Radiation protection has become an important element of nuclear safety which enables operators of nuclear facilities to achieve proper operating conditions and prevention of accidents during the lifetime of a nuclear facility. Radiation risks can be kept as low as reasonably achievable by reducing the time a person is working within a radioactive environment, increase the distance between the exposed person and the radiation source, and provide shielding mechanisms between the source and person. Path-planning in nuclear environments is considered to be one of the measures of radiation protection in which radiation exposure is minimized by controlling the exposure time and distance from the source. Requirements for walking path methodologies in a nuclear environment depend on the nature of work involved such as the number of doses, responsibilities, time of exposure, etc.A practical computable standard for photons in the air is provided by the concept of exposure and roentgen definition.&nbsp; However, it is not sufficient to solely rely on this concept when applying other types of radiation and materials. Thus, additional concepts are needed to compute the dose deposited to different body organs and tissue. International Commission on Radiation Protection (ICRP) has defined specific quantities, effective dose equivalent, and effective dose to be the principal dose quantities for radiation protection purposes. These quantities set a risk-based radiation protection system and enable the comparison of radiation hazards with other risks. Nevertheless, it is impossible to evaluate these quantities because radiation doses received by different organs and tissues cannot be measured, and thus monitoring of external radiation is performed outside the body. &nbsp;Many path-planning studies conducted in the past have first calculated radiation using point source model, Monte Carlo simulations, grid-based, etc, to estimate radiation field before minimum dose path-planning radioactive environment. However neglecting photon attenuation and the probability of scattering, non-use of solid angle occupied by a person, and non-continuity of radiation dose limit the effectiveness of these methods.&nbsp;In this study, we present an Optimized Dynamic Algorithm (ODA) for minimum dose path-planning in a radioactive environment based on photon interaction with matter and shortest path algorithm. The proposed ODA can estimate the energy flux per unit area reaching a standard adult from a radiation source using the probability of photon absorption in the air. The approach also utilizes the Compton effect of the energy flux to determine the fraction of energy transferred to electrons in the body. The methodology aims to enhance the optimization of radiation protection in the nuclear environment. The results will help policymakers and nuclear regulators make informed decisions in the establishment of nuclear safety requirements that will ensure occupationally exposed workers are protected from undue radiation exposure.

An Optimized Dynamic Algorithm With Photon Attenuation Coefficient for_x000B_Path-Planning in Radioactive Environments

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ICONE/ICONE28/volume/85246

2021 28th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE28)

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