Characterization of Neutron Irradiator as a Source of Reference Radiation Field for Calibrating Dosemeters and Doserate Meters at PSI Laboratory

A new neutron calibration laboratory has been installed at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland. The calibration laboratory has been equipped with a newly developed neutron irradiator with two calibration benches, remote control instruments and related ancillary equipment for calibrating dosemeters and doserate meters. The actual dimensions of the calibration laboratory are 2.0 m (H) X 6.8 m (W) X 12.6 m (L). On the steel grid at a height of 2 m from the basement floor, two calibration benches are installed. A transport channel is installed in the middle of the benches for the transfer of the radiation sources. The radiation sources are moved from the safe position of the irradiator to the reference irradiation position using an air pressure unit. The reference position is at a height of 1.2 m from the grid floor. The neutron irradiator is equipped with two Am-Be sources. Characterization of neutron radiation field has been calculated in detail by the MCNPX neutron transport code as well as energy distribution of neutrons and contribution of scattered neutrons. Experimentally, it was measured with a neutron/gamma digital spectrometric system equipped with a stilbene detector. The quality of the neutron radiation field has been characterized by ambient dose equivalent rate and the shape of the Am-Be spectra has been verified with the ISO-8529 standard.