Shielding design of a brachytherapy unit at the Korle Bu teaching hospital in Ghana: Comparison of theoretical calculations and experimental study

Abstract

A theoretical study was carried out to re-evaluate the integrity of the biological shielding of 137Cs brachytherapy unit at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana, and the results were verified by measurement of the dose rates at selected locations. The primary objective was to determine the current state of protection and safety of staff and the general public. Shielding design of the brachytherapy unit at the hospital was based on postulated workload and occupancy factors of the facility. The facility has been in existence for 12 y and has accumulated operational workload data that differs from the postulated one. The results show that despite the variation in actual and postulated workloads, the dose rates were below the reference values 0.5 mSv h-1 for public areas and 7.5 μSv h-1 for controlled areas. These values were in the range of 0.10-0.12 μSv h-1 for public areas and of 0.50-2.10 μSv h-1 for controlled areas. © The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.