Characterisation of the IPNE Bonner sphere spectrometer by comparison with the PTB system

An existing set of Bonner spheres of the Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering in Bucharest has been modified following the PTB design for application of an He-3-filled SP9 counter. By simple interpolations of the fluence responses of the PTB spheres, a preliminary fluence response matrix could be established for the IPNE Bonner sphere set. For further adjustments of the preliminary responses and for validation of the final fluence response matrix of the Romanian Bonner sphere spectrometer, calibration measurements with a reference Cf-252 neutron source and joint measurements, including the PTB Bonner sphere spectrometer, were performed in a few neutron fields differing substantially in their spectral distributions. It is estimated that the integral neutron fluences and dose-equivalent values can now be determined with the Romanian spectrometer with uncertainties of about +/-4% and +/-8%, respectively. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.