Radiological importance of neutrons within the nuclear power industry.

Abstract

Several locations around nuclear power stations possess neutron levels contributing a significant fraction of the total dose equivalent received by personnel, the significance of which will become more acute with the trend towards higher burn-up of uranium-based fuels, the use of plutonium-based fuels and any upward movement of the neutron quality factors. The need to control exposure of personnel to neutrons will therefore become increasingly important and, since a large proportion of the dose equivalent results from neutrons at intermediate energies (thermal to 0. 1 MeV), there is a need to (a) provide suitable mono-energetic neutron sources necessary for instrument and dosemeter calibration; (b) develop improved personal dosemeters; and (c) obtain reliable data on the relative biological effectiveness for neutrons at low doses and dose rates over a wide range of neutron energies.