Environmental Radiation Monitoring Experiments for Radiation Detection Laboratories

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Radiation detection laboratory exercises in undergraduate health physics programs have traditionally been limited to experiments examining the basic properties of radioactive decay, the effects of shielding, and detector characteristics. Applied undergraduate laboratories are normally designed with a curriculum that supports reactor health physics and involve experiments using basic radiation monitoring equipment in such a setting. In this project, environmental health physics experiments are being integrated into junior- and senior-level laboratory courses required of health physics majors. Demonstrations designed to stimulate the interest of non-science-majors in applied radiation protection are being included in introductory courses. Experiments utilizing an alpha/beta discriminating liquid scintillation system and thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) are being added to undergraduate health physics laboratories. Demonstrations of liquid scintillation counting are being performed in an introductory health physics course for nonmajors. Long-term experiments examining the sources and doses resulting from background radiation are being designed for use in courses for both majors and nonmajors. Equipment involved in this project is also being used to accommodate the growing number of undergraduate research projects in environmental radiation that have previously relied on borrowed equipment or off-site analysis. Over the next decade, many undergraduate health physics programs may begin to revise curriculums to emphasize environmental applications. With this in mind, the experiments developed or improved under this program can be evaluated and the successes and difficulties reported to other health programs at national meetings and through literature.