NBS (National Bureau of Standards) measurement services: calibration of beta-particle radiation instrumentation and sources. Final report

In a project funded jointly by the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), NBS has developed a calibration facility for beta-particle instruments and sources used in radiation-protection dosimetry. Central to this facility are beta particle and nearly monoenergetic electron beams characterized in terms of absorbed-dose rates to water and in terms of pulse-height distributions of beta-particle and electron spectra. The documentation utilizes material previously published or otherwise disseminated by members of the staff of the Ionizing Radiation Division of the Center for Radiation Research (CRR) of the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). After a description of the facility and the procedures, results are given of (1) studies that led to the determination of absorbed-dose rates to water for the NBS beta-particle and nearly monoenergetic electron beams, (2) studies of the influence of source configuration on beta-particle and nearly monoenergetic electron spectra