A proposed new standard is being developed for the industrial radiation processing industry and irradiation research facilities where absorbed-dose measurement is critical. The proposed standard, WK15409, Practice for Dosimetry in Radiation Processing, is under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee E10.01 on Radiation Processing: Dosimetry and Applications, which is part of ASTM International Committee E10 on Nuclear Technology and Applications.
 
“Subcommittee E10.01 has published numerous standards on dosimetry and radiation processing,” says John Logar, chair of E10.01 and director, radiation dosimetry, Sterigenics International. “However, feedback from industry users indicated a difficulty in understanding what standards they should use and how to use them. This proposed standard is being developed to be a top level document and give guidance on the use of our 36 published standards.”
 
Logar notes that the radiation processing industry has specific requirements that must be completed to be in compliance with international standards and regulations. “We want WK15409 to be a single source that individuals and companies can reference that will give them a road map to the necessary standards required for their specific application,” says Logar.
 
Participation is welcome in the standards developing activities of E10.01.  “We plan to expand, as required by industry and research needs, into more radiation processing applications,” says Logar. “We are interested in participation from government agencies to synergize what the industry needs with the published research and what the regulatory agencies require.”
 
Logar believes that the development of WK15409 is important because it will give end users (such as the industrial radiation industry, government research facilities and university-based radiation programs) the ability to effectively use the 36 standards E10.01 has already published. “It is also important on the international stage in which other standards organization will be able to reference a single normative reference and in turn reference our other standards by default,” says Logar.

For further technical information, contact John Logar, Sterigenics International, Swedesboro, N.J. (phone: 856/241-8880; jlogar@sterigenics.com). Committee E10 meets Jan. 27-30, 2008, at the January committee week in Tampa, Fla. For membership or meeting information, contact Joe Koury, Technical Committee Operations, ASTM International (phone: 610/832-9804; jkoury@astm.org).

Release #7827