Evaluation of draft ANSI Sandard N42. 17 by testing

Although limited guidance on the performance of health physics instrumentation exists, a broad specification of performance requirements does not exist. Draft ANSI Standard N42.17, Performance Specifications for Health Physics Instrumentation, seeks to rectify this by providing a standard with a broad category of performance requirements and evaluation procedures. The standard was written in 1981 by a task group that included both manufacturers and users of these instruments as well as representation from the regulatory bodies; the second draft of this standard is currently being evaluated by Pacific Northwest Laboratory. Objectives of the study include the evaluation of the applicability and practicality of the proposed standard and the determination of the degree of conformance of a cross-section of currently available commercial instruments to the proposed standard. This standard is being tested against such instruments as ionization chambers, G.M. detectors, alpha survey meters, and neutron dose equivalent survey meters. The proposed standard is broad in scope. Radiological, electrical, mechanical, safety, and environmental performance criteria are specified and tests to evaluate conformance are detailed. This paper presents results of performance tests on ionization chambers, G.M. detectors, alpha survey meters, and some information on neutron rem-meters. This includes the data generated during the testsmore » preceded by a discussion of testing requirements and procedures developed to perform the testing.« less