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Modernization and development of the CORADOS (COsmic RAdiation DOSimetry Site) reference measurement site

Categories:
  • Division 6
  • News from the annual report
  • Metrology for Society
  • Umwelt und Klima
23.12.2021

CORADOS, the secondary cosmic radiation reference measurement site that is located at a lake in the northwest of Braunschweig, Germany, has been equipped with two ultra‑modern gamma‑radiation detectors that are monitoring the natural environmental radiation 24 hours a day. The measurement data are sent hourly via a mobile network to a data management platform for environmental monitoring.

In order to characterize the response of dosemeters to secondary cosmic radiation, Department 6.3 operates a reference measurement site for cosmic rays (CORADOS). CORADOS is a floating platform installed on a lake that is located about 15 km from PTB. The platform is anchored at a location where the water is about 3 m deep and the distance to the nearest shore is larger than 100 m.

The influence of the terrestrial ionizing radiation component from the radionuclides of the lakebed and of the shore is almost negligible. The dosemeters on the platform are therefore almost only exposed to the secondary cosmic radiation. The main goal of establishing this reference measurement site was to characterize the behavior of dosemeters with respect to the ambient dose equivalent rate of the secondary cosmic radiation at ground level. Previously, ionizing radiation at this reference site was measured with a Geiger‑Müller off‑line system, which was read annually; this year, the reference measurement site was modernized with two new systems: a spectro‑dosemeter based on a CeBr3 scintillator crystal and a GammaTRACER XL2 based on three Geiger‑Müller counter tubes. The measurement platform has an infrastructure that was also installed recently, and this enables the permanent voltage supply of the measurement devices and the data transfer to PTB’s DMP via the mobile network.

The reference measurement data collected by the DMP are in this way supplemented with important data sets of the secondary cosmic radiation component. All in all, the reference measurement data collected by the DMP provide, among other things, a fundamental contribution to the quality assurance of dosimetric monitoring and early warning systems, which are examined and calibrated by PTB. A centralized DMP is not only essential for this examination of dosimetry systems. The data collected here can also be included by external institutions for early warnings in the case of unexpectedly large dose rate levels in the environment (for example in the case of a radiological incident).

Website: https://www.ptb.de/cms/en/ptb/fachabteilungen/abt6/fb-63/632-dosimetrie-bei-niedrigen-dosisleistungen.html

Contacts

Opens local program for sending emailU. Stolzenberg, Department 6.3, Working Group 6.32

Opens local program for sending emailF. Krasniqi, Department 6.3, Working Group 6.32

Contact

Head of Press and Information Office

Dr. Dr. Jens Simon

Phone: +49 531 592-3005
Email:
jens.simon(at)ptb.de

Address

Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt
Bundesallee 100
38116 Braunschweig