Performance evaluation of personal dosimeter D-Shuttle for use by residents in the event of a nuclear accident

The accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (TEPCO’s) Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in March 2011 elevated the concerns of many citizens regarding radiation exposure. Therefore, a dosimeter that enables anyone to easily measure radiation exposure was developed for use by residents in the event of a nuclear accident (D-Shuttle; Chiyoda Technol Co., Tokyo, Japan). The D-Shuttle is widely used, mainly in the Fukushima Prefecture; however, there are few user evaluations on its basic performance. This paper investigates the basic performance of the D-Shuttle, including the stability of the measured values. It was found that there was no significant sensitivity difference among the multiple D-Shuttle units or in the measured values before and after battery replacement. This indicates the stability of D-Shuttle measurements. As α- and β-rays could not be detected, D-Shuttle should only be used for γ-ray measurements. The measured value on the back side of the D-Shuttle was 66.7% of that on the front side. This indicates that the D-Shuttle is less sensitive on the back side. • Performance of the personal dosimeter “D-Shuttle” for nuclear accidents was evaluated • Battery replacement had no effect on D-Shuttle measurements • D-Shuttle shows lower detection sensitivity on its back side than on its front • D-Shuttle detects γ-rays but does not respond to α- or β-rays • D-shuttle showed small variation in measurements