Chest wall thickness measurements for enriched uranium: An alternative approach

Journal Article · Sun May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1994 · Health Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1097/00004032-199405000-00011· OSTI ID:249946

Kramer, G H ^[1]; Puscalau, M ^[2]

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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, Journal Name: Health Physics Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 66; ISSN HLTPAO; ISSN 0017-9078
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
56 BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
APPLIED STUDIES
ACTIVITY LEVELS
AMERICIUM 241
CHEST
COUNTING TECHNIQUES
ENRICHED URANIUM
LUNGS
NATURAL URANIUM
OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE
PHOTONS
RETENTION
THICKNESS