X-Ray Room Lead Doors: AERB Specs & Cost (India 2026)

Every diagnostic imaging room that uses ionising radiation needs a shielded entrance, and the X-ray room lead doors are the single most scrutinised barrier in that envelope. The door is the one part of the shielded wall that has to move, so it is where leakage most often appears at commissioning. In India the entire installation — room layout, wall and door shielding, and the warning systems — is approved by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) before the unit can be switched on, and signed off by a Radiological Safety Officer (RSO). This guide explains how to specify a lead door correctly for general radiography and CT, what thickness and detailing AERB expects, and what it realistically costs. It is the imaging-specific companion to our broader radiation-shielded doors guide.

Why X-ray room lead doors are different

A conventional fire or acoustic door builds performance from mass and seals. A radiation door builds it from a continuous sheet of lead bonded inside the leaf, sized to a calculated Pb (lead) equivalence. The hard part is continuity: gamma and X-ray photons travel in straight lines, so any unlined gap — the edge of the leaf, the frame rebate, the gap under the door, a screw hole, the vision panel — becomes a leakage path. A door that is 2 mm Pb in the middle and 0 mm at the edge is not a 2 mm Pb door.

This is why lead doors are project-engineered products, not catalogue items. The leaf, the frame, the lead glass window and the threshold are designed as one overlapping system so that the lead in each component shadows the joints in the next.

How thickness is decided: it is a calculation, not a default

The Pb equivalence is not picked from a brochure. It is derived from a shielding calculation following NCRP / AERB methodology, which considers the maximum operating kVp, the workload (mA-minutes per week), the use factor (how often the beam points at that wall), the occupancy factor of the adjacent space, and the distance from tube to barrier. The RSO or a qualified medical physicist runs this calculation and the door must match the wall it sits in.

That said, the table below shows the bands that recur in Indian diagnostic practice, useful for early budgeting before the physicist's number is final.

Use these as a rule of thumb only. The signed shielding report governs; never order a door on the table above alone.

Anatomy of a lead door

The leaf

A typical leaf is a steel or laminate skin over a core, with a single continuous lead sheet bonded across the full leaf area and lapped at every edge. Good practice runs the lead past the leaf perimeter so it overlaps the frame lining — the overlap is what kills edge leakage.

The frame

The frame (jamb) is itself lead-lined and rebated so the leaf's lead and the frame's lead overlap when closed. A bare frame around a leaded leaf is a classic leakage failure at commissioning.

The lead glass viewing window

Most X-ray room doors carry a lead glass vision panel so staff can see the patient. The glass must be matched to the leaf's Pb equivalence (lead glass is rated in mm Pb just like the leaf), and the frame around the glass must overlap the surrounding lead so no thin line forms at the aperture. Lead glass is heavy and expensive, so panels are kept modest in size.

The threshold

The gap under the door is the hardest joint. It is handled with a lead-lined floor strip, a deep overlap, or by setting the door so the leaf's lead shadows a leaded floor channel. CT rooms with primary-beam-down geometry need particular care here.

Sliding vs hinged: corridors decide

Lead leaves are heavy — a CT door can run well over 100 kg — which makes hinge wear, sag and self-closing a real concern. Hospitals also fight for corridor width, and a swung leaded leaf eats a large arc. For these reasons sliding lead doors are common in radiology, particularly in narrow corridors and for CT, where the heavier leaf is easier to manage on a track than on hinges. Manual sliders are typical; automatic operators are specified where staff push gurneys through. Either way the slider must close to a leaded overlap at the jamb and head, not just butt against the wall.

Interlocks, warning lights and signage

AERB layout approval is not only about lead thickness — it requires the active safety systems at the door:

• A red warning light ('X-RAYS ON' / 'DO NOT ENTER') above the door, illuminated whenever the beam can be energised.
• A door interlock that ties the door state into the exposure logic, so the system cannot expose with the door open (or warns and prevents it), per the approved scheme.
• Warning signage — the radiation trefoil symbol and caution text at the entrance.

These are mandatory parts of the installation that the RSO checks, and they must be wired and commissioned alongside the door, not added later.

Installation, sealing and commissioning

The leaf and frame are only as good as the fit-up. Key site points:

• Set and grout the leaded frame plumb and true; any racking opens the overlap gap.
• Use lead-headed fixings or lead-filled counterbores so screw penetrations are not leakage points.
• Ensure the lead glass panel sits in its leaded sub-frame with full overlap.
• Detail the threshold so the leaf lead shadows a leaded floor strip.
• After install, the RSO conducts a leakage survey with a survey meter around the entire door perimeter, the glass edge and the threshold. Hot spots are re-shielded before sign-off.

No X-ray door is finished until that survey passes and the RSO records it for the AERB file. This is the same discipline applied across imaging — see our operation theatre door and hospital doors guides for adjacent clinical-door requirements.

What it costs in India (2026)

Lead doors are custom, made-to-measure products with long-lead materials, so prices are bands, not list prices. GST on doors is 18%.

Always clarify supply-only versus installed, and whether the leakage survey and interlock wiring are in scope. The final specification and price must come from a specialist vendor against the RSO's signed shielding calculation — treat the bands above as planning figures only. For a quick first estimate, our radiation shielding lead calculator and specialty door cost estimator help frame the budget.

Where this fits in the wider family

Not every shielded room uses lead. MRI suites are shielded against radio-frequency interference, not ionising radiation, so they use copper/Faraday (RF) shielding — covered in our RF-shielded doors and MRI room doors guides. For the engineering overview of the whole protected-door category, see specialty doors and the cluster complete door guide.

Frequently asked questions

How thick should the lead be in an X-ray room door?

For general radiography (70-125 kVp) most doors land at 1.5-2 mm Pb equivalence, and CT rooms typically 2-3 mm Pb. But the exact figure must come from the AERB/NCRP shielding calculation done by your RSO or medical physicist — it depends on kVp, workload, distance, use and occupancy. The table here is for early budgeting only.

Do I need AERB approval for the door?

The door is part of the room's shielding, and the whole imaging installation needs AERB layout approval plus an RSO leakage survey before use. You cannot self-certify a lead door; the survey result is recorded for the AERB file.

Should the door slide or swing?

Leaded leaves are heavy. Sliding lead doors are common in radiology — especially in narrow corridors and for CT — because they avoid a swing arc and handle the weight on a track. Hinged doors suit lighter general-radiography leaves where corridor space allows.

Why does the door need a red light and interlock?

AERB requires active warning and entry-control: a red 'X-RAYS ON' light and a door interlock wired into the exposure logic so the beam cannot be energised with the door open. These are commissioned with the door, not optional extras.

Can I reuse a normal hospital door and just add a lead sheet?

No. A lead door is an engineered assembly — the leaf, the lead-lined frame, the matched lead glass, the threshold and the fixings all have to overlap so there is no unlined gap. Bolting lead onto an ordinary door leaves leakage paths that fail the RSO survey.