Radiation safety ensurance in operations with neutron sources

The material of a number of reports deals with the problem of radiation safety when working with well neutron generators (WNG) in geophysical investigations and in experimental trial of automatically controlled unit for mass neutron activation analysis. Protection against a flux of fast neutrons is effected by increasing the distance between WNG and working places of the personnel. When the operator happens to work close to the generator he should be located at an angle of 90 deg to the neutron beam. Induced activity of the air does not present considerable danger with air exchange ventilation 3 times an hour. Assessment of the induced activity for the construction materials of WNG showed that activation of protection steel housing made the greatest contribution to the dose rate. Radiation hazard of a unit for neutron activation analysis was evaluated on the basis of the WWR-S nuclear reactor. The unit was found to be safe for the personnel and environment. Individual irradiation doses for the personnel constitute less than 0.2 of MPD