The SSDL Network, radiation protection and the principle of measurement traceability

A brief article describes the IAEA/WHO Network of Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratories (SSDLs). SSDLs were originally conceived to improve dosimetry in radiation therapy where dosemeters have usually been directly calibrated against a primary or secondary standard. The author expresses concern over the lack of such measurement traceability in the radiation protection field particularly in the light of the incomparable environmental measurements determined after the Chernobyl reactor accident. (U.K.)