The use of alfa-Al2O3:C in Risø OSL single grains attachment system for assessing the spatial dose rate distribution due to incorporation of 90Sr in human teeth

The possibility of using a single grain OSL attachment system developed by the Riso National Laboratory (Roskilde, Denmark) for assessing the spatial distribution of radionuclides incorporated in human tissues was investigated. Detectors containing arrays of single grains of alpha-Al2O3:C powder (Landauer Inc., USA) were prepared using aluminium discs (diameter 9.7 mm), which can accommodate 100 single grains in 0.3 mm holes positioned in a 10 x 10 grid. The luminescence and dosimetric properties of each grain were investigated by exposing the detectors to uniform photon radiation fields. After the characterisation of the detectors, the systems were tested to assess the spatial dose rate distribution because of Sr-90 incorporated in a tooth sample extracted from an inhabitant of the Techa River region.