1983 ORNL intercomparison of personnel neutron and gamma dosemeters

The Ninth Personnel Dosimetry Intercomparison Study was conducted during April 19-21, 1983, at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Dosemeters from 33 participating agencies were mounted on water-filled polyethylene elliptical phantoms and exposed to a range of low-level dose equivalents (0.02-0.45 mSv gamma and 0.49-11.14 mSv neutron) which could be encountered during routine personnel monitoring in mixed radiation fields. The Health Physics Research Reactor served as the radiation source for six separate exposures which used four different shield conditions: unshielded and shielded with steel, steel/concrete, and concrete. Results of the neutron measurements indicate that it is not unusual for dose equivalent estimates made under the same conditions by different agencies to differ by more than a factor of 2. Albedo systems, which were the most popular neutron monitors in this study, provided the most accurate results with CR-39 recoil track being least accurate. Track and film neutron systems exhibited problems providing measurable indication of neutron exposure at dose equivalents of about 0.50 mSv. Gamma measurements showed that TLD and film systems generally overestimated dose equivalents in the mixed radiation fields with film exhibiting significant problems providing measurable indication of gamma exposure at dose equivalents lower than about 0.15 mSv. Under the conditions of this study in which exposures were carefully controlled and participants had information concerning exposure conditions and incident spectra prior to dosemeter analysis, only slightly more than half of all neutron and gamma dose equivalent estimates met regulatory accuracy standards relative to reference values. These results indicate that continued improvement of mixed-field personnel dosimetry is required by many participating organizations. 15 references, 30 tables