DIN ISO 8769:2012-02

Radioactive contamination of surfaces can result from spilling, splashing or leakage from unsealed sources. While regulatory documents refer to surface contamination in terms of activity per unit area, the response of monitoring instruments is related directly to the radiation emitted from the surface. Due to variations in the absorptive and scattering properties of real surfaces, it cannot be assumed, in general, that there is a simple, known relationship between surface emission rate and activity. Thus there emerges a clear need for calibration sources that are specified primarily in terms of surface emission rate as well as activity. This standard specifies the characteristics of reference sources for the calibration of surface contamination monitors. It relates to alpha-emitters, beta-emitters and gamma-emitters of maximum photon energy not greater than 1,5 MeV. It does not describe the procedures involved in the use of these sources for the calibration. Such procedures are specified in DIN EN 60325 (VDE 0493-2-1), DIN EN 61098 (VDE 0493-2-2), the future DIN EN 62363 (VDE 0493-2-4) and other documents. The responsible Committee is Joint Subcommittee GUK 967.2 "Aktivitätsmessgeräte für den Strahlenschutz" ("Activity meters for radiation protection") of the DKE (German Commission for Electrical, Electronic and Information Technologies) at DIN and VDE, Joint Committee with the Radiology Standards Committee (NAR) at DIN, the German Institute for Standardization e. V.