Assessment of neutron fluence to organ dose conversion coefficients in the ORNL analytical adult phantom

Abstract

Neutron fluence to absorbed dose conversion coefficients have been evaluated for the analytical ORNL modified adult phantom in 21 body organs using MCNP4C Monte Carlo code. The calculation used 20 monodirectional monoenergetic neutron beams in the energy range 10(-9)-20 MeV, under four irradiation conditions: anterior-posterior (AP), posterior-anterior (PA), left-lateral (LLAT) and right-lateral (RLAT). Then the conversion coefficients are compared with the data reported in ICRP publication 74 for mathematical MIRD type phantoms and by Bozkurt et al for the VIPMAN voxel model. Although the ORNL results show fewer differences with the ICRP results than the Bozkurt et al data, one can deduce neither complete agreement nor disparity between this study and other data sets. This comparison shows that in some cases any differences in applied Monte Carlo codes or simulated body models could significantly change the organ dose conversion factors. This sensitivity should be considered for radiological protection programmes. For certain organs, the results of two models with major differences can be in a satisfactory agreement because of the similarity in those organ models.