Applied Radiation and Isotopes 184 (2022) 110159

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Applied Radiation and Isotopes

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Catalogue of dose rate constants for more than 400 radionuclides in terms of
ambient dose 𝐻 ∗ and comparison of figures to ambient dose equivalent
𝐻 ∗ (10)
Christoph Stettner a,b ,∗, Christian Hranitzky a , Karin Poljanc b , Friederike Strebl a , Christina Streli b
a
Seibersdorf Labor GmbH, 2444 Seibersdorf, Austria
b TU Wien, Atominstitut, Austria

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: In 2020, the International Commission on Radiation Units & Measurements ICRU has released Report 95
Ambient dose on ‘‘Operational Quantities for External Radiation Exposure’’. This publication introduced a new measurand,
Conversion coefficient namely ambient dose 𝐻 ∗ , as the operational quantity for external exposure to be applied in the future replacing
Dose rate constant
ambient dose equivalent 𝐻 ∗ (10).
Monte Carlo simulation
It should be noted that this change will make it necessary to adjust previously used constants and
Radiation protection
coefficients or at least to review them with regard to the new measurand. Therefore, this recommendation
represents a significant cut in implementation of radiation protection systems. The revision of all previously
valid factors makes it possible to develop a consistent data set. The combination of experience gained in the
last decades with more extensive data sets (e.g. on the spectra of individual radionuclides) with comparatively
large computing power allows the definition of optimized data collections serving as input for Monte Carlo
methods. Therefore, this publication is intended to lay a suitable foundation consisting of dose rate constants
for more than 400 radionuclides concerning the future measurand ambient dose 𝐻 ∗ and to indicate differences
to values related to the ambient dose equivalent 𝐻 ∗ (10) used nowadays.

1. Introduction In addition, they are also used as a basis for designing the shielding
of radiation application rooms and facilities. For a reliable mathemat-
The introduction of a new measurand by the International Commis- ical description of radioactive sources and shieldings, a high-quality
sion on Radiation Units & Measurements in ICRU Report 95 (ICRU, data set of dose rate constants for a large number of commonly used
2020) requires far-reaching adaptations of practical radiation protec- individual radionuclides is required.
tion. This new measurand ambient dose 𝐻 ∗ is defined for the exposure
of a reference phantom for adults in a broad uniform parallel beam and
2. Materials and methods
in the future is to be used for estimation of the effective dose 𝐸.
The definition of a new measurand for the determination and eval-
uation of dose values requires its inclusion in national standards and The simple calculation of the dose rate 𝐻̇ from the known activity
legislation together with corresponding limit values. 𝐴 of a radioactive source (Eq. (1)), taking into account a dose rate
In addition, suitable measuring devices must be developed for the constant 𝛤 appropriate to the emitted spectrum of the radionuclide at
new measurands. Finally, the design of detector units must be adapted a desired distance 𝑟, has been state of the art for decades. For the cal-
to the desired energy dependence and optimized for the widest possible culation of dose rates in practical applications of radiation protection,
energy range. experts rely on dose rate constants published in technical standards and
Furthermore, it is necessary to revise all energy-dependent constants international reports.
and coefficients and to verify them for the new measurand. 𝐴⋅𝛤
To estimate the hazard potential of radioactive sources, dose rate 𝐻̇ = (1)
𝑟2
constants are probably the most essential input values for calculations
However, it should be noted that the so-called inverse-square law,
in radiation protection, as these constants are used for the numerical
given in Eq. (1), is only valid if the radiation source can be considered
determination of dose rates of radioactive sources.

∗ Corresponding author at: Seibersdorf Labor GmbH, 2444 Seibersdorf, Austria.

E-mail address: [Link]@[Link] (C. Stettner).

[Link]
Received 15 December 2021; Received in revised form 10 February 2022; Accepted 17 February 2022
Available online 28 February 2022
0969-8043/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
C. Stettner et al. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 184 (2022) 110159

as an point source. Furthermore, it is assumed that self-shielding of the

radiation source has not to be considered and neither scattering nor
absorption (e.g. by air) are relevant.
Today, ambient dose equivalent 𝐻 ∗ (10) is the measurand in the field
of radiation protection and is used for monitoring of external whole-
body exposure caused by radiation sources (ICRP, 2008). The dose
rate constant considered depends on the desired measurand. Therefore,
for the calculation of the dose rate 𝐻̇ ∗ (10) the dose rate constant
𝛤𝐻 ∗ (10) specific for the ambient dose equivalent is used instead of 𝛤 .
This measurand was first defined in ICRU Report 57 (ICRU, 1997)
and ICRP 74 (ICRP, 1997) and most recently updated in ISO 4037-
3 (ISO, 2019). In this revision, the conversion coefficients have been
complemented with more interpolating points and defined for a wider
energy range. The graphical representation of the conversion coefficient
from fluence to ambient dose equivalent 𝐻 ∗ (10) as well as that from
fluence to ambient dose 𝐻 ∗ can be found in Fig. 1, blue line. Fig. 1. Conversion coefficients for ambient dose per fluence ℎ∗ = 𝐻 ∗ ∕𝛷 (ICRU Report
The relationship of Eq. (1) remains valid with the introduction of the 95) and ambient dose equivalent per fluence ℎ∗ (10) = 𝐻 ∗ (10)∕𝛷 (ISO 4037-3). (For
new measurand, but requires the use of adapted dose rate constants to interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to
the web version of this article.)
account for the adapted energy dependence.
To develop a suitable data set of dose rate constants 𝛤𝐻 ∗ , corre-
sponding Monte Carlo simulations were carried out using MCNP 6,
2.3. Determination of dose rate constants using Monte Carlo methods
described in chapter 2.3.
Monte Carlo simulations can be easily used for the determination
of dose rate constants (Stettner et al., 2021). This approach allows
2.1. Measurand ambient dose 𝐻∗
the implementation of the radiation sources within a simulation run
directly in a realistic geometry as well as the evaluation of influencing
According to ICRU Report 95 the ambient dose equivalent 𝐻 ∗ (10) factors like shielding or reflections (e.g. by air) with complex spectra
used nowadays is recommended to be replaced by the ambient dose 𝐻 ∗ (also superpositions of the monoenergetic ones with e.g. a continuous
for a more concise estimation of the effective dose 𝐸. It is proposed that bremsstrahlung spectrum).
legislators should introduce this measurand as an operational quantity Therefore, in the present work, ideal point sources were modeled
for external exposure in the future. in MCNP 6 with information on the spectral properties and emission
The ambient dose 𝐻 ∗ at a given point within a radiation field has probabilities of different radionuclides. For the definition of the source
been defined in ICRU Report 95 (ICRU, 2020) as the product of the term of the individual radioactive sources, the photon emission pub-
lished by the Laboratoire National Henri Becquerel (Bé et al., 2016) was
particle fluence 𝛷 at that point and the conversion coefficient ℎ∗ . This
considered. For this purpose, the characteristic photon energies with
conversion coefficient ℎ∗ is relates the particle fluence to the maximum
the corresponding emission probabilities were taken into account.
value of effective dose 𝐸𝑚𝑎𝑥 and will be described in chapter 2.2.
In addition, an ideal spherical surface detector (MCNP Average
Surface Flux ‘‘Tally F2’’) was implemented with the point source located
2.2. Conversion coefficient ℎ∗ in the center and emitting a spherical symmetrical field. By definition,
vacuum was applied to the entire volume for the determination of dose
rate constants.
The conversion coefficient ℎ∗ is defined in ICRU Report 95 (ICRU, The conversion coefficient ℎ∗ published in ICRU Report 95 (ICRU,
2020) for whole-body exposure of the ICRP/ICRU adult reference phan- 2020) was included in the definition of the energy dependence of the
toms defined in ICRP Publication 110 (ICRP, 2009) and for broad detector. A double-logarithmic interpolation was directly included in
uniform parallel beams of the radiation field. The mathematical rela- MCNP according to the recommendation of ICRU.
tionship between the maximum value of effective dose 𝐸𝑚𝑎𝑥 and fluence In this context it should be noted that, according to the associated
𝛷 is shown in Eq. (2). instruction manual (Werner et al., 2017), when extrapolating conver-
sion coefficients towards lower energies, MCNP 6 expects that the last
𝐸𝑚𝑎𝑥
ℎ∗ (𝐸p ) = (2) known value would also apply to lower photon energies (Fig. 3, green
𝛷(𝐸p )
dotted and pink dotted). To avoid overestimation of dose rate constants
In the case of a distribution of photons of different energy, the dose due to this assumption, a cut-off energy was introduced in the source
can be calculated according to Eq. (3) by integrating over infinitesimal code of the simulations. Photons below this energy are thus excluded
energy ranges d𝐸p . from the assessment. In the source code 5 keV was defined as the low-
energy limit energy (hereinafter referred to as ‘‘threshold’’) in order to
[ ]
d𝛷(𝐸p ) map the conversion coefficients published in ICRU Report 95 optimally
𝐻∗ = ℎ∗ (𝐸p ) d𝐸p (3)
∫ d𝐸p without risking an overestimation of the obtained dose rate constant
due to distortions. These systematic biases could arise due to the sys-
The conversion coefficient ℎ∗ = 𝐻 ∗ ∕𝛷 for the calculation of ambient tematic error in the extrapolation of the coefficients in MCNP (Stettner
dose can be seen in Fig. 1 red line. For comparison, the conversion et al., 2021).
coefficient ℎ∗ (10) = 𝐻 ∗ (10)∕𝛷 valid so far for the determination of For comparison with conversion coefficients from other data
ambient dose equivalent is shown as a blue line of the same graph. sources, this threshold energy was always set to the lowest published
Fig. 2 shows the relative and energy-dependent ratio of the conver- energy of the conversion coefficients (i.e. 5 keV for ICRU Report 95,
sion coefficients ℎ∗ (10) = 𝐻 ∗ (10)∕𝛷 and ℎ∗ = 𝐻 ∗ ∕𝛷. 7 keV for ISO 4037-3, 10 keV for ICRU 57 and ICRP 74).

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C. Stettner et al. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 184 (2022) 110159

Fig. 2. Relative deviation of conversion coefficients for ambient dose 𝐻 ∗ ∕𝛷 (ICRU Report 95) and ambient dose equivalent 𝐻 ∗ (10)∕𝛷 (ISO 4037-3).

In addition, the dose rate constants in the currently still valid

measurand ambient dose equivalent 𝐻 ∗ (10) were determined for these
radionuclides as a reference. For this purpose, the conversion coeffi-
cients of this measurand from the latest publication in ISO 4037-3 were
applied.
In Table 1, in addition to the dose rate constants in the measurand
ambient dose 𝐻 ∗ , the relative deviation from the numerical values
of the dose rate constants in the measurand ambient dose equivalent
𝐻 ∗ (10) is mentioned for each case. For those radionuclides whose mass
number is additionally marked with a ‘‘+’’, the decay products were
taken into account.

4. Discussions

The introduction of a new measurand marks a paradigm shift in ra-

diation protection and entails far-reaching effects. In a correspondingly
large transition phase, the introduction of new constants and conver-
Fig. 3. Low-energy range of conversion coefficients with two variants drawn in for sion coefficients will be necessary in addition to extensive adjustments
extrapolation: MCNP 6 (pink dotted and green dotted) uses the last known value also
for photons with lower energy and discards photons with an energy below 1 keV, most
of the legal requirements.
publications use an arbitrary limit (e.g. blue dashed line and orange dashed line) and For this purpose, the conversion coefficients recently published in
neglect photons below this energy. (For interpretation of the references to color in this the ICRU Report 95 for the future applicable measurand ambient dose
figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.) 𝐻 ∗ were used to create a comprehensive data set of dose rate constants
for a large number of commonly used radionuclides.
Table 1 shows a listing of the data obtained. The comparison with
It is also necessary to use the appropriate interpolation for the the numerical values with regard to the currently valid measurand
comparison of different conversion coefficients in each case. While ambient dose equivalent 𝐻 ∗ (10) yields ranges of deviations, which can
both ICRU Report 95 and ISO 4037-3 specify a double-logarithmic be roughly divided into three categories:
interpolation, both ICRU 57 and ICRP 74 prescribe a single-logarithmic
• The dose rate constants of some radionuclides (e.g. 55 Fe, 68 Ga,
interpolation. 59 Ni and 169𝑚 Yb) show significantly larger numerical values in
The run time for the simulations was chosen such that five CPU min-
the future measurand ambient dose 𝐻 ∗ than in the measurand
utes were spent per radionuclide and per set of conversion coefficients.
ambient dose equivalent 𝐻 ∗ (10). These unexpectedly high numer-
In addition, it was specified that the calculations could be stopped when
the statistical uncertainty of the ‘‘MCNP Tally F2’’ used was less than ical values can be explained by a significantly increased size of
0.1%. the new and future measurand for low-energy photon energies
The results of the individual simulations are given as an average between 5 keV and 10 keV.
value per launched particle in MCNP 6. This value was calculated to- • The dose rate constants of some radionuclides (e.g. 227 Ac, 241 Am,
109 Cd and 125 I) show significantly smaller numerical values in the
gether with the emission probability of the individual photon energies
of different radionuclides and translated to an activity per time. This future applicable measurand ambient dose 𝐻 ∗ than in the mea-
results in the desired dose rate constant. surand ambient dose equivalent 𝐻 ∗ (10). These so far unusually
To prove this concept, the Monte Carlo method was already com- low numerical values result from emission lines between 10 keV
pared with analytical approaches in an earlier publication by Stettner and 80 keV.
et al. (2021) and found to be suitable. • The largest part of the numerical values of the dose rate constants
in the future applicable measurand ambient dose 𝐻 ∗ is 10%
3. Results to 20% lower than in the measurand ambient dose equivalent
𝐻 ∗ (10). This deviation results from the approximately constant
The dose rate constants in terms of the measurand ambient dose 𝐻 ∗ difference between the conversion coefficients of the future ap-
were calculated using the conversion coefficients from ICRU Report 95 plicable measurand ambient dose 𝐻 ∗ and the measurand ambient
for a large number of radionuclides and are compiled in Table 1. dose equivalent 𝐻 ∗ (10) between 100 keV and 10 MeV.

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C. Stettner et al. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 184 (2022) 110159

Table 1 Table 1 (continued).

Dose rate constants for ambient dose 𝐻̇ ∗ for various radionuclides and relative Radionuclide(s) Dose rate constant Relative deviation from
deviation to values of dose rate constants in ambient dose equivalent 𝐻̇ ∗ (10). for ambient dose ambient dose equivalent
2
Radionuclide(s) Dose rate constant Relative deviation from 𝐻 ∗ in 𝜇𝑆𝑣⋅𝑚
ℎ⋅𝐺𝐵𝑞
𝐻̇ ∗ (10)
for ambient dose ambient dose equivalent (5 keV threshold) (7 keV threshold)
2
𝐻 ∗ in 𝜇𝑆𝑣⋅𝑚 𝐻̇ ∗ (10) 86
ℎ⋅𝐺𝐵𝑞 Br 3.41E+02 −13%
(5 keV threshold) (7 keV threshold)
87
Br 3.24E+02 −13%
225
Ac 2.79E+00 −54%
11 C 1.44E+02 −16%
227 Ac 1.43E−01 −79%
47
Ca 1.30E+02 −14%
227+
Ac 6.39E+01 −26%
47+
Ca 1.46E+02 −14%
228
Ac 1.15E+02 −19%
49 Ca 2.90E+02 −13%
108 Ag 2.46E+00 −24%
109
Cd 7.85E+00 −72%
108𝑚
Ag 2.27E+02 −19%
115+
Cd 5.42E+01 −23%
110
Ag 4.30E+00 −16%
115𝑚 Cd 4.20E+00 −14%
110𝑚 Ag 3.60E+02 −15%
139
Ce 2.65E+01 −32%
111
Ag 3.82E+00 −17%
141
Ce 1.17E+01 −23%
26
Al 3.22E+02 −14%
143 Ce 4.24E+01 −24%
28 Al 1.97E+02 −13%
144
Ce 3.17E+00 −29%
241
Am 6.06E+00 −59%
144+
Ce 6.52E+00 −22%
242
Am 3.45E+00 −66%
252 Cf 3.43E−01 −80%
242𝑚 Am 1.43E+00 −80%
38
Cl 1.55E+02 −13%
243
Am 9.95E+00 −39%
242
Cm 5.43E−01 −80%
244
Am 1.12E+02 −27%
243 Cm 2.03E+01 −42%
244𝑚 Am 2.30E+00 −57%
244
Cm 4.68E−01 −81%
245
Am 5.02E+00 −39%
245
Cm 1.59E+01 −47%
41
Ar 1.56E+02 −13%
246 Cm 4.17E−01 −81%
76 As 5.59E+01 −15%
56
Co 4.21E+02 −14%
211
At 6.43E+00 −34%
57
Co 1.82E+01 −20%
215
At 2.67E−02 −16%
58 Co 1.31E+02 −15%
217 At 3.11E−02 −17%
58𝑚
Co 1.74E−01 >1000%
195
Au 1.42E+01 −24%
60
Co 3.06E+02 −14%
196
Au 6.94E+01 −17%
60𝑚 Co 8.49E−01 9%
197𝑚 Au 3.33E+01 −20%
131
Cs 6.66E+00 −60%
198
Au 5.77E+01 −16%
134
Cs 2.11E+02 −15%
199
Au 1.40E+01 −19%
134𝑚 Cs 5.22E+00 −46%
131 Ba 7.19E+01 −25%
136
Cs 2.79E+02 −15%
133
Ba 6.34E+01 −29%
137
Cs 7.78E+01 −16%
135𝑚
Ba 1.12E+01 −41%
138 Cs 2.78E+02 −14%
136𝑚 Ba 2.52E+02 −16%
140
Cs 1.93E+02 −14%
137𝑚
Ba 8.24E+01 −16%
143
Cs 5.52E+01 −16%
139
Ba 6.68E+00 −20%
61 Cu 1.15E+02 −15%
140 Ba 2.67E+01 −21%
64
Cu 2.62E+01 −15%
140+
Ba 3.46E+02 −15%
66
Cu 1.25E+01 −14%
141
Ba 1.23E+02 −16%
67 Cu 1.68E+01 −16%
7 Be 7.07E+00 −16%
165
Dy 4.02E+00 −20%
207
Bi 2.03E+02 −16%
169
Er 2.77E−03 148%
210
Bi 4.81E−05 −17%
150 Eu 2.15E+02 −17%
211 Bi 6.89E+00 −17%
152
Eu 1.53E+02 −17%
212
Bi 1.36E+01 −17%
152𝑚
Eu 3.97E+01 −17%
213
Bi 1.81E+01 −16%
154 Eu 1.61E+02 −15%
213+ Bi 2.36E+01 −16%
155
Eu 1.02E+01 −23%
214
Bi 1.77E+02 −14%
156
Eu 1.48E+02 −14%
215
Bi 2.29E+01 −17%
18 F 1.40E+02 −16%
76 Br 3.32E+02 −15%
52
Fe 1.06E+02 −16%
80
Br 1.06E+01 −16%
52+
Fe 4.27E+02 −15%
82
Br 3.48E+02 −15%
55 Fe 1.36E−01 >1000%
83 Br 9.67E−01 −16%
59
Fe 1.47E+02 −14%
(continued on next column)
(continued on next column)

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C. Stettner et al. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 184 (2022) 110159

Table 1 (continued). Table 1 (continued).

Radionuclide(s) Dose rate constant Relative deviation from Radionuclide(s) Dose rate constant Relative deviation from
for ambient dose ambient dose equivalent for ambient dose ambient dose equivalent
2 2
𝐻 ∗ in 𝜇𝑆𝑣⋅𝑚
ℎ⋅𝐺𝐵𝑞
𝐻̇ ∗ (10) 𝐻 ∗ in 𝜇𝑆𝑣⋅𝑚
ℎ⋅𝐺𝐵𝑞
𝐻̇ ∗ (10)
(5 keV threshold) (7 keV threshold) (5 keV threshold) (7 keV threshold)
221 85𝑚
Fr 4.27E+00 −21% Kr 2.26E+01 −19%
223 87
Fr 9.55E+00 −42% Kr 9.13E+01 −14%
227 Fr 6.20E+01 −19% 88 Kr 2.12E+02 −14%
66 89
Ga 2.73E+02 −14% Kr 2.19E+02 −14%
67 90
Ga 2.29E+01 −14% Kr 1.65E+02 −14%
68 Ga 1.33E+02 −16% 91 Kr 1.99E+02 −14%
72 138
Ga 3.18E+02 −14% La 1.51E+02 −16%
153 140
Gd 2.01E+01 −33% La 2.80E+02 −14%
159 Gd 8.98E+00 −23% 141 La 3.17E+00 −13%
68 176
Ge 7.15E−01 103% Lu 6.98E+01 −17%
68+ 176𝑚
Ge 1.34E+02 −15% Lu 2.45E+00 −17%
77 Ge 1.45E+02 −15% 177 Lu 4.98E+00 −17%
175 177𝑚
Hf 5.36E+01 −18% Lu 1.47E+02 −17%
181 27
Hf 7.67E+01 −16% Mg 1.17E+02 −15%
197 Hg 1.24E+01 −29% 28 Mg 1.75E+02 −17%
197𝑚 52
Hg 1.48E+01 −28% Mn 4.39E+02 −14%
203 52𝑚
Hg 3.45E+01 −17% Mn 3.08E+02 −14%
206 Hg 1.47E+01 −17% 54 Mn 1.11E+02 −15%
166 56
Ho 4.20E+00 −18% Mn 2.02E+02 −14%
166𝑚 101
Ho 2.21E+02 −16% Mo 1.83E+02 −15%
123 I 2.84E+01 −38% 93 Mo 3.78E+00 −81%
124 93𝑚
I 1.47E+02 −19% Mo 2.90E+02 −15%
125 99
I 1.24E+01 −64% Mo 3.80E+01 −20%
126 I 6.16E+01 −22% 13 N 1.44E+02 −16%
128 16
I 1.24E+01 −20% N 3.19E+02 −15%
129 22
I 7.00E+00 −59% Na 2.86E+02 −14%
131 I 5.46E+01 −17% 24 Na 4.28E+02 −13%
132 24𝑚
I 3.00E+02 −15% Na 6.67E+01 −16%
132𝑚 92
I 5.36E+01 −36% Nb 2.03E+02 −19%
133 I 8.39E+01 −15% 92𝑚 Nb 1.28E+02 −21%
134 93𝑚
I 3.38E+02 −15% Nb 5.98E−01 −81%
135 94
I 1.91E+02 −14% Nb 2.08E+02 −15%
135+ I 2.37E+02 −14% 95 Nb 1.03E+02 −15%
137 95𝑚
I 1.23E+02 −13% Nb 1.14E+01 −49%
138 96
I 1.53E+02 −14% Nb 3.25E+02 −15%
111 In 6.16E+01 −30% 97 Nb 9.11E+01 −15%
113𝑚 97𝑚
In 3.83E+01 −23% Nb 9.82E+01 −15%
114 147
In 2.86E−01 −30% Nd 2.19E+01 −24%
114𝑚 In 1.44E+01 −38% 23 Ne 2.29E+01 −16%
114𝑚+ 56
In 1.47E+01 −38% Ni 2.30E+02 −15%
115𝑚 57
In 2.48E+01 −29% Ni 2.39E+02 −14%
116𝑚 In 3.00E+02 −14% 59 Ni 2.26E−01 >1000%
191𝑚 65
Ir 1.36E+01 −20% Ni 6.74E+01 −14%
192 235
Ir 1.17E+02 −16% Np 1.92E+00 −78%
194 Ir 1.25E+01 −16% 236 Np 2.62E+01 −54%
40 236𝑚
K 1.81E+01 −13% Np 7.49E+00 −46%
42 237
K 3.21E+01 −13% Np 7.39E+00 −67%
43 K 1.36E+02 −16% 237+ Np 3.92E+01 −42%
79 238
Kr 3.66E+01 −23% Np 7.66E+01 −20%
81𝑚 239
Kr 1.89E+01 −23% Np 2.69E+01 −37%
83𝑚 Kr 6.86E−01 −73% 240 Np 1.40E+02 −24%
85
Kr 3.16E−01 −16%
(continued on next column)
(continued on next column)

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C. Stettner et al. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 184 (2022) 110159

Table 1 (continued). Table 1 (continued).

Radionuclide(s) Dose rate constant Relative deviation from Radionuclide(s) Dose rate constant Relative deviation from
for ambient dose ambient dose equivalent for ambient dose ambient dose equivalent
2 2
𝐻 ∗ in 𝜇𝑆𝑣⋅𝑚
ℎ⋅𝐺𝐵𝑞
𝐻̇ ∗ (10) 𝐻 ∗ in 𝜇𝑆𝑣⋅𝑚
ℎ⋅𝐺𝐵𝑞
𝐻̇ ∗ (10)
(5 keV threshold) (7 keV threshold) (5 keV threshold) (7 keV threshold)
15 242
O 1.44E+02 −16% Pu 4.46E−01 −81%
19 243
O 1.17E+02 −14% Pu 4.83E+00 −41%
185 Os 9.63E+01 −16% 244+ Pu 1.43E+02 −27%
191 223
Os 1.36E+01 −20% Ra 2.06E+01 −25%
193 224
Os 1.00E+01 −17% Ra 1.51E+00 −19%
228 Pa 1.80E+02 −21% 225 Ra 3.61E+00 −58%
231 226
Pa 7.37E+00 −60% Ra 1.07E+00 −23%
232 226+
Pa 1.26E+02 −21% Ra 2.15E+02 −16%
233 Pa 3.18E+01 −31% 228 Ra 5.05E−01 −80%
234 81
Pa 1.97E+02 −20% Rb 9.04E+01 −20%
234𝑚 81𝑚
Pa 2.22E+00 −20% Rb 4.80E+00 −58%
200 Pb 3.07E+01 −25% 82 Rb 1.55E+02 −16%
201 83
Pb 1.05E+02 −18% Rb 7.03E+01 −21%
203 84
Pb 4.69E+01 −20% Rb 1.20E+02 −17%
210 Pb 1.16E+00 −68% 86 Rb 1.19E+01 −14%
211 88
Pb 8.74E+00 −16% Rb 7.48E+01 −13%
212 89
Pb 2.13E+01 −21% Rb 2.63E+02 −14%
214 Pb 3.50E+01 −19% 90 Rb 2.12E+02 −14%
103 90𝑚
Pd 5.13E+00 −77% Rb 3.52E+02 −14%
109 91
Pd 3.09E+00 −70% Rb 2.28E+02 −15%
146 Pm 1.06E+02 −18% 184 Re 1.21E+02 −16%
147 184𝑚
Pm 6.89E−04 −26% Re 4.90E+01 −16%
148 186
Pm 7.30E+01 −14% Re 3.24E+00 −18%
148𝑚 Pm 2.71E+02 −15% 188 Re 8.07E+00 −16%
151 188𝑚
Pm 4.78E+01 −19% Re 1.30E+01 −19%
209 103𝑚
Po 7.17E−01 −17% Rh 5.06E−01 −77%
210 Po 1.32E−03 −15% 106 Rh 2.82E+01 −15%
211 218
Po 1.03E+00 −15% Rn 1.05E−01 −15%
211𝑚 219
Po 1.94E+00 −15% Rn 8.59E+00 −17%
213 Po 5.01E−03 −15% 220 Rn 8.89E−02 −16%
214 222
Po 1.11E−02 −15% Rn 5.50E−02 −16%
215 103
Po 3.65E−02 −16% Ru 6.94E+01 −18%
216 Po 2.04E−03 −15% 106+ Ru 2.82E+01 −15%
218 97
Po 1.22E−03 −15% Ru 3.66E+01 −37%
142 37
Pr 6.73E+00 −13% S 2.70E+02 −13%
143 Pr 1.20E−06 −15% 122 Sb 6.18E+01 −16%
144 124
Pr 3.52E+00 −14% Sb 2.28E+02 −14%
144𝑚 125
Pr 3.17E+00 −49% Sb 6.57E+01 −26%
147 Pr 6.94E+01 −21% 125+ Sb 6.56E+01 −26%
191 126
Pt 4.53E+01 −18% Sb 3.80E+02 −15%
193𝑚 126𝑚
Pt 2.32E+00 −31% Sb 2.14E+02 −16%
195𝑚 Pt 1.37E+01 −34% 127 Sb 9.08E+01 −16%
197 132
Pt 4.19E+00 −30% Sb 3.36E+02 −15%
197𝑚 132𝑚
Pt 1.35E+01 −29% Sb 3.33E+02 −16%
236 Pu 6.65E−01 −81% 44 Sc 2.82E+02 −15%
237 46
Pu 9.78E+00 −56% Sc 2.57E+02 −14%
238 47
Pu 5.25E−01 −81% Sc 1.55E+01 −16%
239 Pu 2.41E−01 −80% 48 Sc 4.20E+02 −14%
240 73
Pu 5.11E−01 −81% Se 1.55E+02 −16%
241 75
Pu 2.71E−04 −51% Se 5.61E+01 −17%
241+ Pu 6.16E+00 −61% 31 Si 1.08E−01 −14%
151
Sm 2.90E−03 −68%
(continued on next column)
(continued on next column)

6
C. Stettner et al. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 184 (2022) 110159

Table 1 (continued). Table 1 (continued).

Radionuclide(s) Dose rate constant Relative deviation from Radionuclide(s) Dose rate constant Relative deviation from
for ambient dose ambient dose equivalent for ambient dose ambient dose equivalent
2 2
𝐻 ∗ in 𝜇𝑆𝑣⋅𝑚
ℎ⋅𝐺𝐵𝑞
𝐻̇ ∗ (10) 𝐻 ∗ in 𝜇𝑆𝑣⋅𝑚
ℎ⋅𝐺𝐵𝑞
𝐻̇ ∗ (10)
(5 keV threshold) (7 keV threshold) (5 keV threshold) (7 keV threshold)
153 202
Sm 1.14E+01 −31% Tl 6.81E+01 −18%
155 204
Sm 1.58E+01 −20% Tl 2.21E−01 −31%
113 Sn 4.48E+01 −35% 206 Tl 1.76E−02 −26%
113+ 207
Sn 4.48E+01 −35% Tl 3.12E−01 −15%
117𝑚 208
Sn 2.52E+01 −37% Tl 3.62E+02 −14%
121𝑚 Sn 1.46E+00 −65% 209 Tl 2.65E+02 −14%
125 210
Sn 4.20E+01 −14% Tl 3.41E+02 −14%
82 170
Sr 2.20E+00 −79% Tm 7.63E−01 −20%
85 Sr 7.37E+01 −23% 232 U 5.44E−01 −80%
89 233
Sr 1.52E−02 −54% U 4.09E−02 −29%
91 233+
Sr 1.41E+02 −15% U 5.11E+01 −39%
92 Sr 1.61E+02 −14% 234 U 4.89E−01 −80%
94 235
Sr 1.70E+02 −14% U 2.49E+01 −33%
178 235+
Ta 1.83E+01 −19% U 3.67E+01 −47%
182 Ta 1.67E+02 −14% 236 U 4.44E−01 −80%
182𝑚 237
Ta 4.13E+01 −18% U 2.27E+01 −44%
183+ 238
Ta 4.54E+01 −18% U 3.74E−01 −80%
160 Tb 1.47E+02 −15% 238+ U 4.31E+00 −47%
161 239
Tb 7.70E+00 −45% U 8.92E+00 −38%
101 240
Tc 4.83E+01 −17% U 2.31E+00 −75%
104 Tc 2.65E+02 −14% 48 V 3.71E+02 −14%
94𝑚 50
Tc 2.53E+02 −16% V 1.66E+02 −14%
99 52
Tc 1.13E−04 −54% V 1.70E+02 −13%
99𝑚 Tc 1.83E+01 −22% 178 W 3.47E+00 −20%
121 181
Te 8.42E+01 −24% W 7.69E+00 −22%
121𝑚 183𝑚
Te 3.28E+01 −29% W 2.29E+01 −20%
123𝑚 Te 2.32E+01 −32% 185 W 8.45E−03 −19%
125𝑚 185𝑚
Te 1.04E+01 −63% W 4.67E+00 −15%
127 187
Te 7.08E−01 −17% W 6.29E+01 −16%
127𝑚 Te 3.32E+00 −63% 188 W 2.79E−01 −17%
129 188+
Te 9.42E+00 −30% W 8.44E+00 −16%
129𝑚 123
Te 6.43E+00 −44% Xe 8.83E+01 −22%
131 Te 6.12E+01 −17% 125 Xe 4.34E+01 −34%
131𝑚 127
Te 1.94E+02 −16% Xe 4.42E+01 −31%
131𝑚+ 129𝑚
Te 2.04E+02 −16% Xe 1.33E+01 −57%
132 Te 3.74E+01 −31% 131𝑚 Xe 5.34E+00 −58%
133 132𝑚
Te 1.52E+02 −15% Xe 3.74E+02 −16%
133𝑚 133
Te 2.38E+02 −15% Xe 9.14E+00 −43%
133𝑚+ Te 2.64E+02 −15% 133𝑚 Xe 8.40E+00 −49%
134 135
Te 1.23E+02 −18% Xe 3.58E+01 −18%
227 135𝑚
Th 1.87E+01 −36% Xe 6.12E+01 −17%
228 Th 6.57E−01 −70% 137 Xe 2.58E+01 −15%
230 138
Th 4.21E−01 −77% Xe 1.31E+02 −14%
231 139
Th 5.87E+00 −73% Xe 1.26E+02 −15%
232 Th 3.38E−01 −78% 140 Xe 1.42E+02 −16%
232+ 88
Th 2.83E+02 −18% Y 3.15E+02 −16%
233 89𝑚
Th 4.36E+00 −39% Y 1.18E+02 −15%
234 Th 1.43E+00 −54% 90 Y 4.61E−03 −16%
44 90𝑚
Ti 2.29E+01 −19% Y 9.07E+01 −17%
51 91
Ti 5.22E+01 −16% Y 3.87E−01 −14%
200 Tl 1.73E+02 −16% 91𝑚 Y 7.41E+01 −16%
201
Tl 1.55E+01 −28%
(continued on next column)
(continued on next column)

7
C. Stettner et al. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 184 (2022) 110159

Table 1 (continued). This highlights the need for a discussion about an adaption of limit
Radionuclide(s) Dose rate constant Relative deviation from values within the community of radiation protection experts.
for ambient dose ambient dose equivalent The comparison of numerical values given in 𝐻 ∗ (10) and 𝐻 ∗ shows
2
𝐻 ∗ in 𝜇𝑆𝑣⋅𝑚 𝐻̇ ∗ (10)
ℎ⋅𝐺𝐵𝑞
(5 keV threshold) (7 keV threshold)
that the current numerical values can be regarded as a conservative
92
estimate of the effective dose for the transition phase.
Y 3.21E+01 −14%
93
In particular for radionuclides with a significant emission of low-
Y 1.18E+01 −14%
energy photons, a suitable data set for mathematical assessment should
94 Y 9.75E+01 −14% be made available as soon as possible after implementation in legally
169
Yb 5.19E+01 −22% binding requirements. In addition, manufacturers of measuring in-
169𝑚
Yb 1.95E−01 >1000% struments should be able to offer detectors with a suitable energy
175 Yb 5.70E+00 −17% dependence especially for radionuclides emitting low energy photones.
63
Zn 1.53E+02 −15%
65
Zn 7.29E+01 −13% CRediT authorship contribution statement
69 Zn 8.37E−04 −16%
69𝑚
Christoph Stettner: Writing – review & editing, Writing – origi-
Zn 5.93E+01 −16%
88
nal draft, Visualization, Validation, Software, Resources, Methodology,
Zr 5.76E+01 −28%
Investigation, Funding acquisition, Formal analysis, Data curation, Con-
89 Zr 1.55E+02 −19%
ceptualization, Project administration. Christian Hranitzky: Conceptu-
93
Zr 4.34E−01 −81% alization, Formal analysis, Methodology, Supervision. Karin Poljanc:
95
Zr 9.89E+01 −15% Supervision. Friederike Strebl: Formal analysis, Writing – original
95+ Zr 2.02E+02 −15% draft, Writing – review & editing. Christina Streli: Supervision.
97
Zr 1.20E+02 −15%
97+
Zr 2.15E+02 −15% Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-

cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.
These energy ranges can also be seen directly in Fig. 2. The groups of
radionuclides mentioned above only reflect the typical range of emitted References
photon energies. Other physical properties like type of decay could not
be used to explain differences between radionuclides in Table 1. While Bé, M.-M., Chisté, V., Dulieu, C., Kellett, M., Mougeot, X., Arinc, A., Chechev, V.,
7 Be, an electron capture nuclide, mainly emits photons with an energy Kuzmenko, N., Kibédi, T., Luca, A., Nichols, A., 2016. Table of radionuclides. In:
of 477 keV, the energies of 55 Fe are 5.8 keV and 6.5 keV, respectively. Monographie BIPM-5, vol. 8, Bureau International des Poids et Mesures, Pavillon
de Breteuil, F-92310 Sèvres, France.
As a result, 7 Be can be counted to the third group above, while 55 Fe can ICRP, 1997. ICRP Publication 74 - Conversion Coefficients for Use in Radiological
clearly be counted to the first group of low-energy emitting nuclides. Protection Against External Radiation. Annals of the ICRP, Pergamon, p. 200.
68 Ge, a commonly used positron emitter can be found in category ICRP, 2008. ICRP Publication 103: Recommendations of the ICRP. Radiat. Prot. Dosim.
1. The emitted photons mainly have an energy of 9 keV to 9.5 keV. This 129 (4), 500–507. [Link]
ICRP, 2009. ICRP Publication 110 - Adult Reference Computational Phantoms. Annals
photon energy shows an interesting behavior in Figs. 2 and 3, because
of the ICRP, Elsevier, p. 200.
the influence on the measurand 𝐻 ∗ becomes significantly stronger than ICRU, 1997. ICRU Report 57 - Conversion Coefficients for Use in Radiological Protection
for the measurand 𝐻 ∗ (10) below energies of 10 keV. All radionuclides Against External Radiation. p. 200.
that have even lower photon energies than 68 Ge show even significantly ICRU, 2020. ICRU Report 95 - Operational Quantities for External Radiation Exposure.
greater deviations (‘‘>1000%’’) irrespective of type of decay. p. 200.
ISO, 2019. ISO 4037-3: Radiological Protection — X and Gamma Reference Radiation
The numerical values for most radionuclides derived for the mea- for Calibrating Dosemeters and Doserate Meters and for Determining their Response
surand 𝐻 ∗ (10) were in accordance with typical numerical values given As a Function of Photon Energy — Part 3: Calibration of Area and Personal
in the literature. For those radionuclides whose spectrum has an ap- Dosemeters and the Measurement of their Response As a Function of Energy and
preciable low-energy component, contradictory data are given in the Angle of Incidence. ISO.
Smith, D.S., Stabin, M.G., 2012. Exposure rate constants and lead shielding values for
literature. For example, the dose rate constant for the radionuclide
201 Tl in 𝐻 ∗ (10) is given as 1.76E+01 (Tschurlovits et al., 1992),
over 1,100 radionuclides. Health Phys. 102 (3), 271–291.
Stettner, C., Baumgartner, N., Hranitzky, C., Poljanc, K., Stadtmann, H., Streli, C.,
1.75E+01 (Vogt and Schultz, 2011), 1.16E+01 (Smith and Stabin, 2021. A novel approach towards the calculation of dose rate constants for
2012), or 2.16E+01 (Stettner et al., 2021). These contradictions result ambient dose equivalent 𝐻 ∗ (10) by including low energy x-rays. Appl. Radiat.
to a large extent from simplified methods of calculating dose rate Isot. 178, 109964. [Link] URL https:
//[Link]/science/article/pii/S0969804321003602.
constants (Stettner et al., 2021). Tschurlovits, M., Leitner, A., Daverda, G., 1992. Dose rate constants for new dose
quantities. Radiat. Prot. Dosim. 42 (2), 77–82.
5. Conclusions Vogt, H.-G., Schultz, H., 2011. Grundzüge des praktischen Strahlenschutzes. 6.
überarbeitete Auflage. Carl Hanser Verlag GmbH Co KG.
Werner, C.J., et al., 2017. MCNP Users Manual-Code Version 6.2. Los Alamos National
As a conclusion, the application of the new measurand ambient dose
Laboratory, la-UR-17-29981.
𝐻 ∗ will lead to lower estimates of the effective dose 𝐸 by approxi-
mately 10%–20% for the majority of the investigated radionuclides.