State of the art in thermoluminescent dosimetry using dosemeters with automated read-out

In the beginning, the results obtained with automated read-out TLD have been quite disappointing, both for manufacturers and users. In response to this, industry then seeked advice and assistance from those experienced in the practical use of dosemeters, and the development of the second generation of automated TLD has been a common task of manufacturers and purchosers. As a preliminary achievement of development work along this line, a dosemeter has been presented by a Japanese manufacturer, meeting the requirements in quite a satisfactory way. The device is characterized by a frequency of disturbance of < 5 x 10-5, a microprocessor for controlling the measuring and control functions, possibility of active input of device parameters and boundary conditions, extensive self-control of operating functions, complete data protection, and thin-film detector technique. Pursuing this line of development, and taking into account future recommentations, automated thermoluminescent dosimetry does seem to be a promising alternative to current measuring techniques in personnel monitoring. (orig./RW)