Ionizing Radiation

Division 6

Almost everything dealt with at Division 6 centres on the nucleus, for here radioactivity, dosimetry and metrology of alpha, beta, gamma, X and neutron radiation are concerned - from radiation therapy in medicine to the measurement of radioactivity in the environment.

Tasks

The Division is concerned with the metrology of ionizing radiation. Important tasks cover measuring techniques for the detection of ionizing radiation, dosimetry for radiotherapy, radiodiagnostics and radiation protection, radiation measurements in the environment, activity measurements and the determination of atomic and nuclear data. The units of activity, fluence rate, air kerma, absorbed dose and dose equivalent are realized and disseminated via calibrations. The Division thus ensures the uniformity of measurements in the field of ionizing radiation.

Legal tasks are based on the Units and Time Act, the Verification Act, the Medical Products Act, the Radiology and the Radiation Protection Ordinance and the Radiation Protection Preventive Act. Activity standards for about 50 radionuclides are produced and made available. The Division performs type testing of X-ray equipment, X-ray tube assemblies, parasitic X-ray emitters, area and personal dosemeters, and dosemeters for radiodiagnostics. In addition, the Division deals with fundamental research work in the fields of radioactivity, dosimetry and metrology of alpha, beta, gamma, X-ray and neutron radiation.

Abteilungsbericht: Ionisierende Strahlung (3.7 MB) Aus dem Jahresbericht 2022

News

Brachytherapy is a specific tumor therapy using ionizing radiation where a radioactive source is positioned in the vicinity of, or in close contact with human tissue. It is often applied in the treatment of cervical, prostate, esophageal, lung and breast cancer. By irradiating the cancer cells directly, transmission through healthy tissue is not required, as in the case of external radiation beam...

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PTB has introduced an improved beta primary standard (BPS2) and will refer to it and to the revised ISO 6980:2022 as of mid‑2023.

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The irradiation of blood samples with neutrons performed at PTB provided dose-response curves for biological dosimetry that enable the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) and the RENEB network to determine the dose for affected...

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