Advances on research, development and applications of SSNTDs in radiation protection at AEOI

Abstract Iran has been one of the countries started early in 1967 on research, development and applications of SSNTDs in radiation protection. Since then extensive efforts have been made at the National Radiation Protection Department (NRPD) in AEOI on national development and international cooperation to promote the applications of SSNTDs in this field. Efficient track registration of alphas, recoils and fission fragments in different SSNTD materials, advancements and new findings on chemical and electrochemical etching (ECE); introduction of new neutron personnel dosimeters such as 237 Np/10 μm polycarbonate combination (PC) foils coupled with a spark counting technique, ECE of recoils, Neutriran Albedo Neutron Personnel Dosimetry; neutron depth dose measurements in particular at air-tissue and bone-tissue interfaces; neutron contamination measurements in high energy x-ray beams of medical accelerators; development of a nationwide indoor radon monitoring program and spectrometry of radon daughters in PC; discovery of some phenomena in ECE and education and training can be considered some highlights of such studies, in particular, on the protection of man and his environment against harmful effects of ionizing radiation, some of which are presented and discussed in this paper.