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Background: With the increase of X-ray use for medical diagnostic purposes, knowing the given doses is necessary in patients for comparison with reference levels. The con-cept of reference doses or diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) has been developed as a practical aid in the optimization of patient protection in diagnostic radiology. Objectives: To assess the radiation doses to neonates from diagnostic radiography (chest and abdomen). This study has been carried out in the neonatal intensive care unit of a province in Iran. Patients and Methods: Entrance surface dose (ESD) was measured directly with ther-moluminescent dosimeters (TLDs). The population included 195 neonates admitted for a diagnostic radiography, in eight NICUs of different hospital types. Results: The mean ESD for chest and abdomen examinations were 76.3 µGy and 61.5 µGy, re-spectively. DRLs for neonate in NICUs of the province were 88 µGy for chest and 98 µGy for ab-domen examinations that were slightly higher than other studies. Risk of death due to radia