A status report on in-pile dosimetry in the United Kingdom

This brief report will review some problems of in-pile dosimetry currently being examined in the United Kingdom under the two main headings of: measurement of the reactor radiations, including fluence, fluence rates and spectrum characterizations; measurement of absorbed dose in materials by reactor radiations. These divisions are convenient not only because of the widely different techniques necessary for the assessment of the various parameters but also because they underline the basic difference between absorbed dose and exposure. Confusion between these two items has long resulted in misunderstandings in radiological research, but a substantial measure of agreement has recently been reached by the International Commission on Radiological Units and Measurements (ICRU) and it is hoped that their findings may be accepted by reactor physicists. Almost all the work at present being conducted in the United Kingdom is done at the various establishments of the Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) since almost all the United Kingdom research reactors are operated by the (UKAEA). The necessity for standardization of techniques and the use of generally acceptable values for important constants (cross-sections, etc.) is recognized as a matter for urgent consideration, and under each heading there is given some indication of progress which has already been made towards this end