Development of a compact detector for measurement of alpha contamination in piping

IF 1.6 3区物理与天体物理 Q2 NUCLEAR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Radiation Measurements Pub Date : 2025-02-25 DOI:10.1016/j.radmeas.2025.107414

Yuki Morishita , Léo Peschet , Tsutomu Yamada , Takamasa Nakasone , Marina Kanno , Miyuki Sasaki , Yukihisa Sanada , Tatsuo Torii

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Abstract

In the decommissioning nuclear facilities, it is crucial to inspect piping for contamination to prevent worker exposure to alpha-emitting nuclides. Traditional methods using gamma rays and neutrons are inadequate for detecting small amounts of alpha nuclides due to the short range (approximately 4 cm) of alpha particles in air. To address this, we developed a compact detector capable of distinguishing between alpha particles for direct measurement within pipes. This detector, comprising a ZnS(Ag) scintillator for alpha particles and a plastic scintillator for beta particles, was coupled to a small photomultiplier tube. The system demonstrated high accuracy in differentiating between alpha and beta radiation through pulse shape discrimination (PSD). Monte Carlo simulations and empirical measurements confirmed the detector's effectiveness, achieving a 51.3% detection efficiency for alpha particles with negligible sensitivity to beta and gamma radiation. This innovation presents a significant advancement for direct alpha contamination measurement in environments with high beta and gamma backgrounds, such as the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant decommissioning site.

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用于测量管道中α污染的紧凑型探测器的研制

在退役的核设施中，检查管道是否受到污染，以防止工人接触到释放α的核素，这是至关重要的。由于空气中α粒子的距离很短（约4厘米），使用伽马射线和中子的传统方法不足以检测少量的α核素。为了解决这个问题，我们开发了一种紧凑的探测器，能够区分管道内直接测量的α粒子。该探测器由一个用于α粒子的ZnS（Ag）闪烁体和一个用于β粒子的塑料闪烁体组成，与一个小型光电倍增管相连。该系统通过脉冲形状识别（PSD）对α和β辐射进行了高精度的区分。蒙特卡罗模拟和经验测量证实了探测器的有效性，对α粒子的探测效率达到51.3%，对β和γ辐射的灵敏度可以忽略不计。这一创新在具有高背景的环境（如福岛第一核电站退役场地）中直接测量α污染方面取得了重大进展。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Radiation Measurements 工程技术-核科学技术

CiteScore

4.10

自引率

20.00%

发文量

116

审稿时长

48 days

期刊介绍： The journal seeks to publish papers that present advances in the following areas: spontaneous and stimulated luminescence (including scintillating materials, thermoluminescence, and optically stimulated luminescence); electron spin resonance of natural and synthetic materials; the physics, design and performance of radiation measurements (including computational modelling such as electronic transport simulations); the novel basic aspects of radiation measurement in medical physics. Studies of energy-transfer phenomena, track physics and microdosimetry are also of interest to the journal. Applications relevant to the journal, particularly where they present novel detection techniques, novel analytical approaches or novel materials, include: personal dosimetry (including dosimetric quantities, active/electronic and passive monitoring techniques for photon, neutron and charged-particle exposures); environmental dosimetry (including methodological advances and predictive models related to radon, but generally excluding local survey results of radon where the main aim is to establish the radiation risk to populations); cosmic and high-energy radiation measurements (including dosimetry, space radiation effects, and single event upsets); dosimetry-based archaeological and Quaternary dating; dosimetry-based approaches to thermochronometry; accident and retrospective dosimetry (including activation detectors), and dosimetry and measurements related to medical applications.