Radiation dose to nuclear medicine technicians per unit activity of administrated 99mTc at four Norwegian hospitals.

Nuclear medicine technicians work daily with radioactive isotopes, and therefore receive a certain amount of radiation dose. The aim of this study was to assess the radiation dose, during various tasks, to the technicians at four nuclear medicine departments and to investigate to what extent there are differences between the departments and possible reasons for such. Measurements were made at nuclear medicine departments at four Norwegian hospitals. Doses to the technicians were measured with an educational direct dosimeter-instrument worn outside the lead apron during work at hot-lab, administrating the injection and image acquisition. Calculated annual collective and individual doses were compared with data from personal dosimetry. A value of ∼1 nSv MBq(-1) seems to be representative for modern Norwegian nuclear medicine departments. In departments with upgraded hot-labs, the largest dose contribution is received during image acquisition.