THE PRESENT STATUS OF ETCHED TRACK NEUTRON DOSIMETRY IN EUROPE AND THE CONTRIBUTION OF CENDOS AND EURADOS

A working group, set up in 1981 under the auspices of CENDOS, to coord inate European activities in etched track neutron dosimetry remained a ctive until 1994, in its later years under the auspices of EURADOS. Th e group facilitated the interchange of technical ideas amongst Europea n groups, promoted the production of a summary report in 1984, organis ed a workshop in 1987, and arranged a joint irradiation with protons a nd five joint irradiations with neutrons over the period 1984-1992. So me key aspects of the work of the group are discussed as is the curren t status of etched track neutron dosimetry in Europe. The available sy stems and their dosimetric characteristics are considered. The systems are based on both chemical and electrochemical etching and the charac teristics discussed include linearity, energy and angular dependence o f response, lowest detectable doses and reproducibility. Future trends and research needs are identified.