Characterizing Inorganic Scintillating Detectors for Determining
Potential Radiation Exposure
Ronald J. Unz, Donna M. Rodgers, Charles A. Waggoner
Institute for Clean Energy Technology
Mississippi State University, MS 39762, USA
ABSTRACT
A number of buildings at Oak Ridge National Lab and at the Y-12 National Security Complex have been slated for deactivation and decommissioning (D&D) under the Integrated Facility Disposition Project (IFDP). Virtually all of these buildings were used for developing nuclear and radiochemical technologies. The buildings slated for D&D may be contaminated with unknown quantities of radioactive materials. A survey to determine the location of radioactive material and the extent of contamination needs to be performed in each building before personnel can safely enter the buildings and begin D&D.
This paper describes the methods employed in identifying the gamma detectors that provide the best results in terms of detection efficiency, energy resolution, and operational temperature stability when deployed robotically. Mass and power consumption of the detectors are taken into account for use on remotely operated automated systems. The types of detectors that have been characterized for this application include NaI(Tl) and LaBr3(Ce). Data collection in these evaluations includes personal dosimetry measurements using film badges. Selection of the optimum gamma detectors includes consideration of the ability to employ the units to identify and semi-quantify the contaminating isotopes along with conversion of the gamma spectrum to dose levels.
I am currently also working with an undergraduate physics major. His name is Will McMillen and he is currenlty working on his own project. Below is the abstract for the poster he will be presenting at Mississippi State.
Determining Data Quality of Landauer InLight Dosimeters
Ronald J. Unz, Donna M. Rodgers, Charles A. Waggoner
Institute for Clean Energy Technology
Mississippi State University, MS 39762, USA
While working with radioactive materials, it is important to be properly equipped with a method to monitor the amount of radiation to which one has been exposed. This experiment characterizes Landauer Inlight dosimeters to determine the quality of data that can be collected. InLight dosimeters will be exposed to radioactive sources on a test bed developed at the Institute for Clean Energy Technology (ICET). This test bed was created specifically for the testing ot characterized radiation fields. The InLight dosimeters will be analyzed in a Landauer microStar reader and the data will be compared to traditional film dosimeters to determine the quality of data that can be collected.