A. H. Sullivan

A PERSONAL NEUTRON MONITORING SYSTEM BASED ON SOLID STATE NUCLEAR TRACK DETECTORS

ABSTRACT The use of solid state nuclear track detectors for personal neutron monitoring around high energy particle accelerators has been extensively investigated at CERN. A system based on cellulose nitrate (LR115) as a track detector in contact with different radiators (boron and polycarbonate) has been proposed to replace the NTA neutron film used so far. The holes created in the cellulose nitrate layer by charged particles such as alpha particles and carbon recoils are counted after etching with a microscope connected to an image-analysing computer (Quantimet). The present paper describes the monitoring system chosen and presents the results of a large series of tests (calibration and field experiments) at CERN. The problems encountered in going from laboratory-scale tests to a large-scale routine use of the neutron monitoring system are discussed. The use of 6LiF/7LiF thermoluminescence detectors in conjunction with the track detector system to select the track detectors that require evaluation is proposed.