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Measuring site for free-field irradiation

Early warning systems must be able to reliably detect small increases in the area dose rate and realize them with the highest possible temporal resolution. Ideally, additional information about the causative nuclides should also be obtained.

For the investigation of the performance of modern dosemeters and spectrometers, PTB uses a device for simulating a radioactive cloud passing by.

The measuring site for free-field irradiation offers the possibility to test these properties.

The dosemeters to be tested are installed at a fixed distance around the irradiation facility. Different area dose rates (10 nSv/h - 400 nSv/h) are generated with different reference sources and the behavior of the dosemeters is tested for changes in the area dose rate and for the response of different nuclides. Sources of different nuclides are automatically taken one by one from a source magazine and moved through a tube of lead cylinders with varying wall thicknesses. The changes are not visible to the customer and are not compared with the reference values until the measurements have been completed.

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