Calibration and Dosimetry Laboratory

Address: Avda. Diagonal, 647. 08028 Barcelona
Telephone: +34 934011872 / +34 93 4016073
E-mail: maria.roig-costaupc.edu

Head of Laboratory: Maria Amor Duch Guillem
Technical Director: Maria Roig Costa
Substitute Technical Director: Mercè Ginjaume Egido
Technicians: Anna Camp Brunés, Luisa Mota, Júlia Prat Bosch, Agustí Toll Escobedo

• To provide both an efficient and quality calibration service in order to cover the needs of ionising radiation users.
• To develop new measurement techniques to ensure continuous quality improvement of laboratory measurements and management
• To collaborate in the development of INTE research projects that require the use of well-characterised radiation fields, especially in the dosimetry and medical physics programme.
• To organise intercomparison campaigns with external personal dosimetry services.
• To collaborate with the thermoluminescence laboratory on optimization of measurement techniques for personal, environmental and medical dosimetry.

• Development and optimization of methods in producing reference radiation beams.
• Dosemeter irradiation under reference conditions.
• Providing a calibration service to users of ionising radiation within the remit of its accreditation as a test laboratory.

The Laboratory has a Rich-Seifert, model HS320 photonic irradiator with gamma photons of different energies and activities, a high-stability x-ray generator with a maximum voltage of 320 kV and a potential of 4.2 kW.

The standard chambers that are used for characterisation of photon beams have been calibrated at the national German laboratory Physikalish Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB).

• Nuclear Entrerprise, model NE2575. ionisation chamber.
• Nuclear Entrerprise, model NE2530. ionisation chamber.
• NE Technology, model Ionex Dosemaster 2590. electrometer.

Calibration and irradiation using beta beams are done using the Amersham-Buchler beta secondary standard, traceable to the National Institute of Standards (USA).

The laboratory also has a set of point and plane sources with different energies to perform calibrations of surface contamination monitors and to study their efficiency for alpha, beta or gamma radiation in function of incident radiation.

The laboratory regularly collaborates with organisations such as the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN), The Radioactive Coordination Service of the Department of Work, Industry, Commerce, Consumer affairs and Tourism of the Government of Catalonia, universities such as the University of Barcelona, and the Autonomous University of Barcelona, hospitals such as the Santa Creu i Sant Pau Hospital, the Hospital Clínic i Provincial and the Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital, as well as other users of ionising radiation such as Siemens, Asepeyo, Livingston and General Electric Medical Systems.