Environmental monitoring through use of silica-based TLD

The sensitivity of a novel silica-based fibre-form thermoluminescence dosimeter was tested off-site
of a rare-earths processing plant, investigating the potential for obtaining baseline measurements
of naturally occurring radioactive materials. The dosimeter, a Ge-doped collapsed photonic crystal
fibre (PCFc) co-doped with B, was calibrated against commercially available thermoluminescent
dosimetry (TLD) (TLD-200 and TLD-100) using a bremsstrahlung (tube-based) x-ray source. Eight
sampling sites within 1 to 20 km of the perimeter of the rare-earth facility were identified, the
TLDs (silica- as well as TLD-200 and TLD-100) in each case being buried within the soil at fixed
depth, allowing measurements to be obtained, in this case for protracted periods of exposure of
between two to eight months. The values of the dose were then compared against values projected on
the basis of radioactivity measurements of the associated soils, obtained via high-purity germanium
gamma-ray spectro...

Source: Journal of Radiological Protection - August 30, 2017 Category: Physics Authors: Z Siti Rozaila, M U Khandaker, S F Abdul Sani, Siti Norbaini Sabtu, Y M Amin, M J Maah and D A Bradley Source Type: research