A portable beta spectrometer/dosimeter

Conference · Wed Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1984 · IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6853464

Erkilla, B H; Brake, R J; Waechter, D A

As part of an ongoing program to upgrade health and safety radiation survey instruments, the Los Alamos National Laboratory has developed a portable, battery-operated, computerized beta spectrometer/ dosimeter. The instrument will support many different detectors, but the one chosen here is a combination plastic scintillator and NaI crystal. The instrument includes pulse conditioning circuits, 128-channel pulse height analyzer with integral liquid crystal display, and a microcomputer system which calculates dose and dose rate from betas incident on the detector. Instrument operating life is about 8 hours between charges. The instrument will, at the user's option, display a beta spectrum or the accumulated dose in millirad, as well as give the user beta dose rates in millirad per hour. (At this point, the dosimetry algorithms are still under development.) Data accumulated in the instrument can be read out through a serial port on the instrument. The entire unit weighs 8 pounds, including internal batteries, and is packaged in a small case 25-cm long, 15-cm wide, and 15-cm high.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos Nat'l. Lab., Los Alamos, NM 87545
• OSTI ID: 6853464
• Report Number(s): CONF-831015-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.; (United States) Journal Volume: 31:1
• 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
BETA DOSIMETRY
BETA SPECTRA
BETA SPECTROMETERS
COMPUTERIZED CONTROL SYSTEMS
COMPUTERS
CONTROL SYSTEMS
CRYSTALS
DESIGN
DIMENSIONS
DISPLAY DEVICES
DOSE RATES
DOSEMETERS
DOSIMETRY
ELECTRIC BATTERIES
ELECTROCHEMICAL CELLS
ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT
FLUIDS
LIQUID CRYSTALS
LIQUIDS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MICROELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
MICROPROCESSORS
MULTI-CHANNEL ANALYZERS
NAI DETECTORS
PHOSPHORS
PLASTIC SCINTILLATION DETECTORS
PLASTIC SCINTILLATORS
PORTABLE EQUIPMENT
POWER CONDITIONING CIRCUITS
PULSE ANALYZERS
RADIATION DETECTORS
READOUT SYSTEMS
SCINTILLATION COUNTERS
SOLID SCINTILLATION DETECTORS
SPECTRA
SPECTROMETERS
WEIGHT