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Title: Chest wall thickness measurements for enriched uranium: An alternative approach

Journal Article · · Health Physics
 [1];  [2]
  1. Human Monitoring Lab., Ottawa, Ontario (Canada)
  2. Institute of Atomic Physics, Bucharest (Romania)

Human Monitoring Laboratory has developed a technique to determine the chest wall thickness of an individual using information from the spectrum produced by internally deposited radionuclides. The technique has been investigated both theoretically and practically using phoswich detectors and the Lawrence Livermore Torso Phantom. The phantom was used with lung sets containing homogeneously distributed 93% enriched uranium, 20% enriched uranium, natural uranium, and {sup 241}Am. It was found that a 3-cm chest wall thickness can be estimated to within 9% when measuring 93% enriched uranium. The technique does not work for the latter two radionuclides because of an insufficient separation in the photon energies and poor resolution of the phoswich detectors. The technique is only of value for activity levels limit. 5 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.

OSTI ID:
249946
Journal Information:
Health Physics, Vol. 66, Issue 5; Other Information: PBD: May 1994
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English