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Title: A Radiological Characterization of the KIWI-I Vehicle

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/785809· OSTI ID:785809

A review was conducted of the previous Kiwi characterization to understand apparent differences in measured contamination levels observed during recent field work between Kiwi-reported activities and values from another system. The review assessed how the data were processed as well as the assumptions behind the measurement techniques employed. The review included a reassessment of how calculations of conversion factors were preformed. The review also checked for errors in the measurements or calculations of the data collected at these sites. In addition, new characterization measurements were made and new characterization techniques investigated for the Kiwi detector array. These measurements and techniques led to new calculations of conversion factions for the array, which are compared to the previous conversion factors. The new measurements confirmed that the Kiwi detectors are very reproducible in measuring the photopeak count rate from a surface distribution of activity ({+-}3%). Finally, a review was conducted of the various parameters which describe the exponential distribution of activity with depth in the soil. New values have been assigned to the relaxation length and the averaging depth. When combined with the new characterization measurements, they produce a 75% increase over the previous conversion factor.

Research Organization:
Bechtel Nevada Corporation (US)
Sponsoring Organization:
US Department of Energy (US)
DOE Contract Number:
AC08-96NV11718
OSTI ID:
785809
Report Number(s):
DOE/NV/11718-298; TRN: US0108506
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: 1 Mar 1999
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English