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In 2012, the European Radiation Dosimetry Group (EURADOS) performed an intercomparison for neutron dosemeters that are intended to measure personal dose equivalent, Hp(10). A total of 31 participants registered with 34 dosimetry systems. The irradiation tests were chosen to provide the participants with useful information on their dosimetry systems, i.e. linearity, reproducibility, responses for different energies and angles and to simulated workplace fields. This paper gives details of the extensive information derived from the exercise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the Information System on Occupational Exposure in Medicine, Industry and Research (ISEMIR), a new International Atomic Energy Agency initiative, a Working Group on interventional cardiology, aims to assess staff radiation protection (RP) levels and to propose an international database of occupational exposures. A survey of regulatory bodies (RBs) has provided information at the country level on RP practice in interventional cardiology (IC). Concerning requirements for wearing personal dosemeters, only 57 % of the RB specifies the number and position of dosemeters for staff monitoring. Less than 40 % of the RBs could provide occupational doses. Reported annual median effective dose values (often <0.5 mSv) were lower than expected considering validated data from facility-specific studies, indicating that compliance with continuous individual monitoring is often not achieved in IC. A true assessment of annual personnel doses in IC will never be realised unless a knowledge of monitoring compliance is incorporated into the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A training course named ‘European Radiation Dosimetry Group/International Atomic Energy Agency Advanced Training Course on Internal Dose Assessment’ was held in Czech Technical University in Prague from 2 to 6 February 2009. The course, jointly organised by the two organisations, had the aim of providing guidance on the application of IDEAS guidelines and of disseminating the results of EC CONRAD Project in relation to internal dosimetry (Work Package 5). At the end of the course a dose assessment exercise was proposed to participants. Four artificial cases, named exercises left to participants, were used to check the capabilities of application of the IDEAS guidelines, gained by participants during the event. The participants had to use both hand calculations and dedicated software, in limited time (7 h). Forty per cent of participants had solved all four cases in the allotted time. The results of the dose assessment were analysed to gain experience in types of errors assessors may make during the evaluations. The result of this intercomparison exercise was promising: half of the results in each case were equal to the ‘reference evaluation estimate’, which was obtained by applying the guidelines correctly. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

131I is widely used in Latin America and Caribbean Region in the field of nuclear medicine and has been recognised as one of the main sources of potential intake of radionuclides by the staff. The In Vivo Monitoring laboratory of the Institute for Radiation Protection and Dosimetry (IRD-CNEN-Brazil) organised three intercomparison exercises (2005, 2009 and 2013) in the scope of IAEA technical cooperation projects RLA9049 and RLA9066 aimed to disseminate and harmonise the technique for measuring 131I in the human thyroid. The number of participants in Latin America increased from 9 to 20 institutions from 7 and 13 countries, respectively, over the last 10 y. The participants have improved significantly their ability on the in vivo measurement technique. In the 2013 round all laboratories which reported results presented performances in an acceptable range according to the ISO criteria indicating the benefit of such exercises in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the auspices of the Regional Coordination Agreement for Latin America, representatives of the eight member states have participated in a project to improve radiological protection for workers exposed to unsealed sources of radiation. The design of the project was based on information obtained from a questionnaire circulated among the participants, from which the initial status of internal dosimetry services in each country was characterised. The objective of the project is to harmonize internal dosimetry procedures, with reference to International Atomic Energy Agency recommendations. After the implementation of new procedures and personnel training, four intercomparison exercises were carried out: measurement of iodine in thyroid phantoms, measurement of gamma emitters in urine samples, measurement of beta emitters in urine samples and internal dose assessments. This project has resulted in important improvements in internal dosimetry services in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent major international intercomparison exercises on intake and internal dose assessments from monitoring data, the results calculated by different participants varied significantly. Based on this experience the need for harmonisation of the procedures has been formulated within an EU 5th Framework Programme research project. The aim of the project, IDEAS, is to develop general guidelines for standardising assessments of intakes and internal doses. The IDEAS project started in October 2001 and ended in June 2005. The project is closely related to some goals of the work of Committee 2 of the ICRP and since 2003 there has been close cooperation between the two groups. To ensure that the guidelines are applicable to a wide range of practical situations, the first step was to compile a database of well-documented cases of internal contamination. In parallel, an improved version of an existing software package was developed and distributed to the partners for further use. A large number of cases from the database was evaluated independently by the partners and the results reviewed. Based on these evaluations, guidelines were drafted and discussed with dosimetry professionals from around the world by means of a virtual workshop on the Internet early in 2004. The guidelines have been revised and refined on the basis of the experiences and discussions in this virtual workshop. The general philosophy of the Guidelines is presented here, focusing on the principles of harmonisation, optimisation and proportionality. Finally, the proposed Levels of Task to structure the approach of internal dose evaluation are reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A special session was held in the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA15) Congress to address the particular challenges facing developing countries regarding radiation protection infrastructure. The objective was to identify and share the key challenges facing developing countries regarding the ability to introduce and establish effective radiation protection programmes. The experiences of key international organisations (International Atomic Energy Agency, Pan American Health Organisation and World Health Organisation) that have support programmes were discussed, along with a perspective from several countries with developing programmes. The key common challenges include: governmental commitment at senior levels, with provision of the necessary resources: establishment of an independent regulatory body and related infrastructure: appropriate numbers of qualified staff in all necessary fields, including their education and training: supporting physical infrastructure, such as dosimetry and measurement equipment including calibration laboratories. In addressing these challenges the importance of support from the key international organisations was emphasised. More emphasis should be given to the application of the graded approach. The establishment of support networks at a national or regional level that allow for the sharing of experiences and resources, and that support the wellbeing of isolated professionals, is also crucial. In this aspect the support from wider professional bodies such as IRPA and established national radiation protection societies can also play a key role., (© 2021 Society for Radiological Protection. Published on behalf of SRP by IOP Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.)

Internal dosimetry intercomparisons are essential for the verification of applied models and the consistency of results'. To that aim, the First Regional Intercomparison was organised in 2005, and that results led to the Second Regional Intercomparison Exercise in 2013, which was organised in the frame of the RLA 9/066 and coordinated by Autoridad Regulatoria Nuclear of Argentina. Four simulated cases covering intakes of (131)I, (137)Cs and Tritium were proposed. Ninteen centres from thirteen different countries participated in this exercise. This paper analyses the participants' results in this second exercise in order to test their skills and acquired knowledge, particularly in the application of the IDEAS Guidelines. It is important to highlight the increased number of countries that participated in this exercise compared with the first one and, furthermore, the improvement in the overall performance. The impact of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Projects since 2003 has led to a significant enhancement of internal dosimetry capabilities that strengthen the radiation protection of workers., (© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Nine laboratories participated in an intercomparison exercise organised by the European Radiation Dosimetry Group (EURADOS) for emergency radiobioassay involving four high-risk radionuclides ((239)Pu, (241)Am, (90)Sr and (226)Ra). Diverse methods of analysis were used by the participating laboratories for the in vitro determination of each of the four radionuclides in urine samples. Almost all the methods used are sensitive enough to meet the requirements for emergency radiobioassay derived for this project in reference to the Clinical Decision Guide introduced by the NCRP. Results from most of the methods meet the requirements of ISO 28218 on accuracy in terms of relative bias and relative precision. However, some technical gaps have been identified. For example, some laboratories do not have the ability to assay samples containing (226)Ra, and sample turnaround time would be expected to be much shorter than that reported by many laboratories, as timely results for internal contamination and early decisions on medical intervention are highly desired. Participating laboratories are expected to learn from each other on the methods used to improve the interoperability among these laboratories., (© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Radiation protection of pregnant workers and their offspring is an issue that has been referenced in the literature by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other international institutions. Several documents of the ICRP address the issue of the protection of the pregnant workers. The new ICRP recommendations refer to the control of working conditions of a pregnant worker, after declaration of pregnancy, such that it is unlikely that the additional dose to the fetus will exceed about 1 mSv during the remainder of pregnancy. The IAEA Basic Safety Standards present similar recommendations. The IAEA is preparing a technical document that provides guidance on these issues.