Neutron spectrometry for radiation protection: Three examples
Workers and the general public are exposed to neutron radiation from a variety of sources, including fission and fusion reactors, accelerators, the nuclear fuel and nuclear weapons cycles, and cosmic rays in space, in aircraft and on the earth. Because the health effects of neutrons depend strongly on their energy, neutron spectrometry is essential for accurate risk-related neutron dosimetry. In addition, the penetration of neutrons through protective shielding changes their energy and can be difficult to calculate reliably, so the measurement of energy spectra is often needed to verify neutron transport calculations. The Environmental Measurements Laboratory has been measuring neutron energy spectra for over 20 years, primarily with multisphere (or Bonner sphere) spectrometers. Because of this experience, the Laboratory has responded to a number of requests to provide reference neutron energy spectra at critical locations in or near nuclear facilities and radiation fields. This talk will describe the author`s instruments and three recent examples of their use: outside the Princeton Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR), up to two kilometers from the Army Pulse Radiation Facility (APRF) bare reactor, and in a Canadian Forces jet aircraft at commercial aviation altitudes. All of these studies have implications beyond routine occupational radiation protection. For example, the APRF measurements are part of the broad effort to resolve the discrepancy between measured and calculated thermal neutron activation at Hiroshima, one of the most important unsolved problems in radiation dosimetry.
- OSTI ID:
- 401770
- Journal Information:
- Radioactivity and Radiochemistry, Vol. 6, Issue 4; Other Information: PBD: 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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