Main description:

Active personal dosimeters (APDs) are widely used in many countries to provide on the spot dose information to persons exposed to radiation. Their use as legal dosimeters is already established in a few countries. In the majority of countries, APDs have not undergone accreditation programmes or intercomparisons. The IAEA, in cooperation with EURADOS, organized an intercomparison, using test criteria from two international standards (IEC 61526 and IEC 61283). Additionally, simulated workplace fields were used for testing the APD reactions to pulsed X ray fields and mixed gamma/X ray fields. This is the first time that results of such a type of comparison have been published, representing a step of great importance for APD end users in medical diagnostic and surgery X ray applications. This report may be used by Member States as a source of information on new instruments which could be used in the near future as legal dosimeters, combining the advantages of small size and instant readout of dose rate and dose with computerized dose keeping.