[ RadSafe ] Fwd: Pilots UV-A radiation exposure
Ted de Castro
tdc at xrayted.com
Sun Dec 28 21:26:57 CST 2014
We did several flights - mostly in a military transport but at least two
in a U2 (of course the instruments flew the U2 - not us - not much space
in a U2!!)!
We used them many many times around the accelerators at LBL (ground
based) but once we proved the technology - by bonner sphere comparison
- we mainly used what we called the "proportional energy" counter ----
described in Pattterson and Thomas --- and a flux monitor (moderated
BF3). Then eventually we verified the high energy Andersson Braun and
deployed them all around the lab - in close and at the perimeter.
One day at the Super Hilac we compared the 3 inch 9 inch bonner sphere
method with the Proportional Energy and the extended Andersson Braun -
and of course the full bonner sphere array, in cooperation with Dale
Hankins LLNL (he did the 3 inch 9 inch). High energy AB won, then PE
and lastly 3inch/9inch.
We also did plastic scintillator activation but some one else did that
(Allen R. Smith) and so I don't have much details on that.
On 12/28/2014 7:14 PM, JPreisig at aol.com wrote:
> xrayted,
>
> Doing 7 Bonner detectors on the ground and activating a plastic
> scintillator on the ground is also a challenge. detectors = bare, Cd-covered,
> 3 inch, 5 inch, 8 inch, 10 inch, 12 inch plus plastic scintillator.
> But it can be done.
>
> Joe Preisig
>
>
>
>
> In a message dated 12/28/2014 10:08:57 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> tdc at xrayted.com writes:
>
> Flying a whole set of Bonner Spheres is not a trivial matter - been
> there done that! With McCaslin in fact!
>
> For just dose - an Andersson Braun detector would be easiest - although
> not light weight - especially the extended high energy version.
>
> On 12/22/2014 7:49 PM, JPreisig at aol.com wrote:
>> Joe,
>>
>> I guess there's an Ed Bramlitt. I also believe there's a
> Bramblett,
>> Ewing and Bonner --- inventors of Bonner Neutron Spectrometry. See
>> Patterson and Thomas's Accelerator Health Physics. See also Cossairt's
>> Accelerator Health Physics course notes/manual.
>>
>> Joe Preisig
>>
>> PS Badges are OK in airplanes....but one really needs a Neutron
>> Spectrometer (for thermal neutron to 20 MeV energies) and a plastic
> scintillator
>> (n,2n reaction) for 20 MeV to 400 MeV neutrons. Scintillator see the
> back end
>> of Patterson and Thomas's Accelerator Health Physics book (McCaslins's
>> plastic scintillator lab exercise).
>>
>>
>>
>> a message dated 12/21/2014 2:36:32 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
>> jjshonka at shonka.com writes:
>>
>> Hans
>>
>>
>> I am quite interested in your badge results, and what would be a
>> significant radiation exposure. You have an unusually high number of
> frequent flyer
>> miles. If we assume total neutron plus gamma of 500 mrem (5 mSv) per
>> 100,000 frequent flyer miles or per year, and 15 rem over a 3 million
> mile or
>> 30 year career, I have the following questions: (1) were your badges
>> neutron sensitive (80% of GCR dose is due to neutrons)?; (2) how often
> were
>> they read out (quarterly, monthly?); (3) were many of your miles extra
> credits
>> rather than actual miles flown (e.g. first class gets 2X miles)?; (4)
> were
>> your miles collected evenly or did you travel more extensively during
> some
>> fraction of your career?; (5) what would you say the reporting limit or
>> detection limit of the badges was (e.g any reading less than 10 mrem
> (0.1
>> mSv) reported as 0)?; (6) were your badges used for work and did they
> have
>> measureable exposure from sources other than background plus your
> flight time?
>>
>> Ed Bramlitt and I have a note in the January, 2015 issue of Health
> Physics
>> that discusses intermittent sources of exposure to aircrew, including
>> solar proton, neutron and gamma events and terrestrial gamma flashes.
> About 1%
>> of the 1200 Terrestrial gamma flashes that are large enough to be
> detected
>> by satellites that occur each day (world-wide) approach estimated doses
> in
>> aircraft of up to 30 to 100 mSv, for example. Although rare, these
> likely
>> would have been observed on your badge. The more numerous dose of 10
> mSv
>> or greater (my estimate of the lower limit of detection for the GBM
>> detectors on board FERMI) might also be detectable, however, presumably
> even more
>> numerous but undetectable lower dose TGFs (below 10 mSv) might not be
>> detected. I am interested in how large one of those events could have
> been
>> without your noticing an unusual reading.
>>
>>
>> I assume the background control badges were at your place of
> employment.
>> Finally, (7) For example, if you typically had 12 flights per quarter,
> and
>> one of those flights encountered a source that provided 1,000 mrem (10
> mSv)
>> 80 % of which was neutron and only 200 mrem (2 mSv) was gamma, would you
>> have noticed it as an unusual badge reading?
>>
>>
>> Joe Shonka
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Sent from Windows Mail
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> From: Hans J Wiegert
>> Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2014 7:18 PM
>> To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> For what it's worth.
>>
>> I am not so sure about this. During my career I traveled almost 3
> million
>> miles on various airlines with my seating preference being a window
> seat.
>> Never noticed anything like this. As a side note, on almost all of those
>> trips I carried a film badge on me and in recent years the Landauer
> Luxel
>> OSL badge. The badges never showed any significant radiation exposure.
>>
>> Best Regards,
>>
>> Hans
>>
>> *Retirement is, when the only day you have to set your alarm clock is
>> Sunday - so you are not late for church!*
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 18, 2014 at 2:19 PM, Chris Alston <achris1999 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>> This is easy to believe. I, as a passenger, have gotten a pretty good
>>> tan, mostly on one side of my face, on just one trip from Seattle to
>>> San Diego. Fortunately, I had a window seat on the other side of the
>>> aircraft (DC-9 family, for whatever it is worth) on the northward
>>> return flight, to "touch up" the other side of my face, else I would
>>> have looked like that arch-criminal in the Batman comics.
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>> cja
>>>
>>> On Wed, Dec 17, 2014 at 8:36 PM, ROY HERREN <royherren2005 at yahoo.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>> Hopefully the following isn't too "off topic", given that the article
>> is
>>> dealing with UV-A radiation.
>>>
>>
> http://media.jamanetwork.com/news-item/airline-pilots-can-be-exposed-to-cockpit-radiation-similar-to-tanning-beds/
>>> > Airline Pilots Can Be Exposed to Cockpit Radiation Similar to
> Tanning
>>> Beds
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