A rigorous 2-step (R2S) method has been developed to calculate the shutdown dose rates in full three-dimensional geometry. Based on the Monte Carlos code MCNP and automated interfaces
this method has been successfully validated by the ITER shutdown dose rate experiment T-426 and compared with the direct 1-step (D1S) method. Both methods show good agreement with the experiment and R2S gives more reliable estimation compared to D1S. The results imply that R2S method can be applied in shutdown dose rates calculation of large and complex nuclear fusion devices.