Abstract
The establishment and testing of a whole body counter would benefit the Texas A&M Nuclear Science Center (NSC) Health Physics staff and workers by allowing better assessment of a worker's internal exposure. Presently NSC relies exclusively on estimating worker internal exposures through analysis of air samples. With ready access to a whole body counter, emergency and routine bioassay measurements can be made for such exposures. All the associated counter electronic equipment had to be initially tested and repairs and replacements made so that the lung and GI detectors of the counter were operational. The major route for a potential intake at the NSC is inhalation. With this in mind, the focus of this study was to bring the lung detector into operation and to initially test that part of the counter. The American National Standard Institute (ANSI) in cooperation with the Health Physics Society published a standard, N 1 3.3 0 "Performance Criteria for Radiobioassay," that provides testing and operational criteria for radiobioassay systems and programs. This standard was used as a guide to initially test the lung detector for adequate performance and provide a basis for estimating minimum detectable activities (MDAs). SeveralsourceswerefabricatedusingguidanceinNI3.30tocalibratea ndtest the lung detector. At the conclusion of this project, the lung detector was tested and shown to be capable of performing to the strict NI3.30 criteria. The lung detector was able to detect small fractions of the Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations Part 20 Annual Limits of Intake (ALIs). With additional effort, the complete system (all three Nal detectors) could be made operational and become a valued tool for the NSC Health Physics group.
Baca, Bernadette Doris (1997). Establishment and testing of a whole body counter for the Texas A&M Nuclear Science Center. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -1997 -THESIS -B33.