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Development of a new detector system to evaluate position and activity of plutonium particles in nasal cavities

鼻腔内プルトニウム粒子の位置と放射能の評価が可能な新型検出器の開発

森下 祐樹   ; 山本 誠一*; 百瀬 琢麿  ; 金子 純一* ; 根本 典雄

Morishita, Yuki; Yamamoto, Seiichi*; Momose, Takumaro; Kaneko, Junichi*; Nemoto, Norio

二酸化プルトニウム(PuO$$_{2}$$)は高速炉に用いるMOX燃料の製造に用いられる。PuO$$_{2}$$を包蔵するグローブボックスに欠陥、例えばグローブやビニールバッグの破損があった場合、プルトニウム(Pu)の空気汚染が生じる可能性がある。もし作業者がPuO$$_{2}$$粒子を吸引した場合肺に沈着し、肺癌を引き起こす可能性がある。鼻スミヤやnose blowがPuO$$_{2}$$の摂取の確認に用いられるが、鼻腔内のPuの定量的な放射能は評価できなかった。また、鼻腔内の直接測定が可能な$$alpha$$線検出器も存在しなかった。そこで我々は作業者の正確な内部被ばく評価のため、鼻腔内の直接測定が可能な鼻モニタの開発を行った。2$$times$$2の角柱ライトガイドを用いて1つの検出器ブロックを構成し、ZnS(Ag)シンチレータを表面に貼りつけ、光検出器には8$$times$$8のSilicon photomultiplierを用いた。開発した鼻モニタの評価のため、実際のPuO$$_{2}$$粒子を鼻モニタで測定した。鼻モニタの5.5MeV$$alpha$$線に対する平均の検出効率(4$$pi$$方向)は左鼻が11.43%で右鼻が11.58%であった。$$gamma$$線と$$beta$$線の影響は無視できる程度であった。Puの放射能を鼻モニタと$$alpha$$線用放射能測定装置で評価した結果、差異は4.0%以内であった。以上の評価結果より、開発した鼻モニタは作業者の内部被ばくの正確な評価に有用であると考える。

Plutonium dioxide (PuO$$_{2}$$) is used to fabricate a mixed oxide fuel for fast breeder reactors. When a glove box containing PuO$$_{2}$$ fails, such as by rupture of a glove or a vinyl bag, airborne contamination of plutonium (Pu) can occur. If the worker inhale PuO$$_{2}$$ particles, they deposit in the lung and cause lung cancer. The nasal smear and nose blow methods are useful for checking workers for PuO$$_{2}$$ intake in the field. However, neither method can evaluate the quantitative activity of Pu. No alpha-particle detector that can be used for direct measurements in the nasal cavity has been developed. Therefore, we developed a nasal monitor capable of directly measuring the activity of Pu in the nasal cavity to precisely evaluate the internal exposure dose of a worker. Prismatic-shaped 2$$times$$2 acrylic light guides were used to compose a detector block, and a ZnS(Ag) scintillator was adhered to the surface of these light guides. Silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) arrays with 8$$times$$8 channels were used as a photodetector. Actual PuO$$_{2}$$ particles were measured using the nasal monitor. The nasal monitor could be directly inserted in the nasal cavities. The activity distribution of Pu was obtained by the nasal monitor. The average efficiencies in 4$$pi$$ were 11.43% and 11.58% for the left and right nasal cavities, respectively. The effect of $$gamma$$ and $$beta$$ rays on the detection of the alpha particles of Pu was negligible. The difference in the measured Pu activity between the ZnS(Ag) scintillation counter and the nasal monitor was within 4.0%. The developed nasal monitor can solve the uncertainty problem encountered with the nasal smear and the nose blow methods. We expect this monitor to be useful for accurately estimating the internal exposure dose of workers.

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分野:Environmental Sciences

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