A microcomputer-based portable radiation survey instrument for measuring pulsed neutron dose rates

A special instrument is required to measure pulsed neutron dose rates in cases where the detector resolving time would result in significant count losses. Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory has developed a portable radiation survey instrument that uses silver foil activation to measure dose equivalent rates from pulsed neutrons. This article describes an instrument with a similar moderator and detector configuration but one in which digital processing in a one-chip microcomputer replaces the analog weighting and averaging circuitry. The result is a simpler, more versatile, and less expensive instrument that is easier to calibrate and that can measure neutron dose equivalent rates of 1-300 mrem/hr from neutron pulses of any duration. (author)