Alanine blends for ESR measurements of thermal neutron fluence in a mixed radiation field

Abstract

In this paper, the results of a study on the electron spin resonance (ESR) dosimetry to measure thermal neutron fluence in a mixed radiation field (neutron and photons) are presented. The ESR responses of alanine dosemeters with different additives are compared. In particular, the 10 B-acid boric and the Gd-oxide were chosen to enhance the sensitivity of alanine dosemeters to thermal neutrons. Irradiations were carried out inside the thermal column of the TAPIRO reactor of the ENEA center, Casaccia Rome. The main results are a greater neutron sensitivity and a smaller lowest detectable fluence for the dosemeters with gadolinium than for dosemeters of alanine with 10 B, which is well known to be much more sensitive to thermal neutrons than simple alanine.

ESR response of watch glasses to proton beams

“…Various materials have been studied by means of ESR technique for dosimetric purposes, such as alanine, ammonium tartrate and tooth enamel [9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

ESR response of watch glasses to neutron irradiation

“…We have calculated the lowest detectable fluence (LDF) as th fluence producing an EPR signal equal to the mean signal of a not irradiated sample plus three standard deviations [15,18,19]. The equation of the best fit line drawn in Table 1 allows to estimate a value of lowest detectable fluence of about 5 Â 10 10 cm À2 for this 241 Am-Be source.…”

“…This is why, through the use of different dosimetric techniques, the response of various materials has been studied also to various types of radiation [5]. Among the techniques of physical dosimetry, Electron Spin Resonance (EPR), which is extensively adopted for medical and industrial dosimetry and for food control and for cultural heritage [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22], has allowed to highlight the dosimetric properties of various types of biological and inorganic materials [23]. In particular, EPR dosimetry has obtained important results on tooth enamel reaching detection limits in the 20-200 mGy dose range [23,24].…”

ESR dosimeter material properties of phenols compound exposed to radiotherapeutic electron beams

“…Up to now, most studies were focused on L À a-alanine [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39]. At the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the ESR/alanine dosimetry has become a standard technique to measure high radiation doses (0.1-100 kGy) and is routinely used for transfer dosimetry [40].…”