Industrial reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuel (INF) is one of the most complex procedures performed on a large scale; the process is intricate due to the mix of radionuclides present in INF. As a global trend for nuclear power and reprocessing continues, research is geared toward optimizing the extraction of...
Digital Instrumentation and Detection is becoming the future of radiation detection and measurement. Computers are able to perform digitally what before would have taken an extensive array of analog equipment. The art of teaching radiation detection and measurement is following this same pattern of a shift from purely analog to...
The use of Ionization Chambers and Thermo-luminescent dosimeters (TLD's) in the medical field has established a need to determine if the skin depth dose response is comparable between the two detectors. This research will determine if the dose response from an Ionization chamber is comparable to a Thermo-luminescent dosimeter system...
As a standard practice, the use of radioactive materials has been widely used when treating many diseases. In recent years advances in biotechnology and labeling techniques have broadened the application of these materials. Candidates selected for radiopharmaceutical therapy may be treated on an outpatient basis or hospitalized following administration to...
The use of medical diagnostic imaging involving ionizing radiation has drastically increased in recent years causing concern about possible long term consequences such as the induction of cancer. Recognizing this recent trend, the
Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the Nebraska Medical Center commissioned this study in order to determine effective...
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Exposure from medical radiation sources are on the rise in the United States. Often the highest potential source of radiation dose to patients and radiology staff occur during interventional radiology procedures performed using fluoroscopy and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) to provide image guidance in minimally invasive surgical procedures. Several...
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) sets regulations for specific depths in the human skin for exposure to highly localized radioactive particles known as hot particles. This research determines the dose rate to a 10 cm² area with a density thickness of 1 mg/cm² at depths representing shallow dose, lens of...
This thesis evaluates dose rates from the TRIGA® reactor by comparing ion chamber measured exposure rates to exposure rates calculated from MCNP5 model data. The first step evaluates the energy distribution required to match ion chamber exposure rates from measurements taken at 1 foot increments above the reactor core. Next,...
The goal of Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative program is to efficiently separate and recover actinides in attempts to reprocess irradiated nuclear fuel and reduce the necessary storage volume. In order to facilitate large-scale industrial
applications of liquid-liquid separation processes, knowledge of the thermodynamic constants associated with the distribution of metal...
Uranium is the most common radionuclide that found in the nature. It is a radionuclide with a very low specific activity. There is limited data on plan uptake of uranium. This research was to determine the plant uptake of uranium, calculate the concentration ratio, and estimate the dose from eating...
This thesis presents an approach to develop innovative methods for decontamination and surface protection applicable to naval nuclear ships and potentially, personnel, replacing antiquated techniques. To accomplish this goal, two products manufactured by CBI Polymers, LLC., DeconGel™ 1101 (1101) and a shampoo, DeconGel™ "prototype" (prototype), were tested.
The prototype was...
As the field of radiation therapy evolves new treatment techniques will be
established. An example of an evolving treatment technique is respiratory gated
radiation therapy (RGRT). Research and studies have shown that RGRT can be used
to account for tumor motion as a result of respiratory motion. With evolving
technology...
A thesis presented on the determination of factors related to deposition, clearance, and dosimetry of the ICRP 30 lung model as related to smoking. Variations in calculations used to determine radiation doses leave a need to determine a standard method to determine absorbed dose from smoking. Standard parameters are used...
Eye plaque brachytherapy is an established technique for the treatment of ocular melanoma that allows for the preservation of the affected eye as well as visual function. A common treatment planning system for eye plaque procedures, Plaque Simulator (PS), assists physicists in calculating the radiation dose to the tumor and...
The photoneutron production from three Varian linear accelerators ranging in energies from 6 MV to 23 MV has been investigated. Photoneutrons are produced during (γ, n) interactions with materials located within the treatment head. These unwanted neutrons not only increase patient dose, but may also lead to the requirement of...
In intra-arterial radioembolization, nano- and micro-scaled carriers are used in patients with liver tumors that cannot be removed by surgery to deliver various radioisotopes with the aim of improving the outcome of tumor radiotherapy, of minimizing dose to healthy tissue, and of improving the quality of the diagnosis and imaging....
The advances in the nuclear sciences over the past sixty years have yielded many beneficial technologies and applications, such as power generation, food irradiation, and medical diagnostic devices and techniques. However, these advances have also allowed the advent of nuclear and radiological weapons. This paper will focus on one type...
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relative performance of compact ionization chambers as it changes based on the speed of detector motion and collection volume. To quantify changes, multiple scans were made with each of a selection of compact chambers and repeated varying detector speed. Each scan...