Assessment of human exposure doses received by activation of medical linear accelerator components

This study analyzes the radiation exposure dose that an operator can receive from radioactive components during maintenance or repair of a linear accelerator. This study further aims to evaluate radiological safety. Simulations are performed on 10 MV and 15 MV photon beams, which are the most freque...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of instrumentation 2017-08, Vol.12 (8), p.P08022-P08022
Main Authors: Lee, D.-Y., Kim, J.-H., Park, E.-T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Collimation
Evaluation
Food irradiation
Maintenance
Nuclear accidents & safety
Nuclear engineering
Nuclear safety
Photon beams
Radiation dosage
Radiation effects
Radiation shielding
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Summary:This study analyzes the radiation exposure dose that an operator can receive from radioactive components during maintenance or repair of a linear accelerator. This study further aims to evaluate radiological safety. Simulations are performed on 10 MV and 15 MV photon beams, which are the most frequently used high-energy beams in clinics. The simulation analyzes components in order of activity and the human exposure dose based on the amount of neutrons received. As a result, the neutron dose, radiation dose, and human exposure dose are ranked in order of target, primary collimator, flattening filter, multi-leaf collimator, and secondary collimator, where the minimum dose is 9.34E-07 mSv/h and the maximum is 1.71E-02 mSv/h. When applying the general dose limit (radiation worker 20 mSv/year, pubic 1 mSv/year) in accordance with the Nuclear Safety Act, all components of a linear accelerator are evaluated as below the threshold value. Therefore, the results suggest that there is no serious safety issue for operators in maintaining and repairing a linear accelerator. Nevertheless, if an operator recognizes an exposure from the components of a linear accelerator during operation and considers the operating time and shielding against external exposure, exposure of the operator is expected to be minimized.
ISSN:1748-0221
1748-0221
DOI:10.1088/1748-0221/12/08/P08022