A new dosimeter calibration laboratory at ORNL

The Dosimetry Applications Research (DOSAR) group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has established a national and international program for dosimetry testing and intercomparison. Under this program there have been twenty-two nuclear accident dosimeter intercomparisons conducted with a frequency of about one each a year. The primary tool used in these studies as well as in a wide variety of biological experiments, personnel training programs, and other nuclear and radiation related work has been the Health Physics Research Reactor. Currently the availability of the reactor is uncertain, and it is desirable to have alternate reliable radiation sources to continue an increasing workload. An important part of the research done at DOSAR involves calibrating several different types of equipment with known sources traceable to the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). These calibrations, although done with sufficient accuracy using available sources, were conducted in a casual manner and often resulted in undesirable exposures to the researchers and posed a general inconvenience to the smooth operation of the facility. Although extensive laboratory space and storage was available at the facility, there were no facilities for a permanent irradiation setup that could house all the neutron, gamma, and beta sources necessary