Standards and calibration facilities of the Australian Radiation Laboratory for ionizing radiation beams.

The Australian Radiation Laboratory (ARL) maintains national standards of exposure and working standards of absorbed dose. Some of the exposure standards maintained by ARL have been compared recently with those of the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) for 100 to 250 kV x-rays and 60Co gamma rays. The absorbed dose standard for 60Co gamma rays is compared regularly with other standards through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and World Health Organization (WHO). All results show good agreement. A range of calibration qualities is offered at ARL, extending from 10 kV x-rays to 60Co gamma rays. A system of regional facilities has been developed for radiation protection calibrations; each facility is supplied with a set of 137Cs sources and an ionization chamber and electrometer for use with x-rays. The system is now almost complete throughout Australia.