ABSTRACT
Calorimetry has been used for a long time as a technique for establishing the absorbed dose. Graphite calorimetry has been used to establish absorbed dose standards for use in radiation therapy. A conversion process is necessary to convert from dose to graphite to dose to water. In other radiation measurement areas, too, calorimetry is recognized as a good approach for establishing absorbed dose standards. Most calorimeters developed for the purposes of radiation dosimetry have been constructed from graphite because of the perceived difficulties of working with a liquid system. In order to investigate experimentally the overall correction factor for a cylindrical ionization chamber, water calorimetry was used by Seuntjens et al. Potentially, water calorimeters are most accurate, but they are delicate systems and require considerable care to control the purity of the water and the effects of radiochemical reactions occurring in it.
