1987 Volume 22 Issue 3 Pages 259-264
In order to facilitate estimation of the dose-equivalent index or the effective dose equivalent for the purpose of radiation protection, we investigated how and where personal dosimeters should be worn by workers in nuclear facilities. Information on the dominant direction of incident radiation impinging on the body was of importance for this study, and we measured it on workers in two nuclear facilities. Sixty workers who were carried out periodic inspections of nuclear power plants were chosen as subjects. In one nuclear plant, each worker wore 2 film badges on the anterior and posterior surfaces of the trunk at chest level for one month, and in another, each worker wore four thermoluminescence dosimeters on the front, back and both sides of the trunk at waist level for 5 days, In 85per cent of all subjects, the doses on the anterior surface of the trunk were higher than those elsewhere. The average ratio between the posterior and anterior doses was 0.85. Thus, the majority of the incident radiation detected on workers in nuclear power plants fell on the anterior surface of the trunk. The results of this study suggested that one personal dosimeter worn on the front of the trunk is sufficient for routine individual monitoring purposes.
