Calculated and measured depth dose profiles in a phantom exposed to neutron radiation fields

Technical Report · Mon May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1989

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6061824· OSTI ID:6061824

Scherpelz, R I; Tanner, J E; Sigalla, L A; Hadlock, D E

An accurate evaluation of doses caused by external sources of neutron radiation depends on knowledge of the transport of radiation inside the human body. Health physicists use two primary methods for studying this radiation transport: computer calculations and measurements. Both computer calculations and measurements were performed under well controlled, nearly identical conditions to determine the extent of their agreement. A comparison of the dose profiles predicted by both measurements and calculations was thus possible. The measurements were performed in a cylindrical phantom made of tissue equivalent plastic. The phantom size, 61 cm high and 30 cm in diameter, was chosen to approximate the human torso and to match the dimensions of cylindrical phantoms used by previous calculations. Holes were drilled down through the phantom to accommodate small tissue equivalent proportional counters (TEPCs) at various depths in the phantom. These counters were used to measure the neutron dose inside the phantom when it was exposed to various sources of neutrons. The holes in the phantom could also accommodate miniature Geiger-Mueller detectors to measure the gamma component of the dose. Neutron and gamma dose profiles were measured for two different sources of neutrons: an unmoderated /sup 252/Cf source and a 733-keV neutron beam generated by a Van de Graaff accelerator. 14 refs., 13 figs., 11 tabs.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 6061824
• Report Number(s): PNL-6913; ON: DE89013873
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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BARYONS
BIOLOGY
COMPILED DATA
DATA
DEPTH DOSE DISTRIBUTIONS
DOSE EQUIVALENTS
DOSE RATES
DOSIMETRY
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ENERGY TRANSFER
EVALUATION
FERMIONS
HADRONS
INFORMATION
LET
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MOCKUP
NEUTRON DOSIMETRY
NEUTRONS
NUCLEONS
NUMERICAL DATA
PHANTOMS
RADIATION DOSE DISTRIBUTIONS
RADIOBIOLOGY
RBE
SPATIAL DOSE DISTRIBUTIONS
STRUCTURAL MODELS