External individual monitoring of radiation workers in Kosovo

Abstract

Individual monitoring of external exposure for all medical, industrial and research radiation workers in Republic of Kosovo is performed and still is being performed by Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM). First, film badges dosemeters were used from 1978 to 1982; afterwards individually dosimetry was done based on thermoluminescence detectors (TLD). Nowadays, the service is based on the worldwide known standard thermoluminescence detectors MTS-N (LiF:Mg,Ti), processed in automatic reader Rados RE-2000S. The dosimetry service currently provides individual monitoring of 450 occupational workers in terms of personal dose equivalent Hp(10) and Hp(0.07) for photon fields based in two elements dosimeter. The average dose for occupational worker during last year was 1.73 mSv. Forty-five percent of all individual doses in Kosovo are on the level of natural radiation background and only 6.3 % of Kosovo radiation workers are categorized like exposed workers of category A.