A preliminary study of the performance of a novel design of multi-element tissue equivalent proportional counter for neutron monitoring

作者：Waker A J^*; Aslam

来源：Radiation Measurements, 2010, 45(10): 1309-1312.

DOI：10.1016/j.radmeas.2010.05.025

• TEPC
• Multi-element TEPC
• Mixed neutron-photon field dosimetry
• Sensitivity
• Precision
• Cylindrical sampling geometry
• Low energy neutrons

In this study we investigate the dependence of the sensitivity of a TEPC upon its surface area and demonstrate that a compact multi-element tissue equivalent proportional counter (METEPC) has a counting sensitivity comparable to a commercially available 12.7 cm (5 inch) diameter spherical TEPC. The METEPC incorporates 61 cylindrical counting volumes of internal diameter of 0.5 cm and height 5 cm, machined in a single block of tissue equivalent plastic. It is the simplest design available in the multi-element geometrical configuration and is approximately nine times smaller in volume than that of a conventional 12.7 cm spherical TEPC. The neutron sensitivity of commercially available TEPCs and the METEPC simulating a 2 mu m tissue site size was examined experimentally using the McMaster University 1.25 MV double stage Tandetron accelerator, which produces low energy neutrons via the (7)Li(p, n)(7)Be reaction. The mean energy of the neutron beams produced ranged from 34 key to 354 key. The results presented in this study suggests that the compact METEPC is able to produce measurements in low dose rate radiation environments with the same precision in a given length of time as could be obtained with a 12.7 cm diameter spherical TEPC.

• 出版日期2010-12