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Morishita, Yuki; Peschet, L.; Yamada, Tsutomu*; Nakasone, Takamasa*; Kanno, Marina*; Sasaki, Miyuki; Sanada, Yukihisa; Torii, Tatsuo*
Radiation Measurements, 183, p.107414_1 - 107414_6, 2025/04
Times Cited Count:0 Percentile:0.00(Nuclear Science & Technology)In the decommissioning nuclear facilities, it is crucial to inspect piping for contamination to prevent worker exposure to alpha-emitting nuclides. Traditional methods using gamma rays and neutrons are inadequate for detecting small amounts of alpha nuclides due to the short range (approximately 4 cm) of alpha particles in air. To address this, we developed a compact detector capable of distinguishing between alpha particles for direct measurement within pipes. This detector, comprising a ZnS(Ag) scintillator for alpha particles and a plastic scintillator for beta particles (gamma rays), was coupled to a small photomultiplier tube. The system demonstrated high accuracy in differentiating between alpha and beta radiation through pulse shape discrimination (PSD). Monte Carlo simulations and empirical measurements confirmed the detector's effectiveness, achieving a 51.3% detection efficiency for alpha particles with negligible sensitivity to beta and gamma radiation. This innovation presents a significant advancement for direct alpha contamination measurement in environments with high beta and gamma backgrounds, such as the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant decommissioning site.
Morishita, Yuki; DiPrete, D. P.*; Deason, T.*; Nagaishi, Ryuji
Radiation Measurements, 181, p.107366_1 - 107366_8, 2025/02
Times Cited Count:0 Percentile:0.00(Nuclear Science & Technology)Nuclear fuel materials such as Plutonium (Pu) and Neptunium (Np) are produced as by-products of reprocessing operations, necessitating precise understanding of their contamination distribution within controlled areas for radiation protection. This study presents the development and application of an alpha particle imaging detector for on-site detection of Pu and Np contamination. The detector's performance was evaluated using various alpha sources, demonstrating promising energy resolution and spatial resolution. Subsequently, Pu and
Np oxide samples were measured at the Savannah River National Laboratory, showing the detector's effectiveness in on-site applications. The detector enabled simultaneous measurement of radioactivity and energy spectrum of individual particles, facilitating rapid discrimination between
Pu and
Np. The imaging detector has potential for enhancing on-site detection of alpha nuclides in nuclear facilities, aiding in decontamination efforts and environmental monitoring.
Morishita, Yuki; Sagawa, Naoki; Fujisawa, Makoto; Kurosawa, Shunsuke*; Sasano, Makoto*; Hayashi, Masateru*; Tanaka, Hiroki*
Radiation Measurements, 181, p.107371_1 - 107371_5, 2025/02
Times Cited Count:0 Percentile:0.00(Nuclear Science & Technology)The effects of different types of radiation on a high-resolution alpha imager developed using an electron multiplying charge-coupled device (EMCCD) camera were investigated. This imager was originally developed to visualize alpha particles from Pu oxide particles at decommissioning sites. Other types of radiation such as beta particles, gamma rays, and neutrons are also present. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of these background radiations on the imager and to develop a method to discriminate between alpha particles and other types of radiation. When measuring gamma rays, and neutrons, the sensor of the EMCCD camera generated high intensity signals due to gamma rays and neutrons. These radiations were identified by image processing. The image values were binarized and the findContours function was applied to count the number of alpha particle spots. The results showed that alpha and gamma (neutron) radiation can be discriminated by using differences in intensity. This method will be useful for visualizing alpha particles at decommissioning sites.
Tanimura, Yoshihiko; Yoshitomi, Hiroshi; Nishino, Sho; Tsuji, Tomoya; Fukami, Tomoyo; Shinozuka, Tomoki; Oishi, Kohei; Ishii, Masato; Takamiya, Kei; Onuki, Takaya; et al.
Radiation Measurements, 176, p.107196_1 - 107196_6, 2024/08
Times Cited Count:1 Percentile:57.00(Nuclear Science & Technology)The ICRU has proposed to change the definitions of the operational quantities used for the area and individual monitoring for external exposure in the ICRU Report 95. As introducing the new operational quantities into the radiation monitoring may affect the dose assessment results using the present personal dosimeters, it is necessary to characterize the energy spectrum in the workplace and the energy dependency of the dosimeters to be used. In this work the photon spectra were measured using a NaI(Tl) scintillation detector or a LaBr(Ce) scintillation detector at the workplaces in the Japanese Research Reactor No.3 (JRR-3) and the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) at Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA). Then the present and new operational quantities were evaluated using the above mention spectra at the workplaces and compared each other.
Morishita, Yuki; Miyamura, Hiroko; Sato, Yuki; Oura, Masatoshi*
Radiation Measurements, 171, p.107064_1 - 107064_7, 2024/02
Times Cited Count:3 Percentile:79.59(Nuclear Science & Technology)The detection of alpha and beta contamination locations is important for decontaminating nuclear facilities. In the high radiation dose rate environment at the decommissioning sites, the contamination measurement by the workers is not effective. Thus, we developed a remote automatic contamination measurement system using a new scintillator-based detector. A 50 mm
100-
m-thick YAlO
(Ce)(YAP:Ce) scintillator was coupled with a flat panel-type multianode photomultiplier tube. The detector was installed downwards at the bottom of a robot. It has an energy measurement capability, and the energy measurement could discriminate the alpha particles from the beta and
Rn alpha particles. With the energy information, alpha and beta particles could be identified and mapped simultaneously. In addition, a slow-moving robot could be used to obtain statistically sufficient counts in a single run measurement, allowing the evaluation of surface contamination density using only alpha particles. The remote automatic contamination measurement system will be useful in visualizing the contamination distribution in environments that are inaccessible to workers.
Yasumiishi, Misa*; Masoudi, P.*; Nishimura, Taku*; Ochi, Kotaro; Ye, X.*; Aldstadt, J.*; Komissarov, M.*
Radiation Measurements, 168, p.106978_1 - 106978_16, 2023/11
Times Cited Count:1 Percentile:25.62(Nuclear Science & Technology)In this study, we surveyed air dose rates using hand-held and backpack-type scintillators in a forest of deciduous and evergreen trees in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The effects of topographic features on air dose rates were examined using multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) against five selected topographic parameters. The air dose rates were distributed unevenly in the forest, and air dose rates varied by more than 1Sv/h as a function of time, likely owing to ground wetness etc. The effect of different topographic parameters varied between survey dates. The MARS model predictions with all topographic parameters yielded an R
of 0.54 or higher. To discuss whether the effect of topography on air dose rates and soil contamination levels is consistent, air dose rates measured in the field were compared with those estimated from the depth profile of radiocesium in soil. Most air dose rates estimated from the soil samples were in the range of field measurements.
Morishita, Yuki; Takasaki, Koji; Kitayama, Yoshiharu; Tagawa, Akihiro; Shibata, Takuya; Hoshi, Katsuya; Kaneko, Junichi*; Higuchi, Mikio*; Oura, Masatoshi*
Radiation Measurements, 160, p.106896_1 - 106896_10, 2023/01
Times Cited Count:8 Percentile:92.35(Nuclear Science & Technology)This study proposes a newly developed phoswich alpha/beta detector that can discriminate alpha and beta particles emitted from the alpha and beta contaminations in the FDNPS site. The phoswich alpha/beta detector is made up of two layers of scintillators that detect alpha and beta particles. The pulse shape discrimination (PSD) method was used to detect alpha particles in high beta particle and high gamma-ray (comparable to gamma-ray dose rate near the FDNPS reactor building) environments. Due to a 23.3% full width at half maximum (FWHM) energy resolution for alpha particles, the detector can be used to distinguish between nuclear fuel materials such as plutonium and its radon progeny (Po-214). Moreover, the detector could distinguish alpha particles from Cs gamma rays with a dose rate background up to 9.0 mSv/h. It is the first to demonstrate that the developed phoswich detector can be used to discriminate and measure alpha and beta particles of the actual contaminated FDNPS samples.
Sato, Yuki; Minemoto, Kojiro*; Nemoto, Makoto*
Radiation Measurements, 142, p.106557_1 - 106557_6, 2021/03
Times Cited Count:2 Percentile:20.79(Nuclear Science & Technology)Morishita, Yuki
Radiation Measurements, 140, p.106511_1 - 106511_7, 2021/01
Times Cited Count:5 Percentile:49.08(Nuclear Science & Technology)Radon-222 (Rn) is a naturally-occurring radioactive gas, and the measurement of this isotope and its progeny is of interest from the viewpoint of protection against internal exposure. We have developed a new alpha beta-imaging detector combined with a waveform digitizer capable of imaging alpha- and beta-particle locations simultaneously. This detector is used for
Rn -progeny measurements. The thin-stilbene plate was optically coupled to a position-sensitive photomultiplier tube (PSPMT), and the analog signals from the PSPMT were transferred in parallel to the waveform digitizer. For 5.5-MeV alpha particles, the detection efficiency was 97.2% for 2
steradians, and the energy resolution was 21.6% full width at half maximum (FWHM). The imaging detector was able to discriminate between alpha and beta particles via the pulse-shape-discrimination (PSD) technique, as well as being capable of alpha- and beta-particle imaging. When measuring the
Rn progeny, both
Bi and
Po are imaged simultaneously, and a correlation is found between the positions of
Bi and
Po. The developed detector will be useful as a
Rn detector and in alpha-continuous-air monitoring for nuclear-fuel facilities.
Yokoyama, Sumi*; Ezaki, Iwao*; Tatsuzaki, Hideo*; Tachiki, Shuichi*; Hirao, Shigekazu*; Aoki, Katsunori; Tanimura, Yoshihiko; Hoshi, Katsuya; Yoshitomi, Hiroshi; Tsujimura, Norio
Radiation Measurements, 138, p.106399_1 - 106399_5, 2020/11
Times Cited Count:4 Percentile:35.32(Nuclear Science & Technology)Kowatari, Munehiko; Tanimura, Yoshihiko; Kessler, P.*; Rttger, A.*
Radiation Measurements, 138, p.106431_1 - 106431_6, 2020/11
Times Cited Count:1 Percentile:8.93(Nuclear Science & Technology)Morishita, Yuki; Ye, Y.*; Mata, L.*; Pozzi, S. A.*; Kearfott, K. J.*
Radiation Measurements, 137, p.106428_1 - 106428_7, 2020/09
Times Cited Count:14 Percentile:80.19(Nuclear Science & Technology)We have developed a compact, organic-scintillator-based alpha/beta spectrometer for radon measurements and have characterized it using a unique, small radon chamber. The spectrometer is composed of a through-silicon via (TSV) silicon photomultiplier (or SiPM) and a 6 mm 6 mm
6 mm stilbene crystal cube. Analog signals from the SiPM are sent to a digitizer. The detector is housed in a light-tight box, with a stacked air filter installed in one side of the box to enable
Rn gas to diffuse to the inside. We conducted one experiment with the spectrometer and an AlphaGUARD detector placed in a basement at the University of Michigan, and we conducted other experiments with both detectors placed in a small radon chamber together with
Ra sources. By applying a pulse-shape-discrimination technique, we were able to separate the alpha and beta spectra simultaneously and clearly and to measure them quantitatively. We found two peaks in the measured alpha spectrum: a lower-energy peak due to
Po and a higher-energy peak due to
Po. We found a linear relation between the radon concentration y from AlphaGUARD and the counting rates from the stilbene-SiPM detector. The alpha/beta spectrometer is less than 10 mm thick, and we expect that it will be easy to increase the sensitivity with future device construction. Thus, this compact, organic-scintillator-based alpha/beta spectrometer shows promise for use in novel radon-detection systems.
Tanimura, Yoshihiko; Yoshitomi, Hiroshi; Nishino, Sho; Takahashi, Masa
Radiation Measurements, 137, p.106389_1 - 106389_5, 2020/09
Times Cited Count:0 Percentile:0.00(Nuclear Science & Technology)A portable thyroid dose monitoring system has been developed at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) to assess the thyroid equivalent dose for workers and members of the public in a high dose rate environment. The background (B.G.) photon correction is required for an accurate measurement in a high dose rate environment at an early stage after a nuclear accident. We developed the B.G. photon correction method using cylindrical PMMA phantoms.
Nishino, Sho; Tanimura, Yoshihiko; Yoshitomi, Hiroshi; Takahashi, Masa
Radiation Measurements, 134, p.106292_1 - 106292_5, 2020/06
Times Cited Count:4 Percentile:35.32(Nuclear Science & Technology)In the situation of a severe nuclear accident, radioiodine monitoring in thyroid should be performed for a large number of people immediately after accident. The portable thyroid dose monitoring system which can be used in a high dose rate condition is in development. In this presentation, the result of performance test using prototype model will be described.
Oka, Toshitaka; Takahashi, Atsushi*; Koarai, Kazuma; Mitsuyasu, Yusuke*; Kino, Yasushi*; Sekine, Tsutomu*; Shimizu, Yoshinaka*; Chiba, Mirei*; Suzuki, Toshihiko*; Osaka, Ken*; et al.
Radiation Measurements, 134, p.106315_1 - 106315_4, 2020/06
Times Cited Count:9 Percentile:65.08(Nuclear Science & Technology)The relationship between the CO radical intensity and the absorbed dose (dose response curve) of tooth enamel of Japanese macaque was observed by electron spin resonance and the detection limit of our system was estimated to be 33.5 mGy, which is comparable to the detection limit for human molar teeth. Using the dose response curve, external exposure dose for seven wild Japanese macaques captured in Fukushima prefecture were examined. The results suggest that the external exposure dose for the wild Japanese macaques were ranged between 45 mGy to 300 mGy.
Hoshi, Katsuya; Yoshitomi, Hiroshi; Aoki, Katsunori; Tanimura, Yoshihiko; Tsujimura, Norio; Yokoyama, Sumi*
Radiation Measurements, 134, p.106304_1 - 106304_5, 2020/06
Times Cited Count:4 Percentile:35.32(Nuclear Science & Technology)In FY 2017, the Japanese Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NRA) established the Radiation Safety Research Promotion Fund for funding projects on nuclear safety regulation, and adopted the two-year research project entitled "Study on standard eye lens monitoring, suitable dose management and radiation protection for nuclear and medical workers". The study is a two-phase study: a laboratory study on the eye lens dosemeter's characteristics to photons, and a field study executed at actual workplaces at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. This paper summarizes the results of the first-phase study, which was designed to clarify the eye lens dosemeter positioning and the shielding effect of full face mask respirators used at the station. No marked difference was observed in readings of the dosemeters attached on the different positions on the head phantom. Two types of full face mask respirators provided insignificant shielding effect for photons of 83 keV to 662 keV.
Tsujimura, Norio; Hoshi, Katsuya; Aoki, Katsunori; Yoshitomi, Hiroshi; Tanimura, Yoshihiko; Yokoyama, Sumi*
Radiation Measurements, 134, p.106305_1 - 106305_5, 2020/06
Times Cited Count:4 Percentile:35.32(Nuclear Science & Technology)Yasuda, Hiroshi*; Yajima, Kazuaki*; Sato, Tatsuhiko
Radiation Measurements, 134, p.106309_1 - 106309_4, 2020/06
Times Cited Count:10 Percentile:65.08(Nuclear Science & Technology)We have investigated an application of a recently developed electronic personal dosimeter (D-Shuttle) for aviation dosimetry. As results of measurements in four long-haul flights between Japan and Germany, the D-Shuttle indicated values were in the range of 25 to 30% of the total H(10) values estimated by a route-dose calculations program JISCARD EX. Though we need more measurements and analyses under different flight conditions to conclude, according to these results obtained so far, it would be possible to perform monitoring of the annual aviation doses of frequent flyers by using D-Shuttle on an individual basis.
Yoshitomi, Hiroshi; Nishino, Sho; Tanimura, Yoshihiko; Takahashi, Masa
Radiation Measurements, 133, p.106279_1 - 106279_6, 2020/04
Times Cited Count:5 Percentile:43.04(Nuclear Science & Technology)Uncertainty of the body size on the counting efficiency of a newly developed thyroid monitor was estimated by Monte Carlo simulations using several voxel phantoms. Overlying tissue thickness was a major impact factor on the counting efficiency. As a result, uncertainty related to the body size of the monitored subject was found to be 25%.
Kusumoto, Tamon*; Matsuya, Yusuke; Baba, Kentaro*; Ogawara, Ryo*; Akselrod, M. S.*; Harrison, J.*; Fomenko, V.*; Kai, Takeshi; Ishikawa, Masayori*; Hasegawa, Sumitaka*; et al.
Radiation Measurements, 132, p.106256_1 - 106256_4, 2020/03
Times Cited Count:10 Percentile:65.08(Nuclear Science & Technology)Internal radiation therapy with Cu-64 concentrates energy deposition in tumor cells by virtue of released Auger electrons with low energy. In our previous study, we have attached the solutions at the surface of Fluorescent Nuclear Track Detector (FNTD) and succeeded in measuring the absorbed doses of Auger electrons registered in FNTD. However, because there are several types of radiation emitted from the source, i.e., beta rays, positron etc., the contribution degree of Auger electron to energy concentration remain uncertain. In this study, we quantitatively analyzed the spatial dose distribution in the FNTD based on Monte Carlo simulation with PHITS and GEANT4, and evaluated high dose deposited by Auger electrons. The dose distribution calculated by the PHITS code is exactly equivalent to that by Geant4. Also, the simulations are well agreement with experimental results. If the contribution of Auger electrons is ignored, the significantly high absorbed dose proximal to the source is not properly reduced. These findings demonstrate that Auger electrons work very effectively to kill cancer cells proximal to Cu-64 source while minimizing damage effects on normal cells distal to the source.