Evaluation of maximum permissible dose of 14 MeV neutrons

The maximum exposure of fast neutrons (10-30 MeV) for a 40-hour working week has been listed as 10m/cm2 sec. Considering the interaction of 14 MeV neutrons with the main constituent element of the human body (H, C, N, O, Na, Mg, P, S, Cl, K, Ca and Fe), the corresponding maximum permissible dose equivalent (DE) has been computed to be 7.2 rem/year. The separate contributions of elastic, inelastic processes and heavy nuclear recoils are tabulated. (auth.)