Bases Metodológicas para Cálculo de Blindagens em Medicina Nuclear

Abstract

In Brazil, every Nuclear Medicine Service must submit a shielding memorandum to regulatory bodies before construction and the start of its activities. The premises of radiative facilities must have sufficient shielding to keep the doses received by the public and Occupationally Exposed Individuals within the reference levels established by the resolutions of the National Nuclear Energy Commission. Shielding consists of adding physical barriers to existing structures to attenuate ionizing radiation from sources within the facilities. This requires complex calculations due to the many variables involved, as nuclear medicine uses unsealed sources of ionizing radiation, and the patients themselves become radioactive sources. Few documents have been published on this subject, and to date, we have not found a publication in the literature that clearly brings together all the necessary information and guidelines for performing shielding calculations for nuclear medicine facilities. The aim of this work is to provide a guide with methodological bases and a logical reasoning process for performing shielding calculations in nuclear medicine in Brazil, compiling the definitions and considerations found in the literature.