Performance of special extremity dosimeters of BeO in X and gamma radiation fields

A dosimetric system, projected and constructed at the Institut fur Strahlenschutz, consisting of a thermoluminescent reader and BeO one-way dosemeters incorporated in metallic holders, for use extremities, was tested in the presented work in relation to its most important characteristics: detection threshold, response linearity to 60Co radiation, thermal fading at 500C and energy dependence for X-radiation (from 15 to 300 kV) and gamma radiation (60Co and 137Cs). The influence, on the dosemeter response, of an opaque plastic cover was also studied. The results show that the system can be very useful in individual monitoring, with many advantages in relation to other commercially available dosemeters. (author)