NEUTRON DOSIMETER

Abstract

A lightweight neutron dosimeter is disclosed. The dosimeter comprises a cylindrical body acting as moderator, an active component acting as neutron detector and neutron filters. The neutron filters are formed by at least two crowns placed inside the moderator, a first of said crowns being placed adjacent to the active component and a second crown being placed between the first crown and an inner wall surface of the moderator. The first crown includes top and bottom caps to cover open ends of the first crown, the top cap having an opening to allow introduction of the active component therein and a thickness of the top and bottom caps being the same as the thickness of the two crowns. The first and second crowns comprises vertical ribbons, an area covered by the plurality of vertical ribbons in each crown, excluding the top and bottom caps, being comprised in a range between 50-95%.

Claims

1. A neutron dosimeter, comprising: a cylindrical body (100) made of a polyethylene material acting as moderator; an active component (101) acting as neutron detector, the active component (101) being located in the center of the cylindrical body (100); and neutron filters (102) configured to compensate an over sensitivity of the neutron detector in a given energy region, the neutron filters (102) being formed by at least two crowns (102A, 102B), which are made of a material with a given thickness, and top and bottom caps (102C, 102D), the at least two crowns (102A, 102B) being placed inside the cylindrical body (100), a first (102A) of said two crowns (102A, 102B) being placed adjacent to the active component (101) and a second (102B) of said two crowns (102A, 102B) being placed between the first crown (102A) and an inner wall surface of the cylindrical body (100), the top and bottom caps (102C, 102D) being configured to cover open ends of the first crown (102A), the top cap (102C) having an opening to allow introduction of the active component (101) therein; characterized in that: a thickness of a material of the top and bottom caps (102C, 102D) is the same as the thickness of the material of the two crowns (102A, 102B); the first and second crowns (102A, 102B) each comprises a plurality of vertical ribbons, an area covered by the plurality of vertical ribbons in each crown, excluding the top and bottom caps (102C, 102D), being comprised in a range between 50-95%; and in that the dosimeter further comprises: a removable element (104) placed between the first crown (102A) and the active component (101) to improve performance of the neutron detector to intense neutron radiation fields, in pulsed or continuous form, said removable element (104) including a hollow cylinder with inner diameter between 1.05 and 1.2 times an outer diameter of the active component (101).

2. The neutron dosimeter of claim 1, wherein the two crowns (102A, 102B) are made of a cadmium material, and wherein the given thickness is comprised in a range between 0.5 and 1 mm.

3. The neutron dosimeter of claim 1, wherein the two crowns (102A, 1028) are made of a borated silicone material, and wherein the given thickness is comprised in a range between 3 and 5 mm.

4. The neutron dosimeter of any of previous claims, wherein: an inner radius of the first crown (102A) is comprised in a range between 2.0 and 3.0 cm and an inner radius of the second crown (102B) is 0.5 to 1.75 cm larger than the inner radius of the first crown (102A); and/or a height of the neutron filters (102) is comprised in a range between 50 and 100 mm.

5. The neutron dosimeter of claim 1, wherein the hollow cylinder is made of a polyethylene material and a neutron absorbing material (106) with a plurality of ribbons/strips, the neutron absorbing material (106) covering at least part of a surface of a sensitive volume (111) of the active component (101).

6. The neutron dosimeter of claim 1, wherein the hollow cylinder is made of a borated-polyethylene material, the latter being comprised in a fraction from 0.5 to 30% by weight.

7. The neutron dosimeter of claim 1, 5 or 6, further comprising a gamma filter (105) made of a solid lead metal cylinder with an inner radius comprised in a ranged between 7 to 16 mm, and a thickness between 1 and 3 mm.

8. The neutron dosimeter of any one of the previous claims, wherein the dosimeter is a lightweight dosimeter, wherein the cylindrical body (100) comprises an external radius Rm comprised in a range between 7 and 10 cm and a total height Lm computed by means of:
Lm(Rm,RA)=1.904.Math.Rm+53.965.Math.RA.sup.2−138.65.Math.RA+83.818 [cm], where: Rm is given in cm; RA is the nominal anisotropy factor and is defined as the ratio between a weighted neutron response of the neutron detector, for omnidirectional fast neutron fields, and the nominal response to lateral irradiation of the cylinder including the active component (101).

9. The neutron dosimeter of claim 8, further comprising a metallic beryllium or beryllium oxide element placed between the second crown (102B) and the cylindrical body (100).

10. The neutron dosimeter of claim 9, wherein the metallic beryllium or beryllium oxide element is a hollow shaped cylinder or a third crown made of a plurality of vertical ribbons or rods in a coaxial geometry.

11. The neutron dosimeter of any one of the previous claims, wherein the active component (101) comprises a mixture of .sup.3He and a quenching gas in a proportion up to 3% by mass.

12. The neutron dosimeter of any one of the previous claims, wherein the polyethylene material is a high density polyethylene material with a density comprised in a range between 0.90-0.98 g/cm.sup.3.

13. The neutron dosimeter of any one of the previous claims 8 to 12, wherein a total dosimeter mass is less than 5 kilograms.

14. The neutron dosimeter of any one of the previous claims, wherein the active component (101) is configured to communicate with an electronic processing module (108) to transmit a charge produced in the active component (101) due to the detection of single or multiple neutron events.

15. The neutron dosimeter of claim 14, wherein the electronic processing module is externally mounted on the cylindrical body (100) or is positioned remote to the cylindrical body (100).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] The previous and other advantages and features will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of embodiments, with reference to the attached figures, which must be considered in an illustrative and non-limiting manner, in which:

[0031] FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the proposed neutron dosimeter, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0032] FIG. 2 schematically illustrates another embodiment of the proposed neutron dosimeter, in this case including the efficiency plug, or removable element.

[0033] FIG. 3 schematically illustrates another embodiment of the proposed neutron dosimeter, in this case including the power and electronic processing module.

[0034] FIG. 4 illustrates the dosimetric response obtained with example 1.

[0035] FIG. 5 illustrates the relationship between the covered fraction of the area of the active component and the scaling factor of the neutron sensitivity, for example 2.

[0036] FIG. 6 illustrates the performance for workplaces. Upper and lower limits in commercial dosimeters as reported by the EVIDOS project [22].

[0037] FIG. 7 illustrates the performance for pulsed radiation fields. Data for commercial dosimeters extracted from [24].

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0038] Present invention provides a cylindrical neutron dosimeter 1, particularly of the Anderson-Brown type, able to work in continuous, quasi-continuous and pulsed neutron fields. The dosimeter can be used with an electronic processing module such as a charge sensitive preamplifier and readout based either on analog or digital electronics. In some embodiments, the neutron dosimeter 1 has a maximum weight that is less than 5 kilograms (excluding electronics), i.e. the dosimeter is lightweight.

[0039] The energy sensitivity of the neutron dosimeter 1 is according to recommendations ICRP74 or ICRU-RC26. Likewise, the neutron detector is designed for operational energies from 10E-9 (thermal) up to 10 MeV or 20 MeV (the later when using neutron multipliers). Deviation from the average detection sensitivity is less than 20% from the nominal sensitivity for omnidirectional fast neutron fields or workplace fields.

[0040] FIGS. 1 and 2A and 2B illustrate different embodiments of the proposed neutron dosimeter 1. The neutron dosimeter 1 comprises a cylindrical body 100 (or passive component) acting as moderator, an active component 101 acting as neutron detector, and neutron filters 102 to compensate an over sensitivity of the neutron detector in the thermal and epithermal energy regions.

[0041] In an embodiment, the cylindrical body 100 is made of a high density polyethylene material (density 0.90-0.98 g/cm.sup.3). The external radius (Rm) of the cylindrical body 100 can go from 7 cm up to 9.5 or 10.0 cm. The total height (Lm) of the cylindrical body 100 can be computed using the following equation:

Lm(Rm,RA)=1.904.Math.Rm+53.965.Math.RA.sup.2−138.65.Math.RA+83.818 [cm],  (Eq. 1)

where Rm is given in cm and RA is the nominal anisotropy factor. RA is defined as the ratio between the weighted neutron response of the neutron detector, for omnidirectional fast neutron fields, and the nominal response to lateral irradiation of the cylinder including the active component 101. The aspect ratio (Lm/Rm) of the moderator 100 goes from 1.2 to 1.8. Likewise, particularly, the RA can go from 0.8 to 1.3.

[0042] It should be noted that in other embodiments, not restricted to a mass of less than 5 kilograms, the external radius (Rm) of the cylindrical body could go up to 16.0 cm.

[0043] The active component 101 comprises a sensitive volume, or active length, 111. The active component 101 is filled with a mixture of .sup.3He gas and a quenching gas (up to 3% fraction by mass). The outer diameter of the active component 101 can be comprised in a range between 0.5 and 1.0 inches and the sensitive volume 111 can be comprised in a range between 30 and 70 mm, particularly 50 mm.

[0044] The neutron filters 102 can be made of cadmium foils with a thickness from 0.5 to 1 mm or can be made of a borated silicone material with a thickness between 3 and 5 mm.

[0045] The neutron filters 102 are placed inside the cylindrical body 100 shaped as two crowns 102A, 102B and top and bottom caps 102C, 102D. The first crown 102A is placed adjacent to the active component 101 and the second crown 102B is placed between the first crown 102A and the inner wall surface of the cylindrical body 100. The top and bottom caps 102C, 102D are included to cover open ends of the first crown 102A. The top cap 102C has an opening to allow introduction of the active component 101 therein. The material thickness of the top and bottom caps 102C, 102D is about 0.5 mm, which is the same as the material thickness of the two crowns 102A, 1028.

[0046] The first and second crowns 102A, 102B (although not illustrated in the figure) are made of a discrete number of vertical ribbons. The area covered by the vertical ribbons in each crown, excluding the top and bottom caps 102C, 102D, is between 50-95%. According to a particular embodiment, the first crown 102A can be made of 6 vertical ribbons and the second crown 102B can be made of 8 vertical ribbons. The height of the two crowns 102A, 102B can be between 50 and 100 mm.

[0047] Alternatively, in another embodiment, not illustrated, the neutron filters 102 are placed inside the cylindrical body 100 as a hollow coaxial cylinder. In this case in which one single filter is used, the inner radius can be 2.5 to 5 cm.

[0048] The neutron dosimeter 1 can also incorporate a gamma filter to reduce the sensitivity of the active component 101 to X-rays. Particularly, the gamma filter is made of a solid lead metal cylinder. The inner radius of said metal cylinder can vary from 7 to 16 mm, and its thickness can be between 1 and 3 mm.

[0049] Moreover, metallic beryllium or beryllium oxides elements acting as neutron multipliers can be also used to compensate the under sensitivity of the neutron detector to energies higher than 10 MeV. Particularly, the metallic beryllium or beryllium oxides elements are placed between the second crown 102B and the cylindrical body 100 and can be either in the form of a hollow shaped cylinder or in the form of a third crown made of a plurality of vertical ribbons or rods in a coaxial geometry. The inner radius of the cylinder or of the crown can be between 4 and 7 cm. When using vertical ribbons, the thickness of the material is from 3 to 12 mm. When using rods, the rod diameter goes from 4 to 10 mm. When using the crown, the sum angles subtended by all ribbons, or rods, goes from 72° up to 165°.

[0050] In the embodiment of FIGS. 2A and 2B, the neutron dosimeter 1 besides the elements previously described also includes a removable plug (or element) 104 inserted into the cylindrical body 100 to compensate the under sensitivity of the neutron detector to energies higher than 10 MeV (the arrow at the bottom part of FIG. 2A indicates the insertion direction of the removable element 104 into the passive component 100). The removable element 104 includes a hollow cylinder with inner diameter between 1.05 and 1.2 times the outer diameter of the active component 101.

[0051] The hollow cylinder can be made of a polyethylene material (e.g. a high density polyethylene material) and a neutron absorbing material 106 with a plurality of ribbons/strips. The neutron absorbing material 106 can be made of different material such as lithium, cadmium, polyethylene, borated polyethylene, etc. The neutron absorbing material 106 can cover the sensitive volume 111 of the active component 101. Particularly, the fraction of the .sup.3He-filled tube area, excluding top and bottom ends, covered by the neutron absorbing material 106 in the hollow cylinder is from 20% to 95%. Alternatively, the hollow cylinder can be made of a borated-polyethylene material, the latter being comprised in a fraction from 0.5 to 30% by weight. The gamma filter 105 is included as a part of the removable plug 104. In this case the gamma filter 105 has thickness between 1 and 3 mm.

[0052] FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment in which the neutron dosimeter 1 also includes an electronic processing module 108 mounted on top of the cylindrical body 100. The electronic processing module 108 is operatively connected to communicate with the active component 101 and to transmit the readouts to different computing devices such as Smartphones, computers, servers, etc. The electronic chain includes a high and low voltage DC power supply. The signal processing and readout can be based either on analog and/or digital electronics. In the case of measuring continuous or quasi-continuous neutron fields, the neutron dosimeter 1 is to be operated by detecting single events (pulse mode) and using a rate meter, or equivalent electronics, able to provide the dose rate in the proper units. In the case of pulsed neutron fields, the neutron dosimeter 1 is to be operated in charge integration mode including electronics able to determine the total charge deposited inside the active component 101 by detected events from the neutron burst, and providing the integrated dose by neutron burst (pulsed dose rate).

[0053] It should be noted that in other embodiments, not illustrated, the electronic processing module can be located remote to the cylindrical body 100.

[0054] Following different particular examples of the proposed neutron dosimeter 1 are detailed.

Example 1

[0055] According to this example, the neutron dosimeter is lightweight with a total mass less than 5 kg and specified energy range from thermal up to 10 MeV. The active component 101 is a 3He-filled cylindrical neutron counter, 10 atm nominal pressure, 1 inch external diameter, 74.6 mm total tube length and 50 mm nominal length of the detecting volume. The cylindrical body 100 is made of high density polyethylene material with a nominal density of 0.95 gr/cm.sup.3. The nominal anisotropy factor is chosen to be RA=1.1. The external radius of the moderator is selected to Rm=9 cm. Therefore, the length of the moderator is 13.7 cm. The neutron filters 102 are made by natural cadmium material with a thickness of 0.5 mm. The first crown 102A is formed by six vertical ribbons of 75 mm length, including top and bottom caps, and inner radius of 2.25 cm. The arc subtended by each ribbon in the first crown 102A is 51 degrees. The second crown 102B is made by eight vertical ribbons, at an inner radius of 3.25 cm, each one subtending an arc of 36 degrees. The active component 101 and neutron filters 102 are placed symmetrically with respect to the radial and axial axis of the cylindrical body 100. The total mass of device is 3.5 kg including elements 100 to 102.

[0056] The response of this example has been calculated by Monte Carlo simulations using the GEANT4 toolkit (https://geant4.web.cern.ch/). The dose response is calibrated for the reference spectrum from a .sup.252Cf neutron source. The dosimetric response is presented in FIG. 4 and compared with similar calculations for extended and non-extended energy range commercial dosimeters. The energy response provided by the lightweight dosimeter 1 of the present example shows a satisfactory performance and similar to commercial devices.

[0057] The performance for the neutron spectra in different workplaces including nuclear reactors, transport casks, fuel processing nuclear facilities and fast neutron sources has been also studied. Reference data has been provided in Table 1 as reported by the EVIDOS project [22] and the ISO recommendation 8529-2001. Calculations for the present example are shown in FIG. 6 and compared with typical values. The lightweight neutron dosimeter 1 provides a similar performance in workplaces as heavier commercial devices.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Reference neutron spectra for workplaces including nuclear reactors, transport casks, fuel processing nuclear facilities and fast neutron sources. Average h*(10)/pSv .Math. Spectrum E/MeV cm.sup.2 BWR SAR - control rod room/EVIDOS 0.03990 37.4 CASK TN N - centre of end plate/EVIDOS 0.04049 38.6 SCK•CEN VENUS F - side shielding/EVIDOS 0.113 48.4 CASK NTL M - centre of long side/EVIDOS 0.313 185.1 Nuclear facility 3 - inside room/EVIDOS 0.639 192.9 Belgonucléare 2A - unshielded rack/EVIDOS 1.07 260 241AmBe/ISO8529-2000 4.16 391

Example 2

[0058] The lightweight neutron dosimeter according to example 1 has been modified with a removable element 104 in order to adapt the neutron sensitivity to very intense neutron fields. The removable element 104 used in this example is made of high density polyethylene material with a nominal density of 0.95 gr/cm.sup.3. The hollow cylinder has an inner diameter of 27.5 mm.

[0059] The general relationship between the covered fraction of the area of the active component 101, in example 1, and the scaling factor of the neutron sensitivity is presented in FIG. 5. For the present example, the absorbing neutron material 106 is natural cadmium which is inserted inside the hollow cylinder, in form of vertical ribbons, covering 75% of the area of the active component 101. Thus, the dosimeter sensitivity is reduced by a factor 0.46. The impact of the present example in the total mass is less than 100 gr.

[0060] Calculations of the performance, for example 2, in different workplaces are shown in FIG. 6. These calculations demonstrate that the removable element 104 is able to effectively scale the neutron sensitivity without impairing significantly the overall energy response.

Example 3

[0061] The neutron dosimeters described in examples 1 and 2 are used in charge integration mode, with suitable electronic processing modules, in order to measure pulsed neutron fields. The intrinsic response of the active component 101, described in example 1, has been experimentally characterized in a pulsed field produced by a spallation neutron source. These data has been used for derivation of the dosimeter performance in pulsed neutron fields.

[0062] The performance for pulsed neutron fields, in examples 1 and 2, are presented in FIG. 7 and compared with reference data of commercial dosimeters [23]. The lightweight neutron dosimeter of this example 3 is capable to measure pulsed neutron doses higher than 1 uSv per bunch without being impaired by the strong event pile-up. Moreover, the use of the removable element 104 for device in example 2 provides an additional flexibility in order to increase the dynamic range by a factor of 2.

[0063] In other embodiments, in this case not illustrated, the proposed removable element or plug 104 can be also used in other detectors, based on neutron moderating bodies of any shape, for compensating the intrinsic over sensitivity of the active component, for reducing the pile-up or dead-time in the counting rate. In this case, a body (or other element) of the neutron-counting detector should have a compatible configuration with the removable element 104 in order the latter being secured/attached thereto.

[0064] The present disclosure and/or some other examples have been described in the above. According to descriptions above, various alterations may be achieved. The topic of the present disclosure may be achieved in various forms and embodiments. All applications, modifications and alterations required to be protected in the claims may be within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

[0065] The scope of the present invention is defined in the following set of claims.

REFERENCES

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