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20 July 2008

Answer to Question #2775 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

Category: Radiation Basics — Neutrons

The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field:

Where can I find the amount of energy deposited in human tissue for a wide range of neutron energies? I have the fluxes for the energies but don't know how much each would give to the tissue.

As I understand your need, the information can be gotten from several sources. Reports No. 38 (1971) and 91 (1987) of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements give fluence rates with stated quality factors that deliver a maximum dose equivalent of 1 mSv in 40 hours for monoenergetic neutrons with energies from thermal to 400 MeV. A summary of this work is given in Table 12.5 on p. 363 of J.E. Turner's book, Atoms, Radiation, and Radiation Protection, 2^nd Ed., John Wiley & Sons (1995).

Similar data are provided by Publication 51 of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (1987). Tables from this publication for various tissue phantoms are also given in Chapter 13 of the book by B. Shleien et al., Handbook of Health Physics and Radiological Health, 3^rd Ed., Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, (1998).

James E. Turner, PhD, CHP

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