Radiological standards and calibration laboratory capabilities

The Radiological Standards and Calibrations Laboratory, a part of Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL), performs calibrations and upholds reference standards necessary to maintain traceability to national radiological standards. The facility supports U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) programs at the Hanford Site, programs sponsored by DOE Headquarters and other federal agencies, radiological protection programs at other DOE sites, and research programs sponsored through the commercial sector. The laboratory is located in the 318 Building of the Hanford Site`s 300 Area. The facility contains five major exposure rooms and several laboratories used for exposure work preparation, low-activity instrument calibrations, instrument performance evaluations, instrument maintenance, instrument design and fabrication work, and thermoluminescent and radiochromic dosimetry. The major exposure facilities are a low-scatter room used for neutron and photon exposures, a source well room used for high-volume instrument calibration work, an x-ray facility used for energy response studies, a high-exposure facility used for high-rate photon calibration work, and a beta standards laboratory used for beta energy response studies and beta reference calibrations. Calibrations are routinely performed for personnel dosimeters, health physics instrumentations, photon transfer standards and alpha, beta and gamma field sources used throughout the Hanford Site. This report describes the standards and calibrations laboratory.more » Photographs that accompany the text appear in the Appendix and are designated Figure A.1 through A.29.« less