GAMMA RADIATION FROM DEPOSITED FISSION PRODUCTS

237

angular distribution of the primary photons and the total dose rate expected per unit source concentration can then be calculated for infinitehalf-space geometry, using the best available decay schemes. The response of the detector in terms of estimated peak counts per unit flux
is obtained in the laboratory as a function of angle by using standard
monoenergetic gamma sources, and a simple calculation then provides

a conversion factor from estimated peak counts to dose rate”!
The second method of obtaining component dose rates is to relate

the total detector response in bands bracketing the three peaks characterizing the major natural emitters by means of three simultaneous
equations. This is similar to the technique used in many laboratory

spectrometric analyses except that, instead of determining the coeffi-

cients of these equations by calibration with standard sources, which
is not practical for our case of an infinite-half-space geometry, we obtained them by applying regression analyses to a large number of
spectra, using the dose-rate predictions from the absorption peak

areas.’ This band method is more amenable to routine data-analysis

procedures and also provides more precise individual dose-rate determinations,

CALIBRATION VERIFICATION
The analysis of spectra by these methods provides the type of in-

formation shown in Table 1. The particular locations were chosen at
random to demonstrate the consistency of our results over a wide
range of natural, fallout, and cosmic dose rates. The consistency obtained is in fact the ultimate justification for our procedures. The column labeled “Spectrometer” is the total terrestrial gamma dose rate
inferred from the spectra by dividing the total energy in the spectra
between 0.15 and 3.4 Mev by an empirically determined conversion
Table 1—-REPRESENTATIVE SURVEY RESULTS
Dose rates, ur/hr
Total gamma

Natural gamma

Fallout gamma

Date

Ion
chamber

Spectrometer

K

U_

Th

1

2

Cosmic
ray

Memphis,

Apr. 1963

11.8

11.2

1.8

1.7

2.7

5.0

5.3

3.5

Lake Charles,

Apr. 1963

8.4

8.6

0.7

0.9

1.9

5.2

5.0

3.4

Bonnydoon,
Calif.
Denver,

Oct. 1962
Oct. 1962
Oct. 1963

13.6
12.8
16.3

13.4
12.7
15.4

8.5
7.7
4.0

2.2
2.5
2.5

1.9
1.5
8.7

1.8
12
0.6

0.9
1.0
0.6

4.0
4.0
6.3

5.3

1.0

1.3

0.4

2.9

2.6

3.6

12.7
14.9

3.8
3.5
3.0

1.1
2,1
1.5

5,0
5.2
4.8

2.9
3.5

2.8
4.1
1.7

3.6
3.5
3.6

Town
Tenn.
La.

Colo,

Clallam Bay,

Wash.
North Conway,
N. H.

Oct. 1962
Aug, 1962
Sept. 1963

May 1964

13.2

10.7

11.0

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