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Going Nuclear: Notes from the officially unofficial book tour
I work in the analytical labs at one of Europe’s oldest and largest nuclear sites: Sellafield, in northwestern England. I spend my days at the fume hood front, pipette in one hand and radiation probe in the other (and dosimeter pinned to my chest, of course). Outside the lab, I have a second job: I moonlight as a writer and public speaker. My new popular science book—Going Nuclear: How the Atom Will Save the World—came out last summer, and it feels like my life has been running at full power ever since.
Joseph M. Doster, Brit E. Hey
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 93 | Number 1 | May 1986 | Pages 1-12
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE83-A17412
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In pool-type research reactors, a sudden loss of all pool water can result in significant external radiation dose. Of concern are fission product decay gamma rays emitted within the core, streaming out of the biological shield producing unacceptable radiation exposure in and around the reactor building. A Monte Carlo model was developed and used to generate dose maps for key access and traffic areas throughout the reactor facility at North Carolina State University. It was found that several of these areas could be exposed to significant gamma radiation fields, ranging from 230 rem/h 20 ft directly over and in line of sight of the core to 4 mrem/h outside and adjacent to the reactor building. Expected dose rates were also computed for the reactor bay floor, control room, and offices. The model was benchmarked against dose rates measured at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory pool-type reactor.