Accelerator Radiation Physics for Personnel and Environmental Protection

J. Donald Cossairt, Matthew Quinn

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9780429958489
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Nuclear Physics

Choice Recommended Title, January 2020

Providing a vital resource in tune with the massive advancements in accelerator technologies that have taken place over the past 50 years, Accelerator Radiation Physics for Personnel and Environmental Protection is a comprehensive reference for accelerator designers, operators, managers, health and safety staff, and governmental regulators.

Up-to-date with the latest developments in the field, it allows readers to effectively work together to ensure radiation safety for workers, to protect the environment, and adhere to all applicable standards and regulations.

This book will also be of interest to graduate and advanced undergraduate students in physics and engineering who are studying accelerator physics.

Features:

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• Explores accelerator radiation physics and the latest results and research in a comprehensive single volume, fulfilling a need in the market for an up-to-date book on this topic

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• Contains problems designed to enhance learning

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• Addresses undergraduates with a background in math and/or science

1

Basic Radiation Physics Concepts and Units of Measurement

1.1 Introduction

Our study begins with a review of the standard terminology of radiation physics. The most important physical and radiological quantities and the system of units used to measure them are introduced. Due to its importance at most accelerators, the results of the special theory of relativity are reviewed. The energy loss by ionization along with the multiple Coulomb scattering of charged particles is also summarized.

1.2 Units of Measure and Physical Quantities

To develop an understanding of accelerator radiation physics, it is necessary to introduce the quantities of importance and the units by which they are measured. Over the years various systems of units have been employed. Presently in the United States there is a slow migration toward the use of the Système Internationale (SI) nearly universally employed elsewhere. This requires the practitioner to understand the interconnections of the units, both those “customary” in the United States and SI, due to the diversity found in both the scientific literature and government regulations. As always in technical work the wise practitioner conducts a careful unit analysis of all calculations to assure meaningful results.

Several quantities commonly used in physics are relevant to the subdiscipline of radiation physics. The unit of measure of the energy of particles is nearly always the electron volt (eV). This choice is usually much more convenient than the use of the Joule, the SI unit of energy: 1.0 eV is the kinetic energy of a particle carrying one electron’s worth of electric charge (positive or negative) after acceleration through an electric potential of one volt. It is equal to 1.602 × 10−19 Joules. Multiples in common use at accelerators are the keV (103 eV), MeV (106 eV), GeV (109 eV), and TeV (1012 eV). Nearly always in discussions of particles at accelerators, the “energy” of an accelerated particle refers to its kinetic energy, a term further defined in Section 1.6.

The number of particles that transverse a unit area per unit time is the flux density φ, where

ϕ=d2ndAdt	(1.1)

d2n is the differential number of particles crossing surface area element dA during time dt. For radiation fields where the particles move in a multitude of directions rather than in a parallel or nearly parallel beam, φ is more generally understood to be the number crossing a sphere of cross-sectional area dA per unit time. The units of flux density are cm−2 s−1 or m−2 s−1 (SI) with other units of time (e.g., hours, minutes, days, and years) often encountered in published literature. The fluence Φ, the number of particles that cross such a surface area element during some tim...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Authors
• 1. Basic Radiation Physics Concepts and Units of Measurement
• 2. General Considerations for Accelerator Radiation Fields
• 3. Prompt Radiation Fields due to Electrons
• 4. Prompt Radiation Fields due to Protons and Ions
• 5. Unique Low-Energy Prompt Radiation Phenomena
• 6. Shielding Materials and Neutron Energy Spectra
• 7. Induced Radioactivity in Accelerator Components
• 8. Induced Radioactivity in Environmental Media
• 9. Radiation Protection Instrumentation at Accelerators
• Appendix: Synopses of Common Monte Carlo Codes and Examples for High-Energy Proton-Initiated Cascades
• References
• Index