Dissemination of exposure standard and the irradiation field on ICRU operational quantities. A suggestion of practical calibration for operational quantities

The calibration of radiation protection instruments is made by reference irradiation fields which are traceable to the primary standard. The reference irradiation fields must be characterized to the suitable objective quantity, e.g. ICRU operational quantities for radiation protection instruments. For workplace monitoring, ambient dose equivalent and directional dose equivalent are used as such operational quantities. Personal dose equivalent is used for individual monitoring. In this paper, the method of obtaining the irradiation field for ICRU operational quantities and the method of performing the calibration of radiation protection instruments are described. The terminal point of dissemination on radiation dose standard is common radiation protection instruments which are used at workplaces, such as survey meters and personal dosimeters. The radiation dose standard for photons is transferred by exposure from the primary standard laboratory to a secondary standard dosimetry laboratory (SSDL). The calibration of survey instruments and personal dosimeters for ICRU operational quantities are described. (K.I.)