Performance of a high sensitivity multi-element tissue equivalent proportional counter for radiation protection neutron monitoring measurements

THE RESPONSE OF A MULTI-ELEMENT TISSUE EQUIVALENT PROPORTIONAL COUNTER IN ACCELERATOR BASED HIGH-ALTITUDE NEUTRON FIELDS

The response of a multi-element tissue equivalent proportional counter (METEPC) was investigated at the high energy neutron facility EU-CERF, in Prevessin, France. This facility was established specifically to provide reference neutron fields typical of those found at high altitude. The METEPC measurements were conducted along with a commercially available spherical tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) used for comparison. The measured microdosimetric spectra were analyzed and compared for various measurement locations, with substantially different neutron energy distributions resulting from the use of iron or concrete shielding. The absorbed dose rate measured by the two counters in the dominant lower-energy neutron field locations from the iron-shielded target was <27%. A significant difference in the range of 32-58% was observed between the two counters in the higher-energy neutron field produced by the concrete-shielded target. Interestingly, due to a combination of factors, including the geometry and structure of the METEPC, values of dose-equivalent derived from the METEPC and the TEPC were in closer agreement (within 30%) and are well within acceptable limits for neutron monitoring.

SECONDARY NEUTRON DOSES IN A PROTON THERAPY CENTRE

The formation of secondary high-energy neutrons in proton therapy can be a concern for radiation protection of staff. In this joint intercomparative study (CERN, SCK•CEN and IBA/IRISIB/ULB), secondary neutron doses were assessed with different detectors in several positions in the Proton Therapy Centre, Essen (Germany). The ambient dose equivalent H(*)(10) was assessed with Berthold LB 6411, WENDI-2, tissue-equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) and Bonner spheres (BS). The personal dose equivalent Hp(10) was measured with two types of active detectors and with bubble detectors. Using spectral and basic angular information, the reference Hp(10) was estimated. Results concerning staff exposure show H(*)(10) doses between 0.5 and 1 nSv/monitoring unit in a technical room. The LB 6411 showed an underestimation of H(*)(10), while WENDI-2 and TEPC showed good agreement with the BS data. A large overestimation for Hp(10) was observed for the active personal dosemeters, while the bubble detectors showed only a slight overestimation.

Sensitivity and uncertainty in the measurement of H*(10) in neutron fields using an REM500 and a multi-element TEPC

The REM500 is a commercial instrument based on a tissue-equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) that has been successfully deployed as a hand-held neutron monitor, although its sensitivity is regarded by some workers as low for nuclear power plant radiation protection work. Improvements in sensitivity can be obtained using a multi-element proportional counter design in which a large number of small detecting cavities replace the single large volume cavity of conventional TEPCs. In this work, the authors quantify the improvement in uncertainty that can be obtained by comparing the ambient dose equivalent measured with a REM500, which utilises a 5.72 cm (2(1/4) inch) diameter Rossi counter, with that of a multi-element TEPC designed to have the sensitivity of a 12.7 cm (5 inch) spherical TEPC. The results obtained also provide some insight into the influence of other design features of TEPCs, such as geometry and gas filling, on the measurement of ambient dose equivalent.

DOSIMETRIC response of a REM-500 in low energy neutron fields typical of nuclear power plants

This study investigates the response of a REM-500 to assess neutron quality factor and dose equivalent in low energy neutron fields, which are commonly encountered in the workplace environment of nuclear power stations. The McMaster University 3 MV Van de Graaff accelerator facility was used to measure the response of the instrument in monoenergetic neutron fields in the energy range 51 to 727 keV by bombarding a thin LiF target with 1.93-2.50 MeV protons. The energy distribution of the neutron fields produced in the facility was measured by a (3)He filled gas ionization chamber. The MCA mode of the REM-500 instrument was used to collect lineal energy distributions at varying neutron energies and to calculate the frequency and dose-mean lineal energies. The effective quality factor, Q-, was also calculated using the values of Q(y)listed in the REM-500 operation manual and compared with those of ICRP 60. The authors observed a continuously increasing trend in y - F, y-D, and Q-with an increase in neutron energy. It is interesting to note that standard tissue equivalent proportional counters (TEPCs) filled with tissue equivalent(TE) gas give rise to a similar trend for these microdosimetric quantities of interest in the same energy range; however, the averages calculated in this study are larger by about 15%compared to a TEPC filled with propane-based TE gas probably because of the larger stopping power of protons in propane compared to TE gas. These somewhat larger event sizes did not result in any significant increase in the Q-compared to those obtained from a TEPC filled with TE gas and were found to be in good agreement with other measurements reported earlier at corresponding neutron energies. The instrument quality factor response, R(Q), defined as the ratio of measured quality factor to the calculated quality factor in an ICRU tissue sphere,was found to vary with neutron energy. The instrument response,R(Q), was ~0.6 at 727 keV, which deteriorates further to ~0.3 at 51 keV neutron energy. The counter response based on ICRP 60 was comparable to an ideal response of 1.0 above 600 keV, which dropped to ~0.8 at 159 keV and ~0.4 at 51 keV neutron energy. The decline in counter quality factor response based on ICRP 60 was found to be much steeper than that when using the instrument’s built-in function for quality factor.The REM-500 measures a dose equivalent at 727 keV,which is 60% of the ambient dose equivalent, 40% at 159 keV,and 15% at 51 keV. Two algorithms have been developed, one for real time measurement and another to be used post measurement,and their efficacy is demonstrated in determining the quality factor and the ambient dose equivalent in low energy neutron fields, which are typical for the workplace environment in CANDU® nuclear power generating stations.

Study of microdosimetric energy deposition patterns in tissue-equivalent medium due to low-energy neutron fields using a graphite-walled proportional counter

To improve radiation protection dosimetry for low-energy neutron fields encountered in nuclear power reactor environments, there is increasing interest in modeling neutron energy deposition in metrological instruments such as tissue-equivalent proportional counters (TEPCs). Along with these computational developments, there is also a need for experimental data with which to benchmark and test the results obtained from the modeling methods developed. The experimental work described in this paper is a study of the energy deposition in tissue-equivalent (TE) medium using an in-house built graphite-walled proportional counter (GPC) filled with TE gas. The GPC is a simple model of a standard TEPC because the response of the counter at these energies is almost entirely due to the neutron interactions in the sensitive volume of the counter. Energy deposition in tissue spheres of diameter 1, 2, 4 and 8 µm was measured in low-energy neutron fields below 500 keV. We have observed a continuously increasing trend in microdosimetric averages with an increase in neutron energy. The values of these averages decrease as we increase the simulated diameter at a given neutron energy. A similar trend for these microdosimetric averages has been observed for standard TEPCs and the Rossi-type, TE, spherical wall-less counter filled with propane-based TE gas in the same energy range. This implies that at the microdosimetric level, in the neutron energy range we employed in this study, the pattern of average energy deposited by starter and insider proton recoil events in the gas is similar to those generated cumulatively by crosser and stopper events originating from the counter wall plus starter and insider recoil events originating in the sensitive volume of a TEPC.