Impact evaluation of the geometry on measurements of solid radioactive waste exposure rates in nuclear medicine
Brambilla, Cláudia Régio; Hoff, Gabriela
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1517-3151.0501
Rev. Bras. Eng. Bioméd., vol.30, n4, p.330-340, 2014
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Abstract
Introduction: The objective of this paper is to verify the infl uence of the source geometry on Geiger Müller
(GM) exposure rate data. This paper presents a validation of an application based on Monte Carlo (MC) data
simulated using Geant4, based on a comparison of the exposure rates calculated via MC and Deterministic
Calculations (DC) to experimental (measured) exposure rates. Methods: Experimental data that were collected
through measurements of standard sources were used for MC and DC validation. In addition, the best method
of analyzing the impact of the real source geometry on calculations of a descarpack box of radioactive waste
was verifi ed. Furthermore, were estimated the exposure rates from a homogeneous solid waste box (used at
clinical sites) and from a point source. These results were compared to confi rm possible discrepancies related
to source geometry in exposure rates collected using a GM detector. Results: The investigated estimation
methods were statistically compared; the MC presented higher agreement with the experimental data than did
the deterministic calculations. The impact of considering a point source instead of the real geometry (descarpack
box) was an underestimation of between 20% and 70%, depending on the source – detector distance and the
isotope evaluated. Conclusion: The DC always presented a higher difference with respect to the experimental
data than did the MC calculation. The use of realistic geometry proved to exert a signifi cant impact on the
exposure rate data for solid radioactive waste compared with the exposure rate induced by a point source; the
exposure rate estimation obtained using the real geometry was always at least 16% higher than the estimation
obtained for a point source, and some differences greater than 50% were found.
Keywords
Radioactive solid waste, Nuclear medicine, Exposure rate, Monte Carlo simulations.