Calculation of the Neutron Ambient Dose Equivalent on the Basis of the ICRP Revised Quality Factors

Abstract

On the basis of new radiobiological findings, the ICRP has recently revised the LET dependence of the quality factor Q(LET) for charged particles. In consequence, many in phantom defined radiation protection quantities have to be re-evaluated. Among these, the most important operational quantity in radiation protection is the ambient dose equivalent h*(10). This study deals with the calculation of h*(10), as defined at a depth of 10mm in the ICRU sphere for a broad parallel neutron beam. Additionally, the ratio of ambient dose equivalent to ambient dose, the effective quality factor q*eff, as a function of neutron energy, is derived.