IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE OF THE COMBINATION PERSONAE NEUTRON DOSIMETER

The combination personal neutron dosemeter utilises two bubble detecto rs and a four element albedo thermoluminescence dosemeter to acquire a simple four interval neutron spectrum. Appropriate conversion factors may be applied to the measured fluence values to determine pertinent dosimetric quantities. The spectrometric and dosimetric accuracy of th e original design has been improved by refining the components' respon se functions and by applying a matrix algorithm for spectrum deconvolu tion. The modifications yielded a net improvement in dosimetric accura cy of 28% for the five radioisotopic spectra and 2% for the five in si tu spectra that were evaluated. The modifications and an assessment of their effectiveness in improving neutron measuring capabilities are d iscussed.