Radiation protection study for a reloading operation of cobalt 60 sources in the Moroccan ionisation station using the GEANT4 Monte-Carlo simulation code

Abstract

The operation of reloading the irradiators is considered among the tasks requiring high radiation protection monitoring, to protect the intervening manipulators, the public and the environment. Morocco is among the countries that have a cobalt irradiator, installed at the National Institute of Agricultural Research (NIAR) of Tangier, to carry out research in the field of agronomy. In the beginning, the irradiator used low doses of activity for the study of products only, for treatment of high doses. The NIAR carried out a reload to increase the activity. To perform this, a temporary pool was installed inside the irradiation room to handle the sources safely. A radiation protection study is necessary to ensure the safe operation. This operation requires a height level of exposure. To ovoid the exposer risk, it is proposed to use the Monte Carlo method thanks to its reliability in the dosimetric calculation. This article presents a radiation protection study of the Moroccan irradiator reloading operation using the GEANT4 Monte-Carlo Simulation Code.