Radiation protection instrumentation: A comparison of US and international standards

The quality and performance of radiation protection instruments are extremely important in providing conservative protection to radiation workers. The recent American National Standards Institute (ANSI) draft standards on radiation protection instrumentation provide more specific performance requirements and definitive performance tests. International standards for radiation protection instrumentation, published by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), specify general performance, type, and acceptance test requirements. This paper discusses the similarities and differences between the two sets of standards. The results of testing selected instruments against the new draft ANSI standards also are presented. Pacific Northwest Laboratory has tested more than 100 instruments against criteria in draft ANSI N42.17A, which has resulted in changes in the standard. For example, the test for temperature performance was changed to permit more time for equilibration at each test temperature, and the instrument precision requirement was changed from less than or equal to2.5% to less than or equal to10%. 2 refs., 2 tabs.