Comparison of the standards for absorbed dose to water of the IAEA and the KRISS, Korea in accelerator photon beams

Abstract

A bilateral comparison was conducted between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) to measure the absorbed dose to water in accelerator photon beams. KRISS served as a linking laboratory to compare the IAEA standard with the key comparison reference value (KCRV) of the BIPM.RI(I)–K6 program, in which KRISS participated in 2017. Two ionization chambers from the IAEA were used as transfer instruments for the comparison. Both laboratories measured the calibration coefficients of these instruments and calculated the ratios. The ratio of the KRISS standard to the KCRV was applied to obtain the degree of equivalence of the IAEA, along with its uncertainty. The largest deviation of the IAEA measurement from the KCRV was 3.4 mGy/Gy, significantly smaller than the expanded uncertainty of 10.7 mGy/Gy (k = 2, 95% level of confidence). This study demonstrates the equivalence of IAEA’s measurement standard for accelerator photon beams to other primary standard dosimetry laboratories. It provides evidence for the satisfactory operation of IAEA’s quality management system and enhances the international credibility of the IAEA SSDL network, particularly in high-energy accelerator photon beams from linear accelerators.