Experimental Research on Neutron Dose Assessment Based on the Induced 24Na Activity in a Newly Developed Voxel Physical Phantom

Accurate neutron dose assessment in humans is critical for radiation protection and nuclear emergency medical rescue. This study aims to establish a reliable method for evaluating neutron doses using a newly developed voxel physical phantom and to determine the lower detection limit of neutron absorbed dose via 24 Na activity measurement. A voxel physical phantom, based on the ICRP 110 male adult reference computational phantom, was constructed using tissue-equivalent materials and sodium carbonate solutions to simulate sodium content in various organs. The phantom was irradiated with 252 Cf neutrons, and the induced 24 Na activity was measured using a 3-inch NaI(Tl) detector. Monte Carlo simulations were employed to validate the neutron fluence and dose distribution within the phantom. The results showed that the whole-body neutron absorbed dose in the voxel physical phantom differed by less than 3.1% compared with the ICRP 110 male adult reference computational phantom, with induced 24 Na activity deviations of less than 3.0% for the whole body and 20.0% for major tissues and organs. When using a 3-inch NaI(Tl) detector to evaluate the neutron absorbed dose of the ICRP 110 male adult reference computational phantom irradiated with 252 Cf neutrons instantaneously by measuring the induced 24 Na activity, the lower limit of neutron absorbed dose detection was ≤ 31 mGy. This demonstrates the accuracy of neutron dose assessment using computational phantoms, providing a practical and cost-effective alternative to conventional approaches.