Nares Chankow

Transport mechanism of MeV protons in tapered glass capillaries

To investigate the transport mechanism of MeV protons in tapered glass capillaries, spatially resolved energy spectra were measured for proton microbeams focused by 20-μm-outlet capillaries having various taper angles. Three-dimensional Monte Carlo (MC) simulations were also performed to support the experiments and trace each particle in the capillary in more detail. The dependence of the proton energy distribution on the outgoing angle proved that the capillary-focused proton beam consists of two different components, protons traveling straight through the capillary without colliding with the capillary wall and protons scattered by the capillary inner wall. Moreover, the focusing effect of the tapered glass capillary was found to be mainly due to the scattered beam component. The MC simulations well reproduced the experimental results and showed that beam focusing ratios of 1.6–2.4 are possible with capillaries having a convex inner wall. The flight distance of the scattered proton in the capillary glass...

Mitigation of the effective dose of radon decay products through the use of an air cleaner in a dwelling in Okinawa, Japan

Field measurements were conducted to assess the effects of an air cleaner on radon mitigation in a dwelling with a high radon concentration in Okinawa, Japan. The measurements included indoor radon concentration, individual radon progeny concentration, equilibrium equivalent concentration of radon (EECRn), unattached fraction, and size distribution of aerosol-attached radon progeny. These measurements were conducted in a 74 m(3) room with/without the use of an air cleaner. The results showed that the mean radon concentration during the measurement was quite high (301 Bq m(-3)). The operation of air cleaner decreased the radon progeny activity concentration, EECRn and equilibrium factor by 33%, 57% and 71%, respectively, whereas the unattached fraction increased by 174%. In addition, the activity concentration of attached radon progeny in the accumulation mode (50-2000 nm) was obviously deceased by 42%, when the air cleaner was operated. According to dosimetric calculations, the operation of air cleaner reduced the effective dose due to radon progeny by about 50%.

Neutron radiography using neutron imaging plate.

The aims of this research are to study properties of a neutron imaging plate (NIP) and to test it for use in nondestructive testing (NDT) of materials. The experiments were carried out by using a BAS-ND 2040 Fuji NIP and a neutron beam from the Thai Research Reactor TRR-1/M1. The neutron intensity and Cd ratio at the specimen position were approximately 9x10(5) ns/cm(2) s and 100 respectively. It was found that the photostimulated luminescence (PSL) readout of the imaging plate was directly proportional to the exposure time and approximately 40 times faster than the conventional NR using Gd converter screen/X-ray film technique. The sensitivities of the imaging plate to slow neutron and to Ir-192 gamma-rays were found to be approximately 4.2x10(-3) PSL/mm(2) per neutron and 6.7x10(-5) PSL/mm(2) per gamma-ray photon respectively. Finally, some specimens containing light elements were selected to be radiographed with neutrons using the NIP and the Gd converter screen/X-ray film technique. The image quality obtained from the two recording media was found to be comparable.

Comparative dosimetry of radon and thoron

There is a well-known discrepancy between dosimetrically derived dose conversion factor (DCF) and epidemiologically derived DCF for radon. As the latter DCFs, International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommends a value of ∼6.4 nSv (Bq h m(-3))(-1) and 7.9 nSv (Bq h m(-3))(-1) for radon decay products (RnDP) in dwellings and workplaces, respectively. On the other hand, the dosimetric calculations based on the ICRP-66 respiratory tract model derived a DCF of 13 nSv (Bq h m(-3))(-1) and 17 nSv (Bq h m(-3))(-1) for RnDP in dwellings and workplaces, respectively, and 83 nSv (Bq h m(-3))(-1) for thoron decay products (TnDP) in dwellings. In addition, the DCFs derived from both approaches and UNSCEAR were applied to comparative dosimetry for two thoron-enhanced areas (cave dwellings in China and dwellings at a spa town in Japan), where the equilibrium equivalent concentration of radon and equilibrium equivalent concentration of thoron have been measured. In the case of the spa town dwellings, the dose from TnDP was larger than the dose from RnDP.

Enhancement of uranium extraction from seawater using chromic-acid-treated amidoxime adsorbent prepared by simultaneous irradiation grafting technique

Enhancement of uranium extraction from seawater using chromic-acid-treated amidoxime adsorbent was studied. Chromic-acid-treated amidoxime fibers were synthesized based on the simultaneous irradiation grafting method at a low temperature. Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) fibers were treated with chromic acid for up to 90 minutes. After the treatment, the fibers were submerged in 60:40 acrylonitrile:methacrylic acid monomer by volume and irradiated with 40 kGy γ-ray. The maximum grafting efficiency of about 90% occurred at 20 minutes of acid treatment time, as a significant enhancement of 30% compared to the literature-reported value of about 70%. When submerged in shallow seawater with an average temperature of 30 °C for 4 weeks, the amidoxime adsorbent exhibited the adsorption capacity of 2.06 g-U/kg-adsorbent, which was 37% higher than the literature-reported value. These significantly increased grafting and adsorption efficiencies were attributed to the increased surface area of chromic-acid-etched LDPE fibers. Moreover, for the submersion up to 8 weeks, the adsorption increased to 2.15 g-U/kg-adsorbent. The adsorption capacity was evaluated to reduce to about 65% after eight cycles of repeated usage. Uranium concentrations in Thailands seawater collected at various depths and locations were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to be about 3 ppb everywhere.

Natural radionuclide concentrations in processed materials from thai mineral industries

The naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs) distributed in products, by-products and waste produced from Thai mineral industries were investigated. Samples were analysed for radioactivity concentrations of two principal NORM isotopes: (226)Ra and (228)Ra. The enrichment of NORM was found to occur during the treatment process of some minerals. The highest activity of (226)Ra (7 × 10(7) Bq kg(-1)) was in the scale from tantalum processing. The radium concentration in the discarded by-product material from metal ore dressing was also enriched by 3-10 times. Phosphogypsum, a waste produced from the production of phosphate fertilisers, contained 700 times the level of (226)Ra concentration found in phosphate ore. Hence, these residues were also sources of exposure to workers and the public, which needed to be controlled.

A simple technique to improve sensitivity of a β backscatter gauge

Abstract A β backscatter unit is generally used for measurement of coating thickness and for determination of composition of binary mixture. The unit is electronically simple and robust. Unfortunately, its sensitivity is much lower than that of an X-ray fluorescence unit. The objective of this research is to apply the β absorption technique to improve its sensitivity based on spectrum shift due to difference in atomic number of the specimens. The proposed technique was tested with a β backscatter unit using a 1 μCi (37 kBq) and a 20 μCi (740 kBq) annular 90Sr/90Y source and a GM counter. The tested samples were lead–tin alloys and lignite specimens. It was found that, by inserting an aluminum foil of appropriate thickness between the source and the detector, the sensitivity in determining lead content in lead–tin alloys and ash content in lignite specimens was satisfactorily improved. It could be concluded that the technique could be simply applied to any β backscatter unit but a stronger source was needed to compensate for loss of low-energy β-particles from being absorbed by the aluminum filter.