Piecewise polynomial approximations to the ICRP 116 effective dose coefficients: Photons and neutrons

Abstract

We present fitting equations for estimating effective dose per unit fluence at any photon energy between 10 keV and 10 GeV and any neutron energy between 0.001 eV and 10 GeV. These new equations are based on the latest radiation protection quantities for external radiation exposure found in International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) Publication 116 and incorporate the latest definition of effective dose as described in ICRP Publication 103. The ICRP 116 dose coefficients were fit to piecewise polynomial functions. A total of 8 irradiation geometries were considered: the six in ICRP 116 and two additional geometries presented elsewhere in the literature. The fitting functions generally reproduce the ICRP 116 data to within 3% or better. The functions were used to modify the Monte Carlo N-Particle radiation transport code version 6 (MCNP6) and were applied to a sample problem. The results are intended to be used as a basis for revising the American National Standards Institute/American Nuclear Society 6.1.1-1991 standard.