On November 26th, Keith Schiager, Chair of the HPS Presidents Emeritus Committee issued a memo announcing limited availability of monies through the G. William Morgan Trust Fund for travel support to have internationally-known experts present papers at meetings of the Society. He encouraged those of us responsible for organizing a technical program or session to consider the possibility of inviting an "internationally known expert" to participate. Although U.S. members of the HPS are not specifically excluded, the obvious intent is to support participation by individuals from other countries would otherwise not be able to attend. If you have ideas for individuals that would enhance the Accelerator Section sessions, please let me know immediately. Applications for support of speakers for the annual meeting are due the first week of January 1999.

The Accelerator Section petitioned the HPS Board of Directors to revise the procedures to the selection of delegates to the IRPA General Assembly several years ago. Formal action on our petition was taken at the Executive Committee meeting in October 1998. A recommendation was made to modify the procedure for the nomination of candidates for the position of delegate to allow a Section or a Chapter to nominate a candidate without needing to meet the signature requirement for a nomination from the general membership. The selection of delegates would still be by vote of the Board, but the ballot would clearly identify the manner in which the candidate was nominated. The draft was published and all Section and Chapter Presidents were invited to provide comments on this proposal prior to the January 24, 1999 Board meeting. Copies of the text have been provided to all Accelerator Section Board members should you wish to review the text yourself. Any comments should be provided to me no later than January 15th.

Related to some degree with the CASOG Report and the ASO Guidance Document, discussion has been initiated to determine the interest (and funding) for a revision of SLAC-327 (Good HP Practices at Accelerators). The belief is that a revised SLAC-327 (or other contractor produced document) would better deal with risk and other related issues than either ANSI or ASO guidance, but that is dependent upon the content of the final versions of those documents. There is still the question as to when these would be published, although the ANSI Standard is due to be released in the near future. I am soliciting the opinions of the Accelerator Section members on whether or not a revision of SLAC-327 is in order.

Steve

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In the meantime, enjoy the holiday season.

Elaine

A reportable over-exposure occurred in November during a scheduled maintenance day. A worker received a whole body dose of approximately 180 mrem when he was allowed access to a high radiation area in the main AGS ring without a preceding health physics survey. This lapse in access controls and work planning was one of several this year at Brookhaven National Laboratory which has resulted in more scrutiny from both internal and external regulators, as well as the quickening development and implementation of a site-wide enhanced work planning (EWP) program. The EWP program was initiated at BNL early last year. One of the primary goals of enhanced work planning is to ensure all hazards, radiological and industrial, have been considered by the appropriate level of work planners and supervisors. This has slowed work considerably, but has also served to raise morale among occupationally exposed workers.

Chuck Schaefer

The main activities of the Radiation Protection Group in 1998 were concentrated on the projects, TTF/II (TESLA Test Facility – Phase II) and TESLA (TeV Energy Superconducting Linear Accelerator). Especially the radiological impacts of such a collider to the environment had to be studied and this work is still in progress.

In particular we investigated doses at the earth surface due to stray radiation and due to muons as well as ground water and soil activation and exposure of the public due to radioactive air streaming out of the tunnel. We could show that all these impacts can meet the legal limits and can be kept well below the natural exposures or activities. On a day of open-door where people living above or near the planned accelerator were invited, we presented the results of our studies and answered the questions of the very interested visitors, tried to dissipate scruples and to avoid irrational fears.

In the years 1999 and 2000 the milestones will be to pass official examinations concerning the compatibility of the project with the environment, performed by an administrational board consisting of members of the authorities of the involved states, as well as to find partners in other (European) countries to share the challenge with personnel and financial contributions. Then an official proposal has to be issued.

There will be a lot of work for the Radiation Group in the near future but it will become certainly a deeply interesting time.

Herbert Dinter

Soon we are turning the last page of our calendar heading then straight towards the change of the century. In fact the German-Swiss Radiation Protection Society published an article in their journal Strahlenschutzpraxis with the title: The year 2000, problems in radiation protection? Do we pass from '99 to '00 or from 1999 to 2000? In the meantime let us rather concentrate on the outgoing year. In 1998, RP Group's most important contribution to CERN's future were two chapters on radiation protection translated literally from French. The first "Inventory of radiological risks and principles of radiological safety" describes all the real and potential radiation risks in the operation of the LHC and the second "The control of radiological situations" gives the disposition of all protection activities like monitor stations. These are two key chapters in the "provisional" INB (Basic Nuclear Installation) report for the LHC which will be delivered to the French authorities by the end of January '99. The next version, the so called "preliminary" one, I am no longer going to write but will be submitted to the French authorities by my successor (see Job Opportunities below).

1998 brought to a "provisional" end CERN's stressed relations with the Geneva red-green dominated Parliament that eventually voted a special financial contribution of 6.2 MCHF to be used for the construction of a beam transfer tunnel for the LHC. This became possible only after CERN had undergone a "contradictory" public debate with three persons of our top management including our newly designated Director General Professor Maiani standing up against three "adversaries". Mind you, these attacks do not only concern radiation issues but comprise CERN's involvement in military research (no) and the Organization's contract policy for outside firms choosing always

the lowest bidder thus resulting in low salaries for the workmen (yes). In these attacks, radiation is always the most notorious topic where a few people try to sow angst among the silent majority. CERN finally came out on top because contrary to the statement: "The Geneva population is worried about the unknown activities at CERN", only few members of this population showed up compared with the massive number of CERN collaborators being rather worried about their future.

Before the LEP can be "transformed" (the politically correct statement!) into the LHC, the ring tunnel must be emptied. The working group on the very low radioactivity (TFA) (see previous IARPE Newsletters for details) in LEP, chaired by Marco Silari, established a good correspondence between measurements and calculation of induced radioactivity in the two dump regions of the accelerator. The low levels actually found with about 50% of electrons and positrons dumped are already sufficient proof that the rest of the beams smeared out over 27 km circumference cannot lead to any measurable activity. However, this argument would be too easy to convince the French authorities so other known beam loss areas like collimators and the injection regions will be modeled, calculated and measured before the report to ask for the authorisation to transform the LEP into LHC will be written.

It is really a shame to stop the operation of LEP already in 2000, but the LHC construction requires the ring tunnel to be emptied early. Before that, the machine should deliver, thanks to the well performing superconducting cavities, not only colliding beams at 100 GeV for which CERN has an authorisation, but go up to 105 GeV per beam. By arguing both beam and synchrotron radiation power will remain within the envelope, the French authorities have given their approval provided an addendum to the initial INB-Report for LEP is submitted. However, will the neutron production from the high-energy tail of the synchrotron radiation spectrum lead to an activation of the arcs that will make all arguments of a non radioactive machine obsolete? When extrapolating from results of calculations made by Jan Tuyn and Ralph Nelson for a 130 GeV storage ring in 1981, it looks we are just at the limit. It may be possible the machine will have ceased operation, as radiation damage is already quite noticeable at 94 GeV.

My colleagues and I wish to all readers of the Newsletter a merry Christmas and a successful and happy New Year.

Manfred Hoefert

Gamma and neutron measurements were carried out on a number of LEP superconducting RF cavities before their installation in the accelerator. Measurements were performed on both single cavities (1.7 m long) undergoing their first conditioning cycle and after four cavites were assembled in a module. Instruments used included a PTW ion chamber for high doses, alanine dosimeters, bubble detectors and activation foils. The production of radiation is mainly caused by field emission of electrons from small impurities on the Nb surface. On a single cavity, a sharp increase in the emitted radiation is observed when the electric field is raised from 6 MV/m to about 8.5 MV/m, followed by a slow decrease while conditioning proceeds. This procedure reduces the radiation emitted by the cavity by about a factor of 5, and increases its quality factor. The neutron dose rate is about 0.01% of the gamma dose rate.

Measurements on a module have shown that the dose rates at the two extremities are usually different, in some cases by as much as two orders of magnitude. Measurements carried out on several modules with an applied electric field in the range 30-45 MV have shown the photon dose rate on the axis, close to the exit cone, varies considerably from unit to unit, ranging from a few Gy/hr up to a few thousands Gy/hr. The neutron dose rate is of the order of 0.1% (up to a few 0.1%) of the gamma dose rate. Gamma spectrometry measurements of stainless steel 316L activated during the conditioning process showed 48-V, 51-Cr, 52-Mn, 54-Mn, 56-Ni, 57-Ni, 56-Co, 57-Co, 58-Co, 60-Co, 88-Y, 91m-Nb, 92m-Nb, 95-Nb and 99-Mo. Measurements on a copper block used as a stopper have identified 54-Mn, 56-Co, 57-Co, 58-Co, 60-Co, 65-Zn, 72-Se, 75-Se, 74-As and 120-Sb.

In one case the thermic insulation was severely damaged by radiation and fell into pieces when the module was opened for maintenance. The insulation is constituted of several films of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) on which a thin aluminium layer (400 A) is deposited separated by a thick insulating layer made of polyester. A gamma-spectrometry analysis carried out on a sample taken from the damaged insulation has shown traces of 22-Na, 46-Sc, 51-Cr, 54-Mn and 65-Zn, most likely produced on impurities in the aluminium.

Marc Silari

The new technical Swiss Ordinance on dosimetry requires that authorised individual dosimetry services must provide a quality insurance system. CERN recently submitted its newly written quality assurance handbook to the Swiss authorities. Our dosimetry system will then undergo a new acknowledgment procedure in '99 and hopefully retain its authorisation to perform individual dosimetry in Switzerland but not outside CERN.

Thomas Otto

Adolfo Esposito

In the minutes of the July Section meeting, it was noted that there was a need for a low-energy neutron calibration facility. I forwarded this information to the sponsors and managers of the fields that we use and provide the following comments:

The NSWCCD Positive Ion Accelerator produces monoenergetic neutron beams from 200 keV to 2.8 MeV with a lithium target. We could produce other energies from other targets.

The reactor at NIST has ports for thermal and monoenergetic beams of 2, 24, and 144 keV, but they are not available because more important (funded) experiments occupy the same space.

NIST provides bare and moderated Cf-252 neutron standards. They have been extremely generous in providing the Navy access with little or no funding in the past two years. Before that, they received funds each year from the Navy’s shipboard radiation protection and/or dosimetry research programs. However, due to their own budgetary constrains they are requesting 20K / year for continued Navy support. It would be a grave mistake for the Navy not to fund this to keep such a valuable asset open to the NDC and NSWCCD.

Gordon Riel

The Science and Technology Committee of the Council on Ionizing Radiation Measurements and Standards (CIRMS) has issued its second report on national needs for ionizing radiation measurements. There is a steady growth in the need for ionizing radiation measurements and physical standards due to the continued increase in the applications of radionuclides and ionizing radiation. The effort to meet the needs of the user communities for new measurements and standards requires strong collaborative efforts on the part of medical, industrial, academic and government researchers. The present study identified 25 measurement and standards needs in four general areas, which correspond to the four subcommittees of the Science and Technology Committee: Medical Applications, Public and Environmental Radiation Protection, Occupational Radiation Protection, and Industrial Applications and Materials Effects. A progress report is given for those programs that were identified in the first CIRMS Report on National Needs in Ionizing Radiation and Standards, published in 1995.

The Health Physics Society has had a role in the activities of CIRMS through the Laboratory Accreditation Committees since CIRMS inception in 1993. The MPDs not only identify needs, but help to focus limited resources and to act as a measure for progress. Substantial progress was made on several of the MPDs listed in the original Needs Report and CIRMS is always looking for new radiation measurement or standardization needs. In addition to the MPD on implementation of electronic dosimeters, some of the other MPDs of interest to the health physics community include: neutron personnel monitor improvements, extremity monitoring, transfer standards for neutron sources, in-vivo radionuclide metrology, type testing of instruments, measurement infrastructure improvements, calibration standards for field survey instruments and environmental dosimeters, standards for waste management and site remediation, etc.

For those of you planning to attend the HPS Midyear Meeting, keep in mind that a tour of LANCE has been arranged. The October 1998 issue of the Health Physics Newsletter provides some highlights of the tour.

June 6-10, 1999

Call for Papers (due 1/8/99)

The Accelerator Application Technical Group (AATG) of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) is currently requesting the submission of summary papers for the following special sessions:

• Materials for Spallation Neutron Sources
• Safety and Thermal - Hydraulics of High-Power Accelerator (target) Systems
• Non-proliferation Issues for Accelerators
• Additional Applications for Accelerator Production of Tritium Class Accelerators
• Radiation Transport Codes and Data for Accelerator Application
• Medical Therapeutic Application of Accelerators

In addition the AATG is currently planning an embedded topical meeting (Acc-App '99) at the ANS Winter meeting in Long Beach, CA, November 14-18, 1999. Full papers will be solicited early next year in the following Accelerator Application related areas: Isotope Production/Destruction, Industrial Applications, Medical Imaging and Therapy, Nuclear Waste Transmutation, Spallation Neutron Sources, Energy Production, Neutronics tools/data, Thermal hydraulics, Materials for Accelerator Applications, Waste Management, Shielding, Safety and Source Term, Design Optimizations, Remote Handling, Systems Engineering/Integration, Target Engineering, Instrumentation and Controls, Structures, Beam Interfaces, etc. Last year's Acc-App conference in Albuquerque, NM was a tremendous success reflective of this vibrant field. Please help us continue this forum by contributing to its success.

Roger Snyder

The position of the Leader of the Radiation Protection (RP) Group in the Technical Inspection and Safety Commission (TIS) at CERN has to be filled around mid-1999.

Potential candidates should have a University degree, preferably a doctorate in physics, and at least ten years' experience in practical radiation protection in a responsible position with interest and good knowledge in the field of regulations and standards comprising managerial responsibilities and international recognition in the field. The person will be responsible for all aspects of radiation protection at CERN and be mandated to represent the Organization in this matter towards the respective authorities in the Host-States, France and Switzerland. Excellent knowledge in either French or English with good knowledge in the other language is necessary.

The RP Group Leader will supervise a team of 25 specialized physicists and technicians working around CERN's high-energy particle accelerators and experiments. The position covers all fields of radiation protection like area, personal and environmental monitoring, radioactive waste management and new developments and projects. The RP Group Leader must keep abreast of all developments in radiation protection on an international scale. Special emphasis is given to quality assurance and related documentation in radiation protection. All these tasks involve interaction and close collaboration with individuals from many different countries and demand a high level of management abilities. The position requires in particular the capability to communicate well all aspects of radiation protection, orally and in written form, both inside and outside CERN.

As this post involves responsibilities at the highest level of scientific and management complexity, employment in the highest career path of the Organization is foreseen, which offers an attractive salary and a number fringe benefits. Detachment arrangements for 3 to 6 years from the present employer would also be welcome.

Nationals from the Member States of CERN may apply for this vacancy:

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.

In line with its policy of Equal Opportunities, the Organisation encourages both men and women with relevant qualifications to apply.

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), a high-energy research facility, has a position for a Radiation Health Physicist available. Will assume responsibility for radiological considerations, operational safety and shielding design. working closely with facility physicists and beam line designers. Requires a recent Ph.D. in Health Physics, Nuclear Engineering or Physics (an MS with equivalent accelerator experience will be considered) and experience with nuclear instrumentation and radiation detection, as well as familiarity with shielding of accelerators, radiation transport calculations, neutron, photon and charged particle dosimetry. Computer proficiency (UNIX & PC) is essential.

Candidates must have excellent communication skills and demonstrated ability to work both independently and as a member of a cohesive team.

SLAC offers competitive compensation and excellent benefits. Please send your resume, referencing Job #17502, to Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, P.O. Box 4349, M/S 11, Stanford, CA 94309.

Equal opportunity through affirmative action.

The US Particle Accelerator School provides educational programs in the field of beams and their associated accelerator technologies not otherwise available to the community of science and technology. It promotes the development and publication of advanced technology textbooks and conducts graduate and undergraduate level courses. In January 1999, the school will hold a session at Vanderbilt University. As part of this session, a course entitled "Radiation Physics, Regulation, and Management." This course may be of interest to those who wish to improve their knowledge of accelerator radiation protection.

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