Application of luminescence techniques in retrospective dosimetry

Luminescence signals measured from minerals within bricks or ceramic samples can provide information about the absorbed radiation dose. This feature has for several years been used in dating archaeological and geological samples and recently luminescence techniques have been intensively used far retrospective assessment of accident doses received by the population after a nuclear accident. The development of new luminescence techniques after the Chernobyl accident has considerably improved the sensitivity and precision in the evaluation of accident doses. This paper reviews the development work, especially on optically stimulated luminescence methods for retrospective assessment of accident doses carried out at Riso National Laboratory in collaboration with the University of Helsinki as part bf a joint European Union research project. We demonstrate that doses lower than 100 mGy can be measured from extracted brick quartz with a precision in the order of 1% using newly developed optically stimulated luminescence dose evaluation protocols.