Evaluation of energy responses for neutron dose-equivalent meters made in Japan

Energy responses of three types of Japanese neutron dose-equivalent (DE) meters were evaluated by Monte Carlo simulations and measurements. The energy responses were evaluated for thermal neutrons, monoenergetic neutrons with energies up to 15.2 MeV, and also for neutrons from such radionuclide sources as 252Cf and 241Am–Be. The calculated results were corroborated with the measured ones. The angular dependence of the response and the DE response were also evaluated. As a result, reliable energy responses were obtained by careful simulations of the proportional counter, moderator and absorber of the DE meters. Furthermore, the relationship between pressure of counting gas and response of the DE meter was discussed. By using the obtained responses, relations between predicted readings of the DE meters and true DE values were studied for various workplace spectra.