Latest updates for the IEC standards for active and passive dosemeters

This paper presents the standards developed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Subcommittee 45B “Radiation protection instrumentation” concerning the active pocket and portable dose (rate) meters and monitors and passive dosimetry systems. The IEC standards describe the performance requirements and the functional criteria along with the test methods for evaluating the performance of the applicable instrumentation and their compliance with the standard requirements. The standards specify the general characteristics, the general test procedures, the radiation characteristics, as well as the environmental, mechanical, electromagnetic and electric characteristics. The most recent changes of the standard IEC 62387 (2nd edition is to be published in 2020) covering the dosimetry systems with integrating passive detectors for individual, workplace and environmental monitoring of photon and beta radiation are discussed. The standards for various active meters and monitors as IEC 61526, IEC 60846-1&2, IEC 61005 etc. are also dealt with in short. All these standards were transposed as European EN standards. The standardization of hybrid dosemeters (dosemeters between active and passive) is discussed as outlook. The criteria and the compliance test methods in the standards discussed in this paper are the results of an optimization, compromise and consensus among the participating experts from many countries searching for acceptable measurement performances that reflect the positions of their national regulatory agencies, the scientific and technological progress of the industry, the testing laboratories capabilities and the end user's needs. These standards provide manufacturers with internationally acceptable requirements and provide consistent test methods for compliance with the stated performance requirements. •The International Electrotechnical Commission prepares standards for dosemeters.•New edition of IEC 62387 on passive dosimetry systems will be published in 2019.•Important changes on the performance requirements were introduced.•Hybrid dosemeters (between active and passive) are considered.•The international standards on active dose (rate) meters are also discussed.