DESIGN CALCULATION OF INDUSTRIAL RADIOGRAPHIC EXPOSURE ROOM The use of X-ray generators and radioactive sources is no doubt danger

to the operator, therefore precautions must be taken to prevent exposure to direct and scattered radiation and to high voltages. The operator is normally protected from electrical shocks by the design of the X-ray equipment, but protection against the insidious affects of radiation has to be provided partly by the construction of shielded accommodation for the source of the radiation and partly by the operator's appreciation of the dangers involved. be designed. Whenever practicable a permanent exposure room should be provided for industrial radiography. Such facility must necessarily The following points should be considered in the design or selection of a radiographic exposure room. (i) (ii) (iii) It should have electrical and water connections within especially for Xray room. There should be a separate place outside the exposure room to house the control unit so that the operator is not exposed. The thickness and the material of the walls or doors should be sufficient to reduce the dose below the maximum permissible level. Dense concrete or lead of calculated thickness is usually used. (iv) Audible and/or visual warning signs shall be provided within the exposure room. These signs shall be actuated before irradiation begins and remain actuated until completion of the irradiation. (v) Reliable locks or interlocks shall be provided to prevent any person from entering a radiation room during irradiation. In the event of an exposure being terminated by interlock, it shall only be possible to initiate the irradiation from the control panel. (vi) Suitable means of exit shall be provided, so that any person who is accidentally shut in the irradiation room can leave the enclosure without delay. (vii) There should be a shielded apartment within the room preferably underground where gamma containers can be stored while not in use. The key for this enclosure should be kept with care and responsibility,
1

(viii) A survey meter should be available in the laboratory. This is required for checking the dose level before entering the room. (ix) The flooring and the ceiling of the room should be such as to give minimum backscatter. Lead lining of the walls, floor and the ceiling would be an ideal situation. The design of X-ray or gamma ray radiographic exposure room requires some calculations on shielding to provide safe operation of the facility and minimum exposure to radiation workers. Careful design can lead to economical installations with minimal barriers. The design depends on the following factors: (i) (ii) (iii) Maximum tube voltage or gamma energy, The maximum tube current or source strength, The permitted full-body dosage at the point of interest. For radiation workers this would be 100 millirads per-week (10 Gy per-week), and for other persons, 10 milli-rads per week (10 Gy per week).
(iv)

The workload (W). For X-ray equipment this is given in mA-min. perweek and in rad in air per-week at lm for gamma source. The use factor (U). This represents the fraction of the work time that the beam is turned towards the point under consideration. absence-of information obtained by monitoring. values of U recommended by ICRP. In the Table I gives the

(v)

(vi)

The-occupancy factor (T). This is the fraction of the work time spent in the area in question. The recommended values laid down by the ICRP are given in Table II.

(vii)

Maximum dose output from the tube or RHM factor of radioactive source. Choice of material for a barrier depends on The radiographic exposure room is usually

(viii) Shielding materials.

convenience and cost.

made of concrete with lead lining. Primary Protective Barriers

Primary protective barriers are those "sufficient to attenuate the useful beam to the required degree" (1). The thickness required may be obtained after calculating B, the maximum allowable transmission given by [2],
B = Pd2 WUT

(1)

where P = maximum permissible exposure for design purpose (0.1 rem/week or 0.01 rem/week) d = distance in metres from source to position occupied. W = weekly workload in mA-min/week or R/week at l m. U = use factor (Table I) T = occupancy factor (Table II). For X-ray up to 3MV, equation (1) yields B in units of R/mA-min at 1 m: for gamma rays B is transmission. The shield thickness corresponding to the calculated value of B is read from the appropriate transmission curve. Figures 5 to 8 show transmission curves for a range of X-ray energies and gamma rays with lead and concrete. Lead linings for walls and floors are useful particularly when converting existing buildings or providing enclosures for X-ray work. Secondary Protective Barriers Barriers for scatter radiation For scatter radiation, the maximum allowable transmission B by [2],
2

Bs

100 P d s = WTS

(2) W is also the same, but if the

P and T are the same as in equation (1).

source to scatterer distance is not 1 m, equation (2) must be modified according to the inverse square law; thus if the source to scatterer distance is 50 cm the denominator is multiplied by 4. S is the percent of the incident absorbed dose rate or exposure rate scattered to 1 m for the irradiated area of interest; values of S may be derived from Figs. 9 and 10. It is useful to note that a change in the source to scatterer distance is balanced by the resulting change in irradiated area. For high energy X-rays, S must be multiplied by the ratio of the output at the potential of interest to that of 0.5
3

MV namely 20 at 1 MV, 300 at 2 MV and 850 at 3 MV. ds is the distance in metres from the scatterer to the location of interest. The shield thickness corresponding to the calculated values of B is read from the transmission chart that is used for calculating primary-barriers. Barriers for Leakage Radiation Leakage radiation is defined as "all radiation except the useful beam, coming from the tube or source housing [1]). It must be below certain limits of exposure rate. Shielding required for leakage radiation may be calculated from the number of tenth value thickness NTVT corresponding to the maximum allowable transmission [2],
WL T d2 P

NTVT

= log 10

T, d and P are the same as in equation (1). WL is the weekly leakage exposure rate, or absorbed dose rate at 1 m from the source. The number of half-value thickness NHVT is 3.3 NTVT. The shield thickness is obtained by multiplying NTVT or NHVT by the values given in Tables IV and V. If the shield thickness for scatter and leakage radiation differ by 1 TVT or more, the thicker shield should be adopted for the secondary barrier thickness. However, if they differ by less than 1 TVT, the thicker shield should be adopted and 1 HVT added. Example 1 Examples of X-ray shielding requirements are given in Table VII for primary barrier and Table VIII for secondary barrier [2]. Table VIII is based on typical irradiation characteristics: 50 cm source to scatterer distance; 900 angle of scatter; 400 cm2 irradiated area implying 0.1% of the incident exposure rate scattered to 1m;
4

200 mA.min/h maximum continuous tube rating at 100 and 150kV and 1000 mA.min/h at 200-400kV; leakage radiation 0.1R/h at 1m from the target for 100 and 150kV and 1R/h at 1m for 200-400 kV, at the maximum continuous tube ratings. Example 2 Let us consider a design of exposure room for a 50Ci Ir-192 uncollimated source. Labyrinth door design is preferred. Consider the design is as in Fig. 4. For primary barrier (wall) P = 0.01 rem/week (for non-radiation worker) d=1m W = 0.48 X 50 X 40 R/week (40 working hours/week) = 960 U=1 T = = 0.25
B B = = Pd2 WUT 0.01 * 12 = 4.17*10-5 960 * 1 * 0.25

Concrete wall thickness = 650 mm. Primary barrier for control area P = 0.1 rem/week (for radiation worker) d=1m W = 0.48 X 50 X 40 R/week (40 working hours/week) = 960 U=1 T=1
B B = = Pd2 WUT 0.1 * 12 = 1.04*10-4 960 * 1 * 1

Concrete wall thickness = 600 mm. Secondary barrier for lead door P = 0.01 rem/week (for non-radiation worker)
5

ds = 3 m W = 0.48 X 50 X 40 R/week (40 working hours/week) = 960 T= S = 0.1% incident absorbed dose rate scattered to 1m per 400cm 2 irradiated area. Scattering angle = 900 (Fig. 9).
2

Bs
Bs

100 P d s = WTS
=

100 * 0.01 * 32 = 0.375 960 * 0.25 * 0.1

Lead door thickness = 6 mm (Fig. 11). Shielding Construction To provide protection against radiation, the construction should be leak proof to radiation and this can be achieved by over-lapping the lead sheets or concrete blocks. Further, nails or screws, which are used to unite plies of entry door, must be covered with extra lead. In addition, the conduits, pipes and air ducts, passing through the walls of the shielded area must be completely shielded. The entry door must overlap with the boundary of Figs. 1 to 4 show typical concrete wall to avoid leakage of radiation. protective constructions practice. If the exposure room is on the lowest floor of a building, the floor of the room need not be completely protected. However, if the wall is lined with lead, the lead lining should not stop at the floor level. It should be extended inward from all four walls. This is to prevent radiation from escaping from the room by penetrating the floor and then scattering upward outside the protective barriers. An alternative is to extend the lead protection in the walls downward from some distance below floor level. The same considerations apply to the ceiling if the room is located on the top floor of a building. Of course, if there is occupied space above or below the exposure room, the ceiling or floor of the exposure room must have a full radiation protection over its whole area.

Although lead is the most common material for x-ray protection, other materials may be used. In particular, structural walls of concrete or brick may afford considerable protection and may reduce the thickness, and therefore the cost of the lead required. Above 500 kV, concrete is most used as protective material. The thickness of lead required at these higher energies are so great, where fastening the lead to the walls becomes a serious problem. Therefore, concrete is often used because of the ease of construction. In new construction, the use of concrete may have economic advantages even for protection against radiation generated at low energies (well below 500 kV). Applicable codes should be examined and any installations checked for compliance with their requirements. References
1-

ICRP Publication 3, Report of Committee III on Protection against X-rays, Oxford, Pergamon, 1960.

2- ICRP Publication 15 and 21, 1976 edition. 3- LPTA Safety Code of Practise for Industrial Radiography

Table I: Use Factors [1] Full Use (U=1) Partial Use (U=1/4) Occasional Use (U=1/16) Floors of radiation rooms except dental installations, doors, wall and ceiling areas of radiation rooms routinely exposed to useful beam. Doors and wall areas of radiation rooms not routinely exposed to the useful beam, floors of dental installations. Ceiling areas of radiation rooms not routinely exposed to the useful beam

Table II: Occupancy Factors [1] Full Occupancy (T = 1) Control space, offices, corridors and waiting space large enough to hold desks, darkrooms, workrooms and shops, nurse stations, rest and lounge rooms routinely used by occupationally exposed personnel, living quarters, children's play areas, occupied space in adjoining buildings. Corridors too narrow for desks, utility rooms, rest and lounge rooms not used routinely by occupationally exposed personnel, wards and patients rooms, elevators using operators, unattended parking lots Closets too small for future occupancy, toilets not used routinely by occupationally exposed personnel, stairways, automatic: elevators, sidewalks, and streets.

Partial Occupancy (T = ) Occasional Occupancy (T = 1/16)

Table III: Outputs of Gamma-ray Sources [2] Principal -ray energies (MeV), and % photon per disintegration 1.17 (100%); 1.33 (100%) 0.66 (85%) 0.3 ~ 0.6 0.074 to 2.4 Exposure rate, R/h at 1m from 1Ci 1.30 0.32 0.48 0.825

Nuclides
60

Half-life 5.24y 30y 74d 1620y

Co Cs Ir

137

192

Ra and daughter
226

Table IV: Approximate Half-Value-Thickness and Tenth-Value-Thickness for Heavily Attenuated Broad Beams of X-Rays X-ray source 50 kV 70 75 100 125 150 200 250 300 00 500 Half-value-thickness, cm Lead Concrete 0.005 0.4 1.0 0.015 0.025 1.6 1.9 0.029 2.2 0.042 2.6 0.086 2.8 0.17 3.0 0.25 3.0 0.31 3.6 Tenth-value-thickness, cm Lead Concrete 0.018 1.3 3.6 0.050 0.084 5.5 6.4 0.096 7.0 0.14 8.6 0.29 9.0 0.57 10.0 0.82 10.0 1.03 11.9

Table IV: Approximate Half-Value-Thickness and Tenth-Value-Thickness for Heavily Attenuated Broad Beams of Gamma Rays Nuclid e
60 137

Co Cs 192 Ir

Uranium, cm HVT TVT 0.7 2.2 0.3 1.1 0.4 1.2

Material Lead,cm HVT 1.2 0.7 0.6 TVT 4.0 2.2 1.9

Steel, cm HVT 2.0 1.5 1.3 TVT 6.7 5.0 4.3

Concrete, cm HVT TVT 6.1 20.3 4.9 16.3 4.1 13.5

Table VI: Lead Equivalent of Various Materials for Low Energy X-rays Materi Materi al al Densit y gm/cm
3

Material Thickne ss, cm 50

cm

lead

equivalent

at 300 400

applied kV of 75 100 150 200

250

Clay brick

1.6

10 20 30 40 50

0.0 6 0.1 4 0.2 2 -

0.0 8 0.1 7 0.2 7 0.3 8 -

0.09 0.19 0.31 0.45 -

0.0 8 0.1 7 0.2 6 0.3 7 0.4 8 0.0 9 0.1 8 0.2 2 0.4 3 0.5 9 -

0.0 8 0.1 7 0.2 6 0.3 7 0.4 8 0.0 7 0.1 4 0.1 7 0.3 4 0.5 0 0.6 8 -

0.1 0 0.2 3 0.4 0 0.6 0 0.8 1 0.0 6 0.1 3 0.1 7 0.3 6 0.5 6 0.7 7 -

0.1 1 0.3 0 0.5 5 0.8 3 1.1 3 0.0 6 0.1 4 0.1 8 0.3 9 0.6 1 0.8 4 1.0 8 -

0.1 3 0.4 5 0.8 5 1.2 7 1.7 1 0.0 8 0.1 6 0.2 0 0.4 3 0.6 8 0.9 5 1.2 1 10

Baryte s Plaster or concre te

3.2

1.0 2.0 2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5

0.0 9 0.1 8 0.2 3 -

0.1 5 0.2 7 0.3 3 -

0.18 0.33 0.40 -

Steel

7.8

0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4

0.0 1 0.0 3

0.02 0.03 0.05 0.07

0.0 1 0.0 2

0.0 1 0.0 2

0.5 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0

0.0 5 0.0 7 0.0 9 -

0.09 -

0.0 3 0.0 4 0.0 5 0.0 9 0.1 7 0.2 5 0.3 3 0.4 0

0.0 3 0.0 4 0.0 4 0.0 8 0.1 6 0.2 3 0.3 0 0.3 7

0.0 3 0.0 8 0.1 7 0.2 8 0.3 8 0.4 9

0.0 3 0.0 8 0.1 9 0.3 3 0.4 7 0.6 3

0.0 4 0.0 9 0.2 4 0.4 3 0.6 5 0.8 8

11

Table VII: Primary X-Ray Shielding Requirements for 0.1 Rem per Week
Effectiv e Workload mA.min/week 1000 250 60 1000 250 60 40000 10000 2500 625 40000 10000 2500 625 40000 10000 2500 625 40000 10000 2500 625 cm lead required at source distance of 1m 2m 4m 0.24 0.19 0.14 0.3 0.25 0.19 0.66 0.58 0.51 0.43 0.19 0.14 0.09 0.25 0.19 0.14 0.58 0.51 0.43 0.35 0.14 0.09 0.05 0.19 0.14 0.09 0.51 0.43 0.35 0.28 cm concrete required at source distance of 1m 2m 4m 17 13.6 10.4 25.5 21.1 16.8 46.3 41 35.9 30.6 51.8 46.5 41 35.4 58.4 52.5 46.3 40.2 65 59 53 46.8 13.6 10.4 7.1 21.1 16.8 12.3 41 35.9 30.6 25.4 46.5 41 35.4 29.8 52.5 46.3 40.2 34 59 53 46.8 40.6 10.4 7.1 4.1 16.8 12.3 8 35.9 30.6 25.4 20.1 41 35.4 29.8 24.1 46.3 40.2 34 27.8 53 46.8 40.6 34.4

Potential kV 100

150

200

250

300

400

12

Table VIII: Scatter and Leakage X-Ray Shielding Requirements for 0.1 Rem per Week
Effectiv e Workload mA.min/week 1000 250 60 1000 250 60 40000 10000 2500 625 40000 10000 2500 625 40000 10000 2500 625 40000 10000 2500 625 cm lead required at source distance of 1m 2m 4m 0.08 0.04 0.02 0.11 0.06 0.03 0.4 0.32 0.24 0.16 0.78 0.61 0.45 0.28 0.04 0.02 0 0.06 0.03 0 0.32 0.24 0.16 0.09 0.61 0.45 0.28 0.14 0.02 0 0 0.03 0 0 0.24 0.16 0.09 0.04 0.45 0.28 0.14 0.05 cm concrete required at source distance of 1m 2m 4m 5.5 2.7 0.3 8.9 4.9 1.3 26.9 21.6 16.4 11.3 30.6 25.1 19.4 13.9 34.8 28.7 22.6 16.3 40.8 34.7 28.7 22.5 2.7 0.3 0 4.9 1.3 0 21.6 16.4 11.3 6.4 25.1 19.4 13.9 8.5 28.7 22.6 16.3 10.2 34.7 28.7 22.5 16.2 0.3 0 0 1.3 0 0 16.4 11.3 6.4 2 19.4 13.9 8.5 3.4 22.6 16.3 10.2 4.6 28.7 22.5 16.2 9.6

Potential kV 100

150

200

250

300

400

13

(a)

(b) Hinged door

(c) Sliding door

Fig. 1: Plan views of door entries to exposure rooms, showing incorrect (a) and correct (b), (c) methods of fitting. (a) Leakage of primary radiation due to incorrectly fitted sliding door; (b) hinged door; (c) sliding door.

Fig. 2:

Methods of shielding when pipes ducts, conduits or cables must pass through walls of exposure room.

14

Fig. 3: Scatter of radiation through a roof.

Partial Occupancy

Partial Occupancy

3m

1m Partial Occupancy

1m Contro l

Partial Occupancy

Fig. 4: Labyrinth Design of Exposure Room. This is effectively reduced the lead door thickness. Radiation is reduced to approximately 0.1% on each scatter.

15

Fig. 5: Broad-beam transmission of X-rays through concrete (= 2.35 g/cm3)

16

Fig. 6: Broad-beam transmission of X-rays through lead ( = 11.35 g/cm3)

17

Fig. 7: Broad-beam transmission of -rays through concrete (= 2.35 g/cm3)

18

Fig. 8: Broad-beam transmission of -rays through concrete (= 2.35 g/cm3)

19

Fig. 9: Variation with potential of the absorbed dose rate measured in air due to X-rays scattered at 90 from various materials. Percent scatter is related to primary beam measurements in air at the point of incidence [2].

20

Fig. 10: Scattering patterns of diverging X-ray and gamma ray beams normally incident on concrete shield. Percent is related to primary beam measurements in free air at the point of incidence [2].

21

22