Measurement models for passive dosemeters in view of uncertainty evaluation using the Monte Carlo method

Two measurement models for passive dosemeters such as thermoluminescent dosemeter, optically stimulated luminescence, radio-photoluminescence, photographic film or track etch are discussed. The first model considers the dose evaluation with the reading equipment as a single measurement, the one-stage model. The second model considers the build-up of a latent signal or latent image in the detector during exposure and the evaluation using a reader system as two separate measurements, the two-stage model. It is discussed that the two-stage model better reflects the cause and effect relations and the course of events in the daily practice of a routine dosimetry service. The one-stage model will be non-linear in crucial input quantities which can give rise to erroneous behavior of the uncertainty evaluation based on the law of propagation of uncertainty. Input quantities that show an asymmetric probability distributions propagate through the one-stage model in a physically not relevant way.