A method to modify the response of neutron dosimeters in the fields with energy spectra different from the calibration field

Abstract

One problem in neutron dosimetry is that dosimeter responses per unit dose-equivalent in measurement and calibration fields are different. Hence, the neutron dose suffers a large uncertainty. In this work, a correction method is introduced to modify the dosimeters response in the fields with known energy spectra. To examine it, responses of thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLDs) to fast neutrons in 241Am-Be (calibration), 252Cf and 239Pu-Be fields for four personal dose-equivalents (Hp (10) values) of 5, 10, 15 and 20 mSv are measured. The results obtained reveal that the maximum differences of the original responses measured in 252Cf and 239Pu-Be fields from 241Am-Be field are 15% and 42%, respectively. After correction, above differences reduce to 4.7% and 10.8%. Finally, it can be concluded that the method proposed here, improves the accuracy of dose measurement in the neutron fields with known energy spectra.

Keywords

• fast neutron spectrum
• response
• calibration field
• correction factor
• tld