Thomas D. McLean

High-energy response of the PRESCILA and WENDI-II neutron rem meters

WENDI-II was designed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) specifically as a wide-range rem meter, suitable for applications at particle accelerators, with response extension to 5 GeV. PRESCILA was also designed at LANL, mainly as a lightweight alternative to traditional rem meters, but has shown excellent response characteristics above 20 MeV. This Note summarises measurements performed over a span of 4 y to characterise the high-energy neutron response (>20 MeV) of these meters to several hundred million electron volts. High-energy quasi-monoenergetic beams utilised as part of this study were produced by the cyclotron facilities at the Université Catholique de Louvain (33 and 60 MeV) and the T. Svedberg Laboratory ( 46, 95, 143 and 173 MeV). In addition, measurements were also conducted at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, 800 MeV spallation neutron source, in broad energy fields with an average energy of 345 MeV. For the sake of completeness, data collected between 2.5 and 19 MeV in monoenergetic neutron fields at the German Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) facility are also included in this study.

Personal dose equivalent conversion coefficients for neutron fluence over the energy range of 20–250 MeV

Monte Carlo simulations were performed to extend existing neutron personal dose equivalent fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients to an energy of 250 MeV. Presently, conversion coefficients, H(p,slab)(10,alpha)/Phi, are given by ICRP-74 and ICRU-57 for a range of angles of radiation incidence (alpha = 0, 15, 30, 45, 60 and 75 degrees ) in the energy range from thermal to 20 MeV. Standard practice has been to base operational dose quantity calculations <20 MeV on the kerma approximation, which assumes that charged particle secondaries are locally deposited, or at least that charged particle equilibrium exists within the tally cell volume. However, with increasing neutron energy the kerma approximation may no longer be valid for some energetic secondaries such as protons. The Los Alamos Monte Carlo radiation transport code MCNPX was used for all absorbed dose calculations. Transport models and collision-based energy deposition tallies were used for neutron energies >20 MeV. Both light and heavy ions (HIs) (carbon, nitrogen and oxygen recoil nuclei) were transported down to a lower energy limit (1 keV for light ions and 5 MeV for HIs). Track energy below the limit was assumed to be locally deposited. For neutron tracks <20 MeV, kerma factors were used to obtain absorbed dose. Results are presented for a discrete set of angles of incidence on an ICRU tissue slab phantom.

A TECHNICAL BASIS FOR THE CONTINUED USE OF EXPOSURE AS AN ACCEPTABLE OPERATIONAL QUANTITY IN RADIATION PROTECTION

Within the tabulated values of the new [to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)] radiation weighting factors, it can be seen that a doubling of the neutron factor occurs for the 0.1 to 2 MeV neutron energy range. Hence, with the effective replacement of the quality factor by these new radiation weighting factors (for the protection quantities), it has been widely understood that the new changes will most definitely impact neutron dosimetry. However, it is less well understood that the new changes could also affect photon (and beta) dosimetry, i.e., photon reference fields, instrument design, and instrument calibrations. This paper discusses the ramifications, and ultimately concludes that the use of exposure for workplace measurements complies with both current and amended DOE requirements.

Dynamic Radioactive Source for Evaluating and Demonstrating Time-dependent Performance of Continuous Air Monitors

AbstractEvaluation of continuous air monitors in the presence of a plutonium aerosol is time intensive, expensive, and requires a specialized facility. The Radiation Protection Services Group at Los Alamos National Laboratory has designed a Dynamic Radioactive Source, intended to replace plutonium aerosol challenge testing. The Dynamic Radioactive Source is small enough to be inserted into the sampler filter chamber of a typical continuous air monitor. Time-dependent radioactivity is introduced from electroplated sources for real-time testing of a continuous air monitor where a mechanical wristwatch motor rotates a mask above an alpha-emitting electroplated disk source. The mask is attached to the watch’s minute hand, and as it rotates, more of the underlying source is revealed. The measured alpha activity increases with time, simulating the arrival of airborne radioactive particulates at the air sampler inlet. The Dynamic Radioactive Source allows the temporal behavior of puff and chronic release conditions to be mimicked without the need for radioactive aerosols. The new system is configurable to different continuous air monitor designs and provides an in-house testing capability (benchtop compatible). It is a repeatable and reusable system and does not contaminate the tested air monitor. Test benefits include direct user control, realistic (plutonium) aerosol spectra, and iterative development of continuous air monitor alarm algorithms. Data obtained using the Dynamic Radioactive Source has been used to elucidate alarm algorithms and to compare the response time of two commercial continuous air monitors.