Measurements of radioactive gaseous releases to air from target halls at a high-energy proton accelerator.
Measurements of induced radioactivity concentration in air were made at five target halls associated with the Fermilab high-energy proton synchrotron. A gas flow-through ionization chamber was used to continuously sample air released from an exhaust stack at each location. The radioactive decay of a grab sample of air from each target hall was recorded, and a best-fit of each decay curve was made via iterative steps to determine the mixture of radionuclides present. The radionuclides 11C, 13N, 15O, 38Cl, 39Cl, and 41Ar were identified. Two distinct radionuclide mixtures or "signatures" were found and were correlated to the geometry of the proton loss point. The normalized activity release rates for the five target areas agree within a factor of two of the average value of 2.7 muBq per proton for 800 GeV protons.
Butala
S W
SW
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, IL 60510.
Baker
S I
SI
Yurista
P M
PM
D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis; D005740:Gases; D010315:Particle Accelerators; D011522:Protons; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000379:methods; D011868:Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*
D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive; D005740:Gases; D011522:Protons; D011868:Radioisotopes