New analytical approach for neutron beam-hardening correction

In neutron imaging, the beam-hardening effect has a significant effect on quantitative and qualitative image interpretation. This study aims to propose a linearization method for beam-hardening correction. The proposed method is based on a new analytical approach establishing the attenuation coefficient as a function of neutron energy. Spectrum energy shift due to beam hardening is studied on the basis of Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) simulated data and the analytical data. Good agreement between MCNP and analytical values has been found. Indeed, the beam-hardening effect is well supported in the proposed method. A correction procedure is developed to correct the errors of beam-hardening effect in neutron transmission, and therefore for projection data correction. The effectiveness of this procedure is determined by its application in correcting reconstructed images.

Natural radionuclide concentrations in two phosphate ores of east Algeria

Ore is considered as an important source of many elements such as the iron, phosphorus, and uranium. Concerning the natural radionuclides, their concentrations vary from an ore to other depending on the chemical composition of each site. In this work, two phosphate ores found in East of Algeria have been chosen to assess the activity concentration of natural radionuclides represented mainly by three natural radioactive series (238)U, (235)U and (232)Th, and the primordial radionuclide (40)K where they were determined using ultra-low background, high-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy. The measured activity concentrations of radioactive series ranged from 6.2 +/- 0.4 to 733 +/- 33 Bq.kg(-1) for the (232)Th series, from 249 +/- 16 to 547 +/- 39 Bq.kg(-1) for the (238)U series, around 24.2 +/- 2.5 Bq.kg(-1) for the (235)U series, and from 1.4 +/- 0.2 to 6.7 +/- 0.7 Bq.kg(-1) for (40)K. To assess exposure to gamma radiation in the two ores, from specific activities of (232)Th, (40)K and (226)Ra, three indexes were determined: Radium equivalent (Ra(eq)), external and internal hazard indexes (H(ex) and H(in)), their values ranged from 831 +/- 8 to 1298 +/- 14 Bq.kg(-1) for Ra(eq), from 2.2 +/- 0.4 to 3.5 +/- 0.7 Bq.kg(-1) for H(ex), and from 4.2 +/- 0.7 to 4.5 +/- 0.7 Bq.kg(-1) for H(in).

Comparison of imaging plates with track detectors for fast-neutron dosimetry

Imaging plate (IP) radiation detectors are widely used in industrial radiography, medical imagery and autoradiography. When an IP is exposed to ionising radiation, some of the energy is absorbed to form a latent image. The energy stored, which is proportional to the dose received, can be liberated by a selective optical stimulation and collected to reconstitute the distribution of the ionising radiation on the IP. In this work, IPs for use in fast-neutron measurements are characterised. The response of our IP dosemeters in conjunction with their reading system was found to be linear in dose between 75 microSv and 10 mSv. This performance is compared with those of dosemeters based on the plastic track detectors PN3 and CR-39.