New SOPs for the use of GafChromic film

The Gafchromic™ dosimetry system offers a relatively simple, low cost and accurate means of assessing low doses used for the Sterile Insect Technique and phytosanitary irradiation.  The dosimeter is a small (1 × 1 cm square), thin (~100 micron) film that changes colour when irradiated.  The Insect Pest Control Laboratory of the IAEA has just released new Standard Operating Procedures for the use of GafChromic film for gamma (cobalt-60) and low energy X-ray (150-225 kV).

Written by Andrew Parker and Yeudiel Gomez-Simuta, the manual is a revised version of a document originally developed by the late Kishor Mehta.  Due to a significant difference in photon energy between low energy (150-225 keV) X-rays and gamma radiation from cobalt-60 or cesium-137, many dosimetry procedures are different.

There is a companion document specifically for low energy X radiation and a manual on the use of Gafchromic™ film for dose mapping using scanning. For further details and links to these documents please visit iia’s PsIP website.