Analysis of the distributional effects of radioactive materials on external gamma exposure

Abstract

The distributional effects of radioactive materials on external gamma exposure have been analyzed. An approximate method for estimating external gamma dose given from an arbitrary distribution of radioactive materials has been developed. The minimum gamma expo sure given from a point source is shown at 0.07 MeV if the source to receptor distance is shorter than 10 m. But, if the receptor to point source distance is longer than 20 m, the gamma exposure rate increases monotonously according to the average gamma energy. For the analysis of the effects of volume source, we estimated the gamma dose given from different hemisphere sizes in which radioactive, materials are distributed uniformly. When the radius of the hemisphere is longer than 40 m, the external gamma dose rate increases monotonously. The gamma dose rate given from the radioactive materials deposited on the ground shows the minimum value at 0.07 MeV in any case. The analysis shows that external gamma exposure is strongly dependent on the distribution of radioactive materials in the environment and gamma energy. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.