Response of neutron dosemeters in radiation protection environments: An investigation of techniques to improve estimates of dose equivalent

The response of practicable neutron dosemeters for routine use generally does not match the conversion function from fluence for radiation protection quantities such as the ambient dose equivalent. As a consequence, significant errors may be encountered when monitoring in a neutron energy spectrum different from that in which the dosemeter was calibrated, which is almost inevitably the case. A database of neutron energy spectra, detector response functions, and dosimetric conversion factors has been developed, and has been used to investigate the extent of this problem. The paper examines various ways of improving dosemeter response by 'ranking' spectra and deriving correction factors based upon this ordering. In the case of area monitoring, a combination of two responses (e.g. a rem meter and TEPC) may serve to improve the measurement of dose equivalent.