GAMMA RAY SPECTROMETER/DOSIMETER

THIS RESEARCH PROPOSAL DEALS WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF A GAMMARAY DOSIMETER THAT IS BASED ON A SOLID STATE DETECTOR AND A MICROPROCERSSOR AND WILL DISPLAY THE DOSE AND DOSE RATE OF THE SKIN, AT A GIVEN DEPTH OF THE BODY OR THE BODY-AVERAGED DOSE, BY MEASURING THE SPECTRUM OF A RADIATION FIELD AND CALCULATING THE TISSUE EQAUIVALENT DOSE OF INTEREST. THE DETECTOR IS A PROPRIETARY DESIGN FEATURES OF THE PROPRIETARYDETECTOR THIS RESEARCH PROPOSAL DEALS WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF A GAMMARAY DOSIMETER THAT IS BASED ON A SOLID STATE DETECTOR AND A MICROPROCESSOR AND WILL DISPLAY THE DOSE AND DOSE RATE OF THE SKIN, AT A GIVEN DEPTH OF THE BODY OR THE BODY-AVERAGED DOSE, BY MEASURING THE SPECTRUM OF A RADIATION FIELD AND CALCULATING THE TISSUE EQUIVALENT DOSE OF INTEREST. THE DETECTOR IS A PROPRIETARY DESIGN OF THE DIFFERENTIAL ABSORPTION SPECTROMETER (DAS) TYPE. THE DESIGN FEATURES OF THE PROPRIETARY DETECTOR (THICKNESS AND ARRANGEMENTS OF THE STACKED ABSORBERS AND DETECTORS) ARE SUCH THAT THE HIGH-ENERGY RESPONSE LIMITATIONS OF COMMON DAS'S ARE OVERCOME, AND TISSUE EQUIVALENT DOSES AND DOSE RATES CAN BE MEASURED FOR ENERGIES OF UP TO 10 MEV. THE OPERATING RANGE OF THE NEW DOSIMETER IS EXPECTED TO BE BETWEEN 10 MICRORADS (TISSUE)/HOUR AND 1000 RADS(TISSUE)/HOUR. IN PHASE 1, THE FEASIBILITY OF THE DOSIMETER CONCEPT WILL BEDEMONSTRATED BY A BREADBOARD MODEL CONNECTED TO A PORTABLE (LUNCHBOX SIZED) MICRO-COMPUTER. THE SIZE OF THE DOSIMETER WILL BE REDUCED TO ABOUT THE SIZE OF A PACK OF CIGARETS IN PHASE 2. DOSIMETERS OF THIS SIZE AND PERFORMANCE WILL BE USEFULL SITE MONITORS AND PERSONNEL PROTECTORS FOR NORMAL WORKING CONDITIONS AS WELL AS IN ACCIDENTS