Impact of instrument response variations on health physics measurements

Conference · Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 1985 · IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6337692

Armantrout, G A

Uncertainties in estimating the potential health impact of a given radiation exposure include instrument measurement error in determining exposure and difficulty in relating this exposure to an effective dose value. Instrument error can be due to design or manufacturing deficiencies, limitations of the sensing element used, and calibration and maintenance of the instrument. This paper evaluates the errors which can be introduced by design deficiencies and limitations of the sensing element for a wide variety of commonly used survey instruments. The results indicate little difference among sensing element choice for general survey work, with variations among specific instrument designs being the major factor. Ion chamber instruments tend to be the best for all around use, while scintillator-based units should not be used where accurate measurements are required. The need to properly calibrate and maintain an instrument appears to be the most important factor in instrument accuracy.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., Livermore, CA
• OSTI ID: 6337692
• Report Number(s): CONF-841007-; TRN: 85-027045
• Journal Information: IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.; (United States), Vol. NS-32:1; Conference: Nuclear science symposium, Orlando, FL, USA, 31 Oct 1984
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
RADIATION DETECTORS
ERRORS
SYSTEMS ANALYSIS
ACCURACY
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DOSEMETERS
DOSIMETRY
HEALTH HAZARDS
RADIATION DOSES
RADIATION HAZARDS
RADIATION MONITORING
DOSES
HAZARDS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MONITORING
440102* - Radiation Instrumentation- Radiation Dosemeters