SPECIFICATION OF FAST-NEUTRON RADIATION QUALITY FROM CELL-TRANSFORMATION DATA

Experimental data for neoplastic transformation of C3H 10T1/2 cells me asured at Casaccia after neutron and X ray irradiation have been used to determine neutron RBE values for the RSV-Tapiro fast reactor energy spectrum and for monoenergetic neutrons of 0.5, 1, and 6 MeV. In para llel, microdosimetric measurements have provided the actual lineal ene rgy distributions and related mean parameters for the reactor radiatio n. From these experiments, values of the neutron quality factor were d erived for the reactor neutron energy spectrum and, in turn, for the o ther neutron energies tested. A mathematical expression giving a smoot h dependence on neutron energy was also determined for the effective q uality factor in the entire energy range examined, and the results hav e been compared with other proposals.