TLD DRD dose discrepancy: role of beta radiation fields

Ionization chamber based direct reading/pocket dosimeters (DRDs), are used along with the legal dosimeters (thermoluminescent dosimeters-TLDs) for day to day monitoring and control of radiation doses received by radiation workers. The DRDs are routinely used along with the passive dosimeters (TLDs) in nuclear industry at different radiation installations where radiation levels could vary significantly and the possibility of receiving doses beyond investigation levels by radiation workers is not ruled out. Recently, recommendations for dealing with discrepancies between personal dosimeter systems used in parallel were issued by ISO. The present study was performed to measure the response of ionization chamber based pocket dosimeters to various beta sources having energy (E_max) ranging from 0.224 MeV-3.54 MeV. It is expected that the above study will be useful in resolving the disparity between TLD and DRD doses at those radiation installations where radiation workers are likely to be exposed simultaneously from photons and beta particles