Personnel neutron dosimetry at Department of Energy facilities

Brackenbush, L.W.; Endres, G.W.R.; Selby, John; Vallario, E.J.

doi:10.2172/5050365

Cited by 19 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…For multi-element dosimeters such as the 8816 dosimeter, energy dependence is less severe with energy compensating algorithms but field measurements may still be necessary to verify dosimeter accuracy. Technical reports of field measurements (Fix et al 1981(Fix et al , 1982Brackenbush et al 1980Brackenbush et al , 1991Endres et al 1996;Scherpelz, Fix, and Rathbone 2000), along with numerous letter reports to HEDP files, have been prepared.…”

Section: Field Measurements Assessments and Intercomparison Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hanford External Dosimetry Technical Basis Manual PNL-MA-842

Rathbone¹

2011

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The Hanford External Dosimetry Program (HEDP) provides support to the U.S. Department of Energy's Richland Operations Office (RL), Office of River Protection (ORP), Pacific Northwest Site Office (PNSO), and DOE contractor radiation protection organizations in determining doses-of-record from external sources of radiation. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) (a) administers the HEDP in coordination with Hanford contractor radiation protection organizations to ensure consistent site-wide implementation of external dosimetry practices for Hanford workers and visitors. Coordination of dosimetry practices at Hanford is accomplished through the Hanford Personnel Dosimetry Advisory Committee (HPDAC). Technical services provided by the HEDP include personnel, area, nuclear accident, and environmental dosimetry capabilities that comply with DOE requirements in 10 CFR 835 Occupational Radiation Protection (DOE 2007a), DOE/EH

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Section: Field Measurements Assessments and Intercomparison Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hanford External Dosimetry Technical Basis Manual PNL-MA-842

Rathbone¹

2011

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“…In fact, field calibration and verification of the personnel neutron dosimetry system are critically important to ensure accurate dose results for the range of neutron spectra encountered in DOE work environments (Brackenbush et al 1980)., The most recent effort to validate dosimeter performance in Hanford work environments is documented by Endres et al (1996). Response characteristics of the Hanford combination neutron dosimeter, implementedJanuary 1995, to laboratory and workplace radiation ' fields are described.…”

Section: 2mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the TLD is extremely sensitive to slow neutron radiation (Brackenbush et al 1980). The Hanford NTA film dosimeters have essentially no response to neutrons having energies less than about 1 MeV.…”

Section: Neutron Energy Dependencementioning

confidence: 99%

Retrospective assessment of personnel neutron dosimetry for workers at the Hanford Site

Fix¹,

Wilson²,

Baumgartner³

1996

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DISCLAIMERThis report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by a n agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference . Executive SummaryThis report was prepared to examine the specific issue of the potential for unrecorded neutron dose for Hanford workers, particularly in comparison with the recorded whole body (neutron plus photon) dose. During the past several years, historical personnel dosimetry practices at Hanford have been documented in several technical reports (Wilson 1987, Wilson et al. 1990. This documentation provides I a detailed history of the technology, radiation fields, and administrative practices used to measure and record dose for Hanford workers. Importantly, documentation has been prepared by personnel whose collective experience spans nearly the entire history of Hanford operations beginning in the mid-1940s. Evaluations of selected Hanford radiation dose records have been conducted dong with statistical profiles of the recorded dose data. The history of Hanford personnel dosimetry is complex, spanning substantial evolution in radiation protection technology, concepts, and standards.Epidemiologic assessments of Hakord worker mortality and radiation dose data were initiated in the early 1960s. In recent years, Hanford data have been incl-uded in combined analyses of worker cohorts 'fiom several Department of Energy (DOE) sites and fiom several countries through the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Hanford data have also been included in the DOE Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource (CEDR). In the analysis of Hanford, and other site data, the question of comparability of recorded dose through time and across the respective sites has arisen. DOE formed a dosimetry working group composed of dosimetrists A d epidemiologists to evaluate data and documentation requirements of CEDR. This working group included in its recommendations the high priority for documentation of site-specific radiation dosimetry practices used to measure and record worker dose by the respective DOE sites. IARC formed a dosimetry subcommittee to evaluate comparability of radiation dose data among participants in their study.Based on previous published assessments by the authors of this report (Wilson et al. 1990) the evaluations associated w i t h the epidemiologic studies have shown recorded occupational whole body dose for Hanford to be comparable with the currently accepted deep (i.e., 1 cm in tissue) dose and with the recorded dose for other participants involved in these studies, with notable exceptions of exposure to I) low-energy photons, 2) neutrons, and 3) internal contaminants other than tritium. This is attributable to site-specific...

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“…The energy response of TLD albedo dosimeters is also complex due to the response of the phosphors themselves and the details of the irradiation geometry (Brackenbush 1980). In general, they are very sensitive to low and intermediate energy neutrons.…”

Section: • Acknowledgmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response characteristics of selected personnel neutron dosimeters

McDonald¹,

Fix²,

Hadley³

et al. 1983

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FOREWORDResponse characteristics of selected personnel neutron dosimeters in current use at Department of Energy (DOE) facilities were determined as part of the DOE Personnel Neutron Dosimeter Upgrade Program. This determination is important to achieving the overall objectives of the program for several reasons, including:• providing a uniform assessment of performance characteristics for personnel neutron dosimeters in routine use by several DOE 1 aboratori es• measuring the accuracy and reproducibility of personnel neutron dosimeter dose evaluations in known radiation fields• establishing a basis for comparison of prototype personnel neutron dosimeters currently under development• comparing current personnel neutron dosimetry performance with existing and proposed dose limits• identifying any current personnel neutron dosimeter concepts which are superior in performance.It is important to point out at the outset that the data contained herein may not be totally indicative of the accuracy of occupational doses determined routinely by the respective laboratories. Several laboratories utilize supporting field instrument data, such as measurements using rem meters, tissue equivalent proportional counters, and/or 3-inch and 9-inch sphere measurements, in evaluating the occupational dose received. In addition, all results herein are strictly blind in that no laboratory·s data are explicitly identified.A series of personnel dosimeter neutron irradiations was carried out to determine certain performance characteristics of selected personnel neutron dosimeters that are in current use at Department of Energy (DOE) facilities . These irradiations were quite specialized since they employed only well defined beams and a few highly standardized neutron sources. Information obtained was not intended to directly evaluate any participating laboratory's ability to determine occupational dose. Many laboratories utilize additional information such as field measurements of neutron dose and spectra to arrive at actual personnel doses. Since the neutron sources were so highly standardized, they could be used to determine the inherent accuracy and precision, along with the lower detection limit and energy dependence of each type of dosimeter.This program was designed to provide a consistent evaluation of certain common characteristics of the different dosimeters in use by exposing all the types employed in this study to the same radiation fields. The processing and read-out of the dosimeters was carried out by the participating laboratories.The results of this study form a useful data base which should provide valuable information to the participants. They may determine their performance relative to the range of other participants from the information in this report. This information is available to the participants, although the results are presented in this report in a strictly blind manner. In addition, since there were some neutron fields used in this study which may not have been previously encountered by the participants, they ...

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Personnel neutron dosimetry at Department of Energy facilities

Cited by 19 publications

References 22 publications

Hanford External Dosimetry Technical Basis Manual PNL-MA-842

Hanford External Dosimetry Technical Basis Manual PNL-MA-842

Retrospective assessment of personnel neutron dosimetry for workers at the Hanford Site

Response characteristics of selected personnel neutron dosimeters

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