OSL signal of electronic components from portable radios for radiation accident dosimetry

Abstract

The portable radio (hand-held device) is the preferred means of communication for the first responders from the homeland security forces and is systematically carried during intervention. This electronic device could therefore be a good candidate as a possible fortuitous dosimeter to estimate the dose received by the members of these security forces in the event of a radiological accident. For this purpose, the dosimetric properties of electronic components extracted from the circuit board of portable radios used by a French specialised intervention unit were investigated using the OSL technique. The dosimetric properties of such electronic components were compared to those of resistors extracted from mobile phones to determine whether an OSL protocol developed for mobile phone resistors could be applied also to these electronic components. The OSL dosimetric properties were generally similar and the results of a dose recovery test using these components removed from a portable radio were in good agreement with the nominal dose. Further experiments showed the importance of knowing the storage temperature conditions of these devices to accurately estimate the dose in case of a radiological accident.