A Formalism for Calculation of Absorbed Dose from Radionuclides

Traditional methods of carrying out internal-dose calculations are not adequate for the detailed models now in existence, nor for the many types of radionuclides presently in use. A formalism for absorbed-dose calculation is presented which is applicable to all radionuclides and all models. It is based on equations which are derived in general terms, independent of the properties of any single type of radiation. The development of the formalism starts with the concept of absorbed fraction, but a new concept, specific absorbed fraction (i.e., absorbed fraction per gramme), is shown to be more widely applicable. The proposed formalism will increase the complexity of dose calculation only under circumstances where traditional methods oversimplify the concepts and distort the result.