Skip to main content
OSTI.GOVU.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

Research and development of a beta skin-dose monitor using silicon detectors

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:6913558
The purpose of the research is to develop improved ways to computer and measure the beta skin dose. Beta spectra for the various sources were calculated based on the Fermi beta decay theory. The calculated average energies of the spectra agreed with the literature values within 6%. Monte Carlo electron transport codes have been developed for use on microcomputers. The one-dimensional code ZEBRA has been converted to a microcomputer version called Eltran2 which runs on the Macintosh or any IBM compatible microcomputers. Eltran2 has then been modified into a two-dimensional program called Eltran3. Using Eltran2 and Eltran3, different source distributions and the hot particle dose have been studied. It has been found that the VARSKIN code overestimates the skin dose from hot particles by about 10 to 40% in comparison with Eltran3 calculations, because the VARSKIN code is based on the data tables for an unbounded medium. An ion-implanted silicon detector was selected because of its small size, high sensitivity, and low leakage current. To cover a wide range of dose rate, both the pulse and current mode operations of the silicon detector were used, with an overlap of one order of magnitude in the measurable dose rate ranges. By using a gradient shield of about 7 mg/cm[sup 2] on the detector, dose gradient measurements have been performed. Five [sup 60]Co hot particles received from GPU Nuclear Corporation have been measured by the silicon detector and the measurements agreed well with Eltran3 calculations. In the pulse mode, variation of the depletion depth of the silicon detector due to the changes of bias voltage was confirmed. Based on this research, a prototype beta skin dose monitor has been constructed. The device includes an 8-bit analogue-to-digital converter and a Z-80 microprocessor with a machine-coded program, to calculate the skin dose.
Research Organization:
Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)
OSTI ID:
6913558
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Microcomputer Monte Carlo electron transport codes for beta skin dose calculations
Journal Article · Sat Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1991 · IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States) · OSTI ID:5680019
An approach to hot particle dosimetry using a Monte Carlo transport code
Journal Article · Tue Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1991 · Radiation Protection Management; (United States) · OSTI ID:5321939
Development of a beta skin dose monitor using a silicon detector
Journal Article · Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1991 · IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States) · OSTI ID:5760020

Related Subjects

440102 -- Radiation Instrumentation-- Radiation Dosemeters
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
560101* -- Biomedical Sciences
Applied Studies-- Radiation Effects-- Dosimetry & Monitoring-- (1992-)
61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY
BETA DETECTION
BETA SOURCES
BETA SPECTRA
BODY
CHARGED PARTICLE DETECTION
COMPUTER CODES
DETECTION
DOSE RATES
DOSES
E CODES
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
ONE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
ORGANS
PARTICLE SOURCES
PERFORMANCE
RADIATION DETECTION
RADIATION DETECTORS
RADIATION DOSES
RADIATION SOURCES
SKIN
SPECTRA
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
V CODES
Z CODES