport by road or rail: any vehicle,
b) For transport by water: any vessel, or any hold, compartment, or defined deck area of a
vessel, and
c) For transport by air: any aircraft.

2-9 Exclusive use

- Exclusive use means the sole use, by a single consignor, of a conveyance or of a large
freight container, in respect of which all initial, intermediate and final loading and unloading
is carried out in accordance with the directions of the consignor or consignee.

2-10 Low dispersible radioactive material

- Low dispersible radioactive material means either a solid radioactive material or a solid
radioactive material in a sealed capsule that has limited disperseibility and is not in a powder
form.

2-11 Low specific activity material

- Low specific activity (LSA) material means radioactive material which, by its nature, has a
limited specific activity, or radioactive material for which limits of estimated average specific
activity apply. External shielding materials surrounding the LSA material shall not be
considered in determining the estimated average specific activity. LSA material shall be in
one of three groups:
(a) LSA-I
(b) LSA-II
(c) LSA-III

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2-12 Overpack
- Overpack means an enclosure, such as a box or bag, used by a single consignor to facilitate
as a handling unit a consignment of one or more packages for convenience of handling,
stowage and carriage.

2-13 Package
- Package means the packaging with its radioactive contents as presented for transport. The
types of packages which are subject to the activity limits and material restrictions are:
(a) Excepted package;
(b) Type A package;
(c) Type B(U) package;
(d) Type B(M) package;
(e) Type C package.

2-14 Packaging
- Packaging means the assembly of components necessary to enclose the radioactive contents
completely. It may, in particular, consist of one or more receptacles, absorbent materials,
spacing structures, radiation shielding and service equipment for filling, emptying, venting
and pressure relief; devices for cooling, or absorbing mechanical shocks.

2-15 Radiation level

- Radiation level means the maximum dose rate expressed in millisieverts per hour on the
external surface of the Package.

2-16 Shipment
- Shipment means the specific movement of a consignment from origin to destination.

2-17 Special arrangement

- Special arrangement means those provisions, approved by the regulatory authority, under
which consignment which does not satisfy all the applicable requirements of the transport
regulations may be transported.

2-18 Special form radioactive material

- Special form radioactive material means either an indispersible solid radioactive material or
a sealed capsule containing radioactive material.

2-19 Surface contaminated object

- Surface contaminated object (SCO) means a solid object which is not it self radioactive but
which has radioactive material distributed on its surfaces. SCO shall be in one of two groups:
(a) SCO-I (b) SCO-II:

2-20 Transport index

- Transport Index (TI) assigned to a package or freight container means a number which is
used to provide control over radiation exposure.

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3. GENERAL PROVISIONS
3-1 Radiation protection
- Doses to persons shall be below the relevant dose limits. Protection and safety shall be
optimized in order that the magnitude of individual doses, the number of persons exposed,
and the likelihood of incurring exposure all shall be kept as low as reasonably achievable,
economic and social factors being taken into account.
- A Radiation Protection Program shall be established for the transport of radioactive
material. The nature and extent of the measures to be employed in the program shall be
related to the magnitude and likelihood of radiation exposures.
- A radioactive material shall be segregated from the transport workers and from members of
the public. For the purpose of calculation of segregation distance, the following values should
be used:
(a) For workers a dose of 5 mSv/year
(b) For members of the public 1 mSv/year.
- Radioactive material shall be segregated from undeveloped photographic films. The basis
for determining the segregation distances, is that the dose to these films shall not exceed 0.1
mSv for the whole transport period.
- A package shall not contain any items other than those that are necessary for the use of the
radioactive material. The interaction between these items and the package, under the
conditions of transport applicable to the design, shall not reduce the safety of the package.
- Tanks and intermediate bulk containers used for the transport of
the radioactive material shall not be used for the storage or transport of other goods unless
decontaminated to below the level of 0.4 Bq/cm2 for beta and gamma emitters and low
toxicity alpha emitters and 0.04 Bq/cm2 for all other alpha emitters.
- The transport of other goods with consignments being transported under exclusive use shall
be permitted provided the arrangements are controlled only by the consignor and it is not
prohibited by other regulations.
- Consignments shall be segregated from other dangerous goods during transport, in
compliance with the transport regulations for these goods.

3-2 Control of contamination and leaking of the packages

- The fixed contamination on the external surfaces of any package shall be kept as low as
practicable and, under routine conditions of transport, shall not exceed the following limits:
(a) 4 Bq/cm2 for beta, gamma & low toxicity alpha emitters,
(b) 0.4 Bq/cm2 for all other alpha emitters.
These limits are applicable when averaged over any area of 300 cm2 of any part of the
surface.
- If it is evident that a package is damaged or leaking, or if it is suspected that the package
may have leaked or been damaged, access to the package shall be restricted and a qualified
person shall, as soon as possible, assess the extent of contamination and the resultant
radiation level of the package. The scope of the assessment shall include the package, the
conveyance, the adjacent loading and unloading areas, and, if necessary, all other material
which has been carried

4. DETERMINATION OF THE TRANSPORT INDEX

4-1 Determination of the TI:
- The transport index (TI) for a package, overpack or freight container, or for unpackaged
LSA-I or SCO-I, shall be the number derived in accordance with the following procedure:
a) Determine the maximum radiation level (experimentally) in units of millirem per hour
(mrem/h) at a distance of 1 m from the external surfaces of the package, overpack, freight
container. The resulting number is the transport index for small packages.
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b) For uranium and thorium ores and their concentrates, the maximum radiation level at any
point 1 m from the external surface of the load may be taken as:
(i) 40 mrem/h for ores and physical concentrates of ores
(ii) 30 mrem/h for chemical concentrates of thorium;
(iii) 2 mrem/h for chemical concentrates of uranium, other than uranium hexafluoride.
(c) For tanks, freight containers and unpackaged LSA-I and SCO-I, the value
determined in step (a) above shall be multiplied by the appropriate factor from Table 1.
Table 1: Multiplication factors for large dimension load

Size (i.e area) of load Multiplication factor

 1 m2 1
1 m2 < area  5 m2 2
5 m2 < area  20 m2 3
20 m2 < area 10
(c) The value obtained in steps (a) and (b) above shall be rounded up to the first
decimal place (e.g. 1.21 becomes 1.3), except that a value of 0.05 or less shall be
considered as zero.
- The transport index for each overpack, freight container or conveyance shall be determined
as either the sum of the TIs of all the packages contained, or by direct measurement of
radiation level, except in the case of non-rigid overpacks, for which the transport index shall
be determined, only, as the sum of the TIs of all the packages.

4-2 Limits on the (TI) and Radiation Level (RL):

- Except for consignments under exclusive use, the transport index of any package or
overpack shall not exceed 10.
- Except for consignments transported under exclusive use or special arrangement the
maximum radiation level at any point on the external surface of a package or overpack shall
not exceed 2 mSv/h.

5. CATEGORIES OF PACKAGES:
- Packages and overpacks shall be assigned to either category WHITE-I, YELLOW-II or
YELLOW-III in accordance with the conditions specified in Table 2 and with the following
requirements:
(a) For a package or overpack, both the transport index and the surface radiation level
conditions shall be taken into account in determining the appropriate category for it. Where
the transport index satisfies the condition for one category but the surface Radiation Level
satisfies the condition for a different category, the package or overpack shall be assigned to
the higher category. For this purpose, category WHITE-I shall be regarded as the lowest
category.
(b) If the surface radiation level is greater than 2 mSv/h, the package or overpack shall be
transported under exclusive use.
(c) A package transported under a special arrangement shall be assigned to category
YELLOW-III.

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 Table 2: Categories of packages and overpacks

Conditions
Transport Index Maximum radiation level at any Category
point on the surface
0 Not more than 0.005 mSv/h WHITE -I
0 < TI  1 More than 0.005 mSv/h, but not YELLOW-II
more than 0.5 mSv/h
1 < TI  10 More than 0.5 mSv/h, but not YELLOW-III
more than 2 mSv/h
10 < TI More than 2 mSv/h YELLOW-III
under exclusive use

6. MARKING AND LABELLING:

6-1 Marking:
- Each package shall be durably marked on the outside of the package with an identification
of the consignor or consignee, or both.

6-2 Labelling:
- Each package, overpack and freight container shall bear the labels which conform to the
models in Fig. 1, Fig. 2 or Fig. 3, except as allowed under the alternative provisions for large
freight containers and tanks, according to the appropriate category. Any labels which do not
relate to the contents shall be removed or covered.
- The labels conforming to the models in Fig. 1, Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 shall be affixed to two
opposite sides of the outside of a package or overpack or on the outside of all four sides of a
freight container or tank.

7. STORAGE IN TRANSIT:
7-1 Segregation during transport and storage in transit:
- Packages, overpacks and freight containers containing radioactive material and unpackaged
radioactive material shall be segregated during transport and during storage in transit:
(a) From workers in regularly occupied working areas by distances calculated using a dose
criterion of 5 mSv in a year and conservative model parameters.
(b) From members of the critical group of the public, in areas where the public has regular
access, by distances calculated using a dose criterion of 1 mSv in a year and conservative
model parameters;
c) From undeveloped photographic film by distances calculated using a radiation exposure
criterion for undeveloped photographic film due to the transport of radioactive material
of 0.1 mSv per consignment of such film, and
(d) From other dangerous goods.
- Category II-YELLOW or III-YELLOW packages or overpacks shall not be carried in
compartments occupied by passengers, except those exclusively reserved for couriers
specially authorized to accompany such packages or overpacks.

7-2 Stowage during transport and storage in transit:

- Consignments shall be securely stowed. Provided that its average surface heat flux does not
exceed 15 W/m2 and that the immediately surrounding cargo is not in sacks or bags, a
package or overpack may be carried or stored among packaged general cargo without any
special stowage provisions, except as may be, specifically, required by the regulatory
authority in an applicable approval certificate.

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- Loading of freight containers and accumulation of packages, overpacks and freight
containers shall be controlled as follows:
(a) Except under the condition of exclusive use, and for consignments of LSA-I material, the
total number of packages, overpacks and freight containers aboard a single conveyance shall
be so limited that the total sum of the transport indexes aboard the conveyance does not
exceed the values 50. The same rule is applied for storage in transit. For this purpose
packages are grouped in separate groups each with TI not exceeding 50.
(b) The radiation level, under routine conditions of transport, shall not exceed 2 mSv/h at any
point on the external surface, and 0.1 mSv/h at 2m from the external surface of the
conveyance, except for consignments transported under exclusive use by road or railways.
- Any package or overpack having a transport index greater than 10 shall be transported,
only, under exclusive use.
- Groups of packages shall be stored so as to maintain a spacing of at least 6 m between any
two groups.

Fig. 1: Label for the category WHITE- I

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Fig. 2: Label for the category YELLOW-II

Fig. 3: Label for the category YELLOW-III

94