Simulation of Counting Efficiencies of Portable NaI Detector for Rapid Screening of Internal Exposure in Radiation Emergencies

Abstract

In case of radiation emergencies, radioactive materials released into environments can cause internal exposure of members of the public. Even though whole body counters are widely used for direct measurement of internally deposited radionuclides, those are not likely to be used at the field to rapidly screen internal exposure. In this study, we estimated the counting efficiencies of portable NaI detector for different size BOMAB phantoms using Monte Carlo transport code to apply handheld gamma spectrometers for rapid screening of internal exposure following radiological accidents. As a result of comparison for two counting geometries, counting efficiencies for sitting model were about 1.1 times higher than those for standing model. We found, however, that differences of counting efficiencies according to different size are higher than those according to counting geometry. Therefore, we concluded that when we assess internal exposure of small size people compared to the reference male, the body size should be considered to estimate more accurate radioactivity in the human body because counting efficiencies of 4-year old BOMAB phantom were about 2.4~3.1 times higher than those of reference male BOMAB phantom.