Structural Shielding Design and Evaluation for Megavoltage X- and Gamma-Ray

Radiotherapy Facilities
Glenn P. Glasgow

Citation: Medical Physics 33, 3578 (2006); doi: 10.1118/1.2336250

View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1118/1.2336250
View Table of Contents: http://scitation.aip.org/content/aapm/journal/medphys/33/9?ver=pdfcov
Published by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine

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Structural Shielding Design and Evalu-
ation for Megavoltage X- and Gamma-
Ray Radiotherapy Facilities. NCRP Re-
port No. 151, 2005, 246 pp. 共Hardcover
$100兲. National Council on Radiation Pro-
tection and Measurements, 7910 Wood-
mont Avenue, Suite 400, Bethesda, MD
20814-3095. ISBN-10 0-0929600-87-8;
http://www.NCRPonline.org
NCRP Report No. 151 is a welcome
companion to the earlier 2004 NCRP Re-
port. No. 147, Structural Shielding De-
sign for Medical X-Ray Imaging Facili-
ties. It effectively replaces recom-
mendations of NCRP Reports Nos. 49, 51,
and 79 that addressed aspects of shielding
in megavoltage radiotherapy facilities.
With seven chapters, three appendices
共with 29 figures and tables兲, a 94-term
glossary, 174 symbols and acronyms, 111
references, and a comprehensive index, its
246 pages offer a wealth of current, prac-
tical information on megavoltage shield-
ing. NCRP Report No. 151 is a joint effort
of NCRP Scientific Committee 46-13 共De-
sign of Facilities for Medical Radiation
Therapy兲 and AAPM, as reflected in the
Committee Membership: J. A. Deye,
Chair; J.E. Rogers and R. K. Wu, Vice
Chairs; P.J. Biggs, P.H. McGinley, and
R.C. McCall, Members; K.R. Kase and M.
Edwards, Liaisons; and R.O. Gorson, J.H.
Kleck, and N.E. Ipe, Consultants. In addi-
tion to discussions of basic topics com-
monly associated with conventional mega-
voltage facilities, NCRP Report No. 151
addresses shielding issues related to total
body irradiation, intensity modulated ra-
diotherapy, stereotactic radiosurgery and
radiotherapy, laminated 共composite兲 barri-
ers of different materials, neutron produc-
tion and subsequent shielding, direct
shielding doors, modern workloads, newer
construction materials and methods, and
special treatment units 共tomotherapy, ro-
botic arm linacs, dedicated intraoperative
linacs兲. Chapter 5 clearly explains sky-
shine, groundshine, and side-scattered ra-
diation from a single-story roof into an ad-
jacent second-story building that the
authors could have possibly 共but did not兲
describe as sideshine. Chapter 6 on proper
shielding evaluations 共surveys兲 and Chap-
ter 7, examples of shielding calculations
for different facility designs, offer excel-
lent insights into the assumptions and sci-
ence inherent in the many recommenda-
tions in the preceding five chapters. While
much of the appendices’ data on physical
shielding data 共material densities, tenth-
value layers兲 are either unchanged or differ
only slightly from data in the previously
mentioned earlier NCRP reports, major
changes are new occupancy factors for ad-
jacent areas 共1 / 2兲, corridors 共1 / 5兲, public
toilets 共1 / 20兲, and outdoor areas 共1 / 40兲,
described fully in Table B-1. Various neu-
tron data 共wall-reflection coefficients, neu-
tron dose equivalents, and total source
strengths for various linac models兲 are in-
cluded. The symbols and acronyms data
set are exceedingly useful in keeping track
of the symbols 共the symbol, H, has 27 vari-
ants each with a different meaning!兲 The
Report has few deficiencies; those design-
ing facilities would have appreciated inclu-
sion of some absolute or relative data for
the costs of different shielding material
共lead, steel plate, borated polyethylene,
etc.兲 as commonly configured by vendors.
NCRP Report No. 151 will have a long
half-life and be a shielding standard for
many years. Committee 46-13 deserves ac-
colades for this significant contribution to
the shielding literature.
Reviewed by Glenn P. Glasgow
Glenn P. Glasgow, MS, PhD, FAAPM,
FACR, Professor, Loyola Department of
Radiation Oncology, Stritch School of
Medicine, Loyola University of Chicago, is
certified in therapeutic radiological phys-
ics (ABR) and health physics (ABHP), and
has a continuing interest in radiation
safety, shielding, and facility design.

In the June 2006 issue of Medical Physics, we incorrectly spelled the name of the reviewer of “Review of Medical Image Analysis
Methods.” The reviewer’s name is Christopher J. Watchman, not Christofer J. Watchman. We apologize for the error.

3578 Med. Phys. 33 „9…, September 2006 © 2006 Am. Assoc. Phys. Med. 3578