A systematical approach to personnel neutron monitoring

NTA film and albedo detectors represent the major portion of personnel dosimeters now used for occupational neutron monitoring. However, recent attention to the spectral response of these systems has demonstrated the need for detectors that have a better match to the fields being monitored. Recent developments in direct recoil track with dosimeters present some intriguing alternatives, and careful use of 237Np fission fragment detectors offers the advantage of a good dose equivalent spectral match. A number of other neutron detectors have been investigated but each appears to have one or more deficiences. Such detection methods include a super heated drop detector investigated at Yale University, lyo-luminescence dosimetry that has been investigated by a number of laboratories, the development of TLD's having hydrogenous material built into their crystals, TSEE, and others. Techniques have also been developed and tested, using available portable survey instruments, that significantly improve the quality of dosimeter interpretation. (U.K.)