Some advances in solid-state fast neutron dosimetry

Progress which has been made at ORNL in solid-state fast neutron dosimetry since the last review on this subjects was presented in 1972 is summarized with emphasis on the following topics: further studies on the directional and energy response characteristics of TSEE detectors based on ceramic BeO covered with hydrogenous radiators, and on a new method for extending the dynamic range of gas-flow TSEE readers by two orders of magnitude; experiments with highly dispersed and sensitive TLD phosphors permanently embedded in high-melting organic radiators such as p-sexiphenyl; investigations on the automatic spark counting of neutron-induced recoil particle tracks in thin polymer foils after extending etching; and studies concerning the feasibility of intercomparisons by mail of neutron sources with an accuracy of better than +-5% in the approximately 50-500 rad range by using fission fragment track etching. The relative merits and disadvantages of the various methods, for personnel monitoring and other applications, are discussed briefly, and a few other promising approaches are mentioned