Neutron spectrum measurements for radiation protection purposes

Technical Report · Tue Feb 21 04:00:00 EST 1978

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6853182· OSTI ID:6853182

Slaughter, D R; Rueppel, D W; Fuess, D A

The energy spectra of low-intensity neutron sources used for calibrating personnel neutron dose-rate meters and dosimeters and for characterizing the neutron fields to which personnel are exposed were measured. Several detector-analyzer systems that will measure in the energy range 50 keV to 20 MeV at intensities from 10/sup -1/ to 10/sup 5/ n/cm/sup 2/-s are described. The systems include NE213 and stilbene organic scintillators as well as H/sub 2/, /sup 3/He, and CH/sub 4/ proportional counters. Also described are pulse-height analysis and pulse-shape discrimination systems. An unfolding code, NUTSPEC, reduces the pulse-height data to an absolute differential neutron flux phi(E) for the above detectors. The code uses a derivative unfolding method for the scintillation detectors, and for the proportional counters it calculates a response matrix and uses an iterative unfolding method to determine phi(E). The unfolded flux distribution combined with published conversion factors produces differential neutron dose-equivalent and kerma rates. Spectral segments obtained with different detectors from several measurements merge into a single differential flux spectrum over the range 50 keV to 20 MeV, together with the corresponding differential kerma and neutron dose-equivalent distributions. Also reported are spectrum measurements near /sup 252/Cf and /sup 238/PuBe sources with various moderators.

• Research Organization: California Univ., Livermore (USA). Lawrence Livermore Lab.
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 6853182
• Report Number(s): UCRL-52415
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

440102* -- Radiation Instrumentation-- Radiation Dosemeters
440103 -- Radiation Instrumentation-- Nuclear Spectroscopic Instrumentation
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
AROMATICS
CALIBRATION
DATA
DATA PROCESSING
DOSE EQUIVALENTS
DOSE RATEMETERS
DOSIMETRY
ENERGY DEPENDENCE
ERRORS
FUNCTIONS
HE-3 COUNTERS
HYDROCARBONS
INFORMATION
KERMA
LIQUID SCINTILLATION DETECTORS
MATRICES
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
NEUTRON DETECTORS
NEUTRON DOSIMETRY
NEUTRON SPECTRA
NEUTRON SPECTROMETERS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PROCESSING
PROPORTIONAL COUNTERS
RADIATION DETECTORS
RESPONSE FUNCTIONS
SCINTILLATION COUNTERS
SOLID SCINTILLATION DETECTORS
SPECTRA
SPECTRA UNFOLDING
SPECTROMETERS
STILBENE