Effect of X-ray high-voltage variations on the conversion coefficients

Conversion coefficients (CCs) are an essential vehicle in radiation protection for the determination of the dose (rate) of a given radiation field. According to the current draft of the revision of international standard ISO 4037, an X-ray field is a reference field if the CCs of the field match the tabulated ISO values within 2%. Deviations of the high-voltage (HV) tube-potential from its nominal value influence the resulting spectra and change the corresponding CCs. This work investigates the maximum allowable deviation of the HV from its nominal value such that the requirements of ISO 4037 remain fulfilled. This is achieved using both synthetic spectra created by a software simulation program and spectra measured at one of the X-ray facilities of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt. The results are summarised in form of a new proposal for upper limit values which are suggested to be used in the next version of ISO 4037. (authors)