Italian experience in testing the reliability of personal X- and gamma ray dosimetry services

At present, Italy has no legislation or regulations governing personal dosimetry services, so that a service of this type can be operated without any kind of control. As a result, in recent years Italy has seen an enormous increase in the number of dosimetric services; there are now more than sixty issuing approximately 2 000 000 dosemeters every year. In 1977, experts from the major national services set up the Italian Group of Experts on Personal Dosimetry (Gaped), with the two-fold aim of studying the problems associated with personal dosemeters and encouraging services operating in Italy to undergo voluntary reliability tests. The Group carried on its work at six national meetings, as well as in workshops open to all the services and in a document entitled 'Criteria for testing the reliability of individual X- and gamma ray dosimetry services' which is used as a reference for tests, with attention to the methods used in other countries. In 1984, the GIEDP was given official status by the ENEA and became the ENEA-EDP Working Group. It was made responsible for testing the reliability of services, on a voluntary basis. For the time being, the test is limited to whole body X- and gamma ray dosimetry. It comprises two parts, firstly an examination of the procedures and methods used, by analysing documents submitted by the service and by interviewing the technical expert responsible for the service, and secondly an irradiation test, by irradiating dosemeters to various levels of exposure and combinations of energy. A certificate of reliability is issued to services which pass the test