We have developed advanced diagnostics that can be used in our radiation facilities to support applications and to validate nuclear data. One example is the development of diamond and GaAs-based photoconducting detectors (PCD) used to capture the transient radiation in pulses generated in reactor and accelerator radiation environments. These diagnostics have been used to: a) validate the early-time ionizing dose contribution from the photon field in reactor pulses, separating the prompt fission n/g environment from the ionization produced by delayed fission gammas; b) model the mechanical ringing in enriched 235U fuel plates in the SPR-III fast burst reactor pulse. Another example is the use of “track structure theory”-informed models for the response of various dosimeters. We then validated the consistency of various dosimeters in mixed n/γ radiation fields using CaF2:Mn TLDs, alanine ESR signals, diamond PCDs, silicon calorimeters, and activation-based neutron monitor foils.
Contact: D. W. Vehar
Publications
- D.W. Vehar, et al., “Impact of Manganese Doping Concentration on Glow Curve Analysis pf CaF2:Mn Thermoluminescent Dosimeters”, SAND2019-11801A
- Paper accepted at ISRD17 conference
- T. Quirk, et al., “Determination of Co58 Metastable Fraction from Nickels Fielded in ACRR Environments”, SAND2019-11830A
- B. D. Hehr, E. J. Parma, C. D. Peters, G. E. Naranjo, and S. M. Luker, "Characterization of Novel Calorimeters in the Annular Core Research Reactor", Eur. Phys. J. WoC, vol. 106, 01001, (2016).