Experimental considerations for the calibration of personnel dosimeters with photons

The criteria for irradiating radiation dosimeters for test purposes are defined quite clearly in Draft ANSI Standard N13.11. In this Draft the use of phantoms, constructed of a near tissue equivalent material, is prescribed for backing the dosimeters while being irradiated, thus simulating a dosimeter being irradiated while attached to a person. When the phantom is placed in the photon beam it becomes a major source of scattered radiation. The scatter component into the dosimeter is a function of the energy of the photon beam and must be defined for each effective energy used. In addition, it is usually cost effective to irradiate more than one dosimeter at the same time, which may result in mutual interference from the dosimeters themselves. The effects of these parameters upon a centrally positioned dosimeter in the presence of a phantom are studied