CHAPTER 9

1. Demonstrate that the defnition of the roentgen given in Eq. (9.2) is equivalent to the
release of 1 esu of charge per cm3 of air at 1 atmosphere pressure and at ODC.
2. Fallout from a nuclear blast reached a man's home at the time to afer detonation. The
man immediately enters a fallout shelter where there is zero exposure. He spends the
time ts in the shelter and then emerges. (a) Show that the factor by which his total dose
is reduced by having gone into the shelter is given by

(b) Evaluate this ratio for to = 8 hrs and ts = 2 wks. [Note: The result in part (a)
is based on the assumption that the man does not undertake decontamination procedures upon
emerging from the shelter. Actually, the purpose of a fallout shelter is not
to reduce the total, integrated dose, but to protect the individual from the high initial
exposure rates. The period ts in the shelter is supposed to be long enough that the exposure rate upon
emerging from the shelter is low enough to permit decontamination.]
3. What is the probability that a 1 MeV y-ray will interact in a cell? Take the cell diameter to be 10-3 cm,
and assume that the cell has the density of water.
4. A beam of 1 MeV neutrons deposits energy in tissue at the rate of approximately
5 x 106 MeV per gram per sec. What dose-equivalent is this tissue receiving?
5. A desiccated sample of fossil contains 0.25 g of carbon. Its activity is measured to be
0.93 pCi. Approximately how old is the fossil?
6. At the age of 30, a man takes a job (his frst) as a radiation worker. Five years later,
his frm goes bankrupt, and his radiation exposure fles are destroyed. If his next job is
again as a radiation worker, what maximum doses may he receive in subsequent years
at the new company? Show his radiation history graphically.
rem. This shall be added to the occupational dose accumulated up to the time of the
emergency exposure. If the sum then exceeds the maximum value permitted by the
formula, H = 5(N - 18), the excess will be made up by lowering the subsequent
exposure rate, so that within a period not exceeding 5 yeas, the accumulated dose
will conform with the limits set by the formula." Suppose that a man is frst employed
in the nuclear industry at the age of 18. During the next three years, he receives an
average annual dose of 4 rems. At the end of this time, he engages in an emergency
rescue operation and receives an acute dose of 12 rems. If ICRP recommendations
are followed, what average dose may this man receive in subsequent years? Show the
radiation history of this man graphically.
8. Calculate the fluence of 1 MeV y-rays required to give an exposure of 1 mR.
9. (a) What intensity of 1 MeV y-rays gives an exposure rate which provides the normal
MPD for radiation workers? (b) What is the weekly y-ray fluence corresponding to
this exposure?
10. A 75 kV x-ray machine gives an exposure of 200 mR for a 0.2-sec chest x-ray. (a)
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What is the x-ray fluence during this chest x-ray? (b) What is the energy fluence? (c)
What is the dose-equivalent delivered to bone, muscle, and fat?
11. What flux of 40 keV x-rays delivers a dose of 50 mrems/sec to bone?
12. Approximately how long may a person expose a hand to the x-ray beam of Problem
9. 10 for the hand to develop (a) erythema? (b) blistering?
13. Consider the explosion of a 20 kiloton nuclear warhead. If there was no attenuation
of the y-rays in the atmosphere and all of the fssion y-rays escape from the warhead,
approximately what would be the y-ray dose received by a person standing (a) 1 ,000
meters and (b) 5,000 meters from the point ofthe blast? [Note: Take the energy release
per fssion to be 200 MeV, of which 7 MeV is in the form of fssion y-rays. Also,
1 kiloton = 2.6 x 1025 MeV.]
14. At a certain point near a nuclear reactor the flux of fast neutrons is 15 neutrons/cm2-
sec, the flux of thermal neutrons is 200 neutrons/cm2-sec, and the y-ray flux (assumed
to be 2 MeV) is 400 y-rays/cm2-sec. How long may a worker remain at this point per
week if he is not to exceed the normal weekly MPD dose?
15. During a criticality accident at a reactor facility, it is estimated that over a very
short time a worker is exposed to the following radiation fluences: fast neutrons,
2 x 101O/cm2; thermal neutrons, 5 x 109/cm2; y-rays (2.5 MeV), 6 x ] 08/cm2
(a) What total dose-equivalent did the worker receive? (b) What radiation sickness
symptoms is the worker likely to develop? (c) What is the prognosis for his recovery?
16. Carbon- 14 decays by the emission of a single negative [-ray having a maximum energy of 0. 156
MeV. There are no y-rays. The yearly gonad (internal) dose from 14C is
approximately 0.7 mrem. Compute the concentration of 14C in pCi/g in these important organs.
17. Radium-226 and its daughters, taken together, emit a variety ofe , [, and y-rays. The
effective energy equivalent � for this chain in bone is 1 10 MeV (See Table 9. 15.) If
the total mass of the skeleton of a man is 7 kg, what amount of 226Ra in bone gives a
dose of 5 rems/y
18. Whether inhaled or ingested, iodine, in most chemical forms, quickly enters the bloodstream, and
much of this element flows to and is taen up by the thyroid gland. Shortly
after an injection of iodine, the retention function for the thyroid is given approximately by
R (t) = 0.3e-O.O502t
where t is in days. Suppose that a patient is given an injection of 1 mCi of 131I for
diagnosis of a thyroid condition. (a) What is the biological half-life of iodine in the
thyroid? (b) What total dose will the patient's thyroid receive from the single injection? The mass of the
thyroid is 20 g.
19. Compute the (MPC)w of 24Na for the general public, based on the whole-body dose.
20. The maximum permissible concentrations of 90Sr are based on the dose for bone.
Using the data in Table 9. 15, compute (a) the effective half-life in years of 90Sr in
bone and (b) the (MPC)w of 90Sr for the general pUblic.
21. Calculate the (MPC)w of 239Pu for occupational exposure, based on the dose received
in bone.
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22. The drinking water at a certain laboratory is contaminated with tritium at a concentration fve times
the MPC. If workers drink this water for one week before its contamination is discovered, what total
dose does each receive from this week's exposure?

23. A bare point source emits 5 x 107 fast neutrons and 5 x 108 thermal neutrons per sec.
How long may a radiation worker stand at a distance of 3 meters from the source if he
is not to exceed his normal weekly allowed dose?
24. A l -Ci 226Ra_Be source produces 107 neutrons/sec. The energy ofthe neutrons ranges
from about 1 MeV to 13 MeV, with an average energy of approximately 5 MeV. The
source also emits 3,500 y-rays per neutron with an average energy of 1 MeV. In connection with an
experiment, a worker must move the bare source from one location to
another. He uses tongs so that the source is never closer than 6 f to him. If the move
takes one minute, how much of a dose does he receive?
25. Three isotropic point sources of y-rays, each emitting S y-rays/sec, are located in a
vacuum at the comers of an equilateral triangle of side a . Derive an expression for the
y-ray flux at the center of the triangle.
26. Using the data given in Fig. 2.6, calculate the exposure rate and dose equivalent rate
in tissue from an unshielded 1 -Ci6oCo isotropic point source: (a) 1 cm from the source
and (b) 1 m from the source.
27. A thin rod 1 m long, located in a vacuum, contains uniformly distributed neutron
sources which emit 108 neutrons/sec per cm length of the rod. (a) Calculate the neutron
flux at a point located 50 cm from the center of the rod. (b) What is the dose-equivalent
rate in tissue at that point?
28. A fuel rod 1 m long and of small diameter contains 40 g of 235U uniformly distributed
throughout the rod. As a test, this rod is placed in a reactor having a uniform 2,200
m1sec flux of 1 x 1013 neutrons/cm2-sec for two months and then removed. (a) Calculate the y-ray
exposure rate in Rlsec at a point located 1 m from the center of the
rod, two months after removal. (b) Estimate the y-ray absorbed dose rat€ in rads/sec
in tissue at that point. (c) What is the y-ray dose equivalent rate in rems/sec in tissue?
[Note: For simplicity, take the average energy of the y-rays to be 1 MeV.]
29. The sterilization of bacon requires an absorbed dose of approximately 5 million rads.
What uniform concentration of 60Co on a planar disc 5 ft in diameter is required to
produce this dose 1 f from the center of the disc after 1 hr exposure? [Note: For
simplicity, assume that 60Co emits two 1 .25 MeV y-rays per disintegration.]
30. Show that in the limit when x » R, the expression for the y-ray flux along the axis
of a disc source approached that for a point source.
31. Show that the y-ray flux at the distance x from the center of a square planar source of
side a emitting S photons/cm2-sec is given approximately by
provided that x » a . Compare this result with the similar formula for the photon flux
from a circular disc.
32. A thin spherical shell of radius R has isotropic y-ray sources distributed uniformly
over its surface emitting S y-rays/cm2-sec. Calculate the y-ray flux at the center of
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the shell.
33. A spherical shell of inner radius Rl and outer radius R2 contains a radioactive gas
emitting S y-rays/cm3-sec. (a) Derive an expression for the y-ray flux at the center of
the shell. (b) What is the flux in the limit where either, Rl -- 0 or R2 -- o?