Neutron Dosimetry II

Neutron Interactions and
Dosimetry II
Paired Dosimeters
Calibration of the Low-Neutron-
Sensitivity Dosimeter
Separate Measurement of Neutron and -Ray
Dose Components by Paired Dosimeters
If a mixed n + field is measured by means of two
dosimeters having different values of B/A, Eq. (2)
can then be applied to each one and solved
simultaneously to obtain D
and D
n
, so long as B
and A have known values
The best dosimeter pair is a TE-plastic ion
chamber containing TE gas (for which B/A ~ 1) to
measure the total n + dose, and a
nonhydrogenous dosimeter having as little neutron
sensitivity as possible to measure the dose
Ideally this dosimeter should measure only -rays
Dosimeters with Comparable Neutron
and -Ray Sensitivities (B/A ~ 1)
A-150 TE plastic ion chambers (B/A ~ 1)
Rossi TE proportional counter (B/A ~ 1)
Tissue-equivalent plastic calorimeters (B/A
~ 1)
Aqueous chemical dosimeters (B < A)
Organic or plastic scintillators (B < A)
Neutron Dosimeters Insensitive
to -Rays (A B)
Activation of metal foils (A ~ 0)
Fission foils (A = 0)
Etchable plastic foils (A ~ 0)
Damage to silicon diodes (A ~ 0)
Hurst proportional counter (A ~ 0)
Rem meters
Long counters
Bubble detectors
Gamma-Ray Dosimeters with Relatively
Low Neutron Sensitivity (B < A)
There are no known dosimeters for which B = 0
while A 0
The primary means available for minimizing the
value of B is the avoidance of hydrogen in a
dosimeter, including its CPE buildup layer, since
elastic scattering of H nuclei accounts for most of
the absorbed dose in the interaction of fast
neutrons in tissue and other hydrogenous media
Non-hydrogenous Ion Chambers
Graphite-walled ion chambers through which CO
2

gas is flowed at 1 atm have the advantage of being
low in atomic number, thus avoiding overresponse
for low-energy rays due to the photoelectric
effect
However, the discrimination against neutrons is
only moderate, with B/A ~ 0.30 at 15 MeV for a
0.3 cm
3
cylindrical chamber, decreasing gradually
as the neutron energy is increased
Non-hydrogenous Ion Chambers
Somewhat better neutron discrimination can
be achieved with a magnesium chamber
containing argon, because of the decrease in
the energy transferred to the heavier nuclei
by neutron elastic scattering
For a 2.4-cm
3
spherical Mg-Ar chamber the
B/A value for 14.8-MeV neutrons is about
0.17
Thermoluminescent Dosimeters
7
LiF (TLD-700) and CaF
2
:Mn TLDs both have
B/A values comparable to that of the Mg-Ar ion
chamber
Thus either of these TLDs can be employed as the
neutron-insensitive member of the paired-
dosimeter method
7
LiF, at least, has been shown to have a B/A value
that is nearly proportional to the energy of the fast
neutrons below 15 MeV

A LiF (TLD-100) or
6
LiF (TLD-600) TLD can be
employed as an indirect fast-neutron dosimeter by
coupling it with a large moderating mass, for
example, by wearing it in a personnel badge on the
body
The incident fast neutrons become thermalized by
multiple elastic collisions in the body and some of
them diffuse back out to the dosimeter
This is called an albedo dosimeter because its
reading depends on the ability of the body to
reflect the thermalized neutrons
Since
6
LiF and LiF (containing natural lithium
with 7%
6
Li content) both are sensitive to rays
also, it is usually necessary to provide a second
TLD in the dosimeter package that is insensitive to
thermal neutrons
Both dosimeters in the pair require -ray
calibration, as their -ray sensitivities are seldom
identical
An alternative to using
7
LiF as a separate -
ray dosimeter in the albedo package is
offered by the fact that LiF and
6
LiF show
an extra TLD glow peak at about 250 300
C, produced by the thermal-neutron dose
deposited by the secondary o-particle and
the triton
X-Ray Film
Nuclear-track emulsions are thick enough to allow
fast neutrons to scatter protons elastically, and to
allow them to spend their energy internally in
producing chemically developable tracks
An x-ray film has an emulsion thickness of 2 5
mg/cm
2
, which is comparable to the range of a 1-
MeV proton
If the film is sandwiched between Pb foils to keep
out protons from the films surroundings, B/A can
be reduced to even lower levels than those
exhibited by
7
LiF
Miniature G-M Counters
A miniature stainless-steel G-M counter
with a high-Z filter to flatten the energy
dependence of the -ray response has been
found to have the lowest B/A ratio of any
known -ray dosimeter: approximately 0.02
for 15-MeV neutrons, decreasing gradually
with decreasing neutron energy
Calibration of a Tissue-Equivalent
Ion Chamber for n + Dosimetry
The -ray calibration factor A is first obtained
from a
60
Co -ray beam for which the free-space
exposure rate is known
The absorbed dose at the center of an equilibrium
sphere of tissue, 0.52 g/cm
2
in radius, for a free-
space exposure X (C/kg) at the same location, is
given (in grays) by

tiss
TCPE
en
eq
air air
( ) (3)
c
W
D K A X
e

| |
| | | |
= =
| |
\ . \ .
where | ~ 1.003,
A
eq
= attenuation of photons in
penetrating to the center of the tissue sphere
~ 0.988,
= 33.97 J/C, and
= the ratio of mass energy absorption
coefficients for tissue/air, 0.0293/0.0266 =
1.102
( )
tiss
en
air
/
( )
air
/ W e
Eq. (3) thus reduces to

If (Q
)
TE
is the charge (C) produced in the
TE ion chamber when it is given the same -
irradiation that deposits D
(Gy) in the
tissue sphere, then
37.1 Gy D X
=
( )
TE
TE
(C/Gy)
Q
A
D
The absorbed dose D
in muscle tissue can

be related to the dose (D
)
TE
in the TE
plastic chamber wall under TCPE
conditions by
( ) ( )
( )
( ) ( )
( )
TE
TCPE
en TE TE TE TE
TE
tiss
TE TE
Q Q D Q
A
D D
D D

| |
= =
|
\ .
The B-G relation, assumed to be valid here,
allows one to write

Substituting gives
( )
( )
( ) ( )
TE
TE
TE
/ /
g g
Q
V
D
W e S
=
( ) ( )
TE
en
TE
TE
tiss
/ /
g g
V
A
W e S

| |
=
|
\ .
The neutron calibration factor B
TE
for the
TE ion chamber can next be expressed in a
form similar to that of A
TE
:
( ) ( )
( )
( ) ( )
( )
( )
CPE
TE
TE TE TE TE
TE
tiss
TE TE
n n n n
n
n n n n
Q Q D Q
B F
D D D D
= =
Applying the B-G relation to the neutron
case:

Now substituting gives
( )
( )
( ) ( )
TE
TE
TE
/ /
n
n
n n
g
g
Q
V
D
W e S
=
( )
( ) ( )
TE
TE
TE
tiss
/ /
n
n n
g
g
V
B F
W e S
=
(B/A)
TE
for the TE chamber is the ratio

The compositions of the TE gas and TE-
plastic wall are sufficiently similar that the
stopping power ratios are both close to
unity, as is their ratio
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
TE
tiss
TE
en
TE
tiss
TE
TE
/ /
/
/
g g
n
n
g
n
g
W e S
B
F
A W e
S

| |
| |
=
| |
\ .
\ .
The ratio is also nearly unity, since
differences in the carbon and oxygen content in
the gas and wall have no effect
These elements have practically identical
en
/
values over the wide range of -ray energies where
the Compton effect dominates
Therefore, for the TE-gas-filled TE-plastic
chamber:

( )
tiss
en
TE
/
( )
( )
( )
TE
tiss
TE
/
/
g
n
n
g
W e
B
F
A W e
| |
~
|
\ .
The value of the ratio is obtained
from tables such as those in Appendix F,
entered at the appropriate neutron energy
for A-150 plastic and ICRU muscle
The reciprocal of the W-ratio has been
computed as a function of neutron energy
by Goodman and Coyne for methane-based
TE gas
( )
TE
tiss
n
F
In principle one could use

to calculate B/A for a graphite-CO
2
or Mg-Ar ion
chamber to be employed in the paired-dosimeter
method
The resulting B/A value so obtained is seldom
accurate enough to be useful, especially where the
-ray content is fairly low
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
TE
tiss
TE
en
TE
tiss
TE
TE
/ /
/
/
g g
n
n
g
n
g
W e S
B
F
A W e
S

| |
| |
=
| |
\ .
\ .
The most practical approach to determining B/A is
an experimental one employing a narrow neutron
beam of the desired spectrum
The method makes use of a Pb filter to remove the
-ray contamination from the beam, while passing
most of the neutrons, which have a smaller
attenuation coefficient
Secondary radiation produced in the filter escapes
from the narrow beam
A previously calibrated TE chamber is used to
calibrate the beam in terms of neutron tissue dose
D
n

The low-neutron-sensitivity dosimeter (x) for
which the value of (B/A)
x
is to be determined is
given an identical irradiation, yielding the reading
Q
x

B
x
is simply equal to Q
x
/D
n
, assuming D
to be
zero
A
x
for that dosimeter is obtained from a
60
Co -ray
exposure
In practice one does not know the degree to
which the beam is initially contaminated
with radiation, how much Pb filtration is
needed to purify the beam adequately, or
how much of the -ray contamination may
have come from elsewhere than the beam
port
Gamma rays from the face of the shield would,
for example, not be removed by a beam filter
A solution to this problem was devised which uses
the narrow-beam Pb-filtration method for
determining (B/A)
x

The neutron beam was generated by 35-MeV
deuterons on Be; its average energy was 15 MeV
It was collimated by a 2-cm hole through a large
Benelex (pressed wood) shield, as shown in the
following diagram
The dosimeters were a TE-plastic-TE-gas
chamber and an air-filled graphite chamber
The three beam filtrations chosen were open
beam, 7.6-cm Pb, and a steel plug 66 cm
long filling the entire bore hole
The six measurements and response
equations are listed in the following table
was the absorbed dose at the measurement
point in the open beam due to rays coming out of
the beam port
was the dose contributed by rays from
elsewhere mostly H-capture rays emitted from
the face of the Benelex shield
D
n
is the open-beam neutron dose, is that with
the Pb filter, and that with the plug in place
a
D
s
D
n
D
'
n
D
''
This experimental approach to determining (B/A)
x

for a low-neutron-sensitivity dosimeter provides a
value that is consistent with the (B/A)
TE
of the
tissue-equivalent chamber with which it is
compared, and is relevant to the neutron spectrum
of the beam used
The method works as well with TLDs, G-M
counters or other nonhydrogenous dosimeters as it
does with ion chambers
Narrow-beam geometry is required for this
calibration procedure
The beam must be narrow enough, and the
measurement location distant enough from the
filters, so that significant amounts of secondary
radiation from the filters cannot reach the
dosimeters
The method therefore requires a collimatable
beam of neutrons

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Neutron Interactions and

in muscle tissue can

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