Assessment of the adequacy of current approaches to individual dosimetric monitoring for personnel

A wide range of tasks associated with organizing and conducting inspections has led to the development of a large number of models of beam inspection units differing in their scope of application and characteristics of the ionizing radiation sources included in their composition. According to the radiation and hygienic certification, 7,095 X-ray inspection units were used in the Russian Federation in 2023. The rich hardware fleet and the lack of a special regulatory and methodological document clarifying the issues of organizing and conducting individual dosimetric monitoring of personnel ensuring the operation of X-ray units for inspecting baggage and goods prompted a study to assess the adequacy of current approaches to assessing personnel doses. Materials and methods: Industrial radiation monitoring of operator workplaces of 11 X-ray units for inspecting baggage and goods of various models was carried out. The results of individual dosimetric monitoring of personnel ensuring the operation of X-ray units for inspecting baggage and goods using individual thermoluminescent dosimeters are presented. Results and Discussion: The presented models of X-ray units under normal operating conditions do not pose a significant radiation hazard to personnel and the population. The average value of the individual dose equivalent Hp(10) for operators of radiation inspection units practically corresponds to its value for the natural background dose component – the man-made component of the radiation dose is negligible. For all the considered models of X-ray units, the average value of the ambient dose equivalent rate of gamma radiation at the operators' workplaces was: 0.14 μSv/h and 0.13 μSv/h for operators of X-ray units for inspection of baggage and goods of types 1 and 2, respectively. Conclusion: Thus, based on the results of industrial radiation monitoring of the presented models of X-ray units and the results of individual dosimetric monitoring, it can be concluded that the conditions of radiation safety in the radiation field of these sources are properly observed by operators and persons not classified as personnel.

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