Preliminary study for the development of radiation safety evaluation methodology for industrial kV-rated radiation generator facilities

Abstract

Background : This study aims to develop an evaluator that can quickly and accurately evaluate the shielding of low-energy industrial radiation generators.

Methods : We used PyQt to develop a graphical user interface (GUI)-based program and employed the calculation methodology reported in the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP)-49 for shielding calculations. We gathered the necessary factors for shielding evaluation using two libraries designed for Python, pandas and NumPy, and processed them into a database. We verified the effectiveness of the proposed program by comparing the results with those from safety reports of six domestic facilities.

Results : After verifying the effectiveness of the program using the NCRP-49 example, we obtained an average error rate of 1.73%. When comparing the facility safety report and results obtained using the program, we found that the error rate was between 1.09% and 6.51%. However, facilities that did not use a defined shielding methodology were underestimated by 31.82% compared with the program (the final barrier thickness satisfied the shielding standard).

Conclusion : The developed program provides a fast and accurate shielding evaluation that can assist personnel that work in radiation generator facilities and government officials in reviewing safety.