The Use of Albite as a Dosemeter in Accident Dose Reconstruction

Abstract

In retrospective accident dosimetry different minerals can be used as dosemeters. In this communication some characteristic features of the thermoluminescence (TL) signal from sodium rich feldspars (albite) are studied. The TL emission spectra from albite (NaAlSi 3 O 8 ) shows two characteristic bands peaked at 290 and 390 nm. At these bands, different glow curves presenting rather broad glow peaks are detected. The glow curves at these two wavelengths can be simultaneously recorded during the same readout by a simple device developed in this laboratory. The natural accrued dose is only observed in the high temperature side of the glow curve at 390 nm while the 290 nm glow curve, peaked at lower temperatures, only contains the contribution of young events. From the study and characterisation of the thermal stability of the 290 nm TL curve, it has been possible to obtain accurate dose values, even several months after the accidental irradiation. This determination is made directly from TL measurements without the necessity of subtracting any indirectly estimated dose.