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17-Phys-B1 Radiation Physics: December 2016

Nivaar worked solution (AI-drafted; not reviewed by a licensed engineer)

  1. Question 1 Fukushima Cooling-Water Isotopes and Caesium's Effective Half-Life
  2. Question 2 Cyclotron Vault Mixed-Field Dose Rates — Sv to Gy
  3. Question 3 Non-Ionizing EM Field of a 50 kW Radio Transmitter
  4. Question 4 Inverse Compton Scattering — Generating 10 MeV Photons
  5. Question 5 Detection, Instrumentation and Shielding of Fission-Neutron Radiation
  6. Question 6 SMR vs. Renewable Energy for an Off-Grid Northern Community — Professional Memo
  7. Question 7 Radioiodine ( 131 I) Thyroid Dosimetry for Graves' Disease

Start with Question 1 →

Paper format. 98-Phys-B1 Radiation Physics, National Examination December 2016 — a three-hour open-book examination in which any non-communicating calculator is permitted (the candidate must record the calculator's make and model on the first sheet). The cover page states the exam has 7 questions worth a total of 87 points, of which only 80 points' worth need be answered for full marks; every question and sub-part is nonetheless answered in full below so the paper remains a complete study resource. The cover page's own marking-scheme summary (13+9+8+10+19+10+18 = 87) is internally consistent with the stated total. The cover page also invites the candidate to submit a written statement of any assumptions made where a question is open to interpretation — this licence is used below in Question 2 (ICRP-60 neutron weighting factors are assumed for the thermal/fast neutron energy brackets, since none are given explicitly), Question 4 (the source's printed comparison wavelength "10 pm" for a carbon-dioxide laser photon is read as the real CO2-laser wavelength, 10 μm, since no laser emits at 10 picometres), Question 5(f) (shield thicknesses are order-of-magnitude illustrative estimates, since the source gives no source strength/dose-rate target to size against), and Question 5(g) (the fission-energy-distribution percentages are standard textbook illustrative values, since the source gives no numeric data of its own to compute them from).

Reference texts. K. S. Krane, Introductory Nuclear Physics (nuclear reaction equations, fission energetics, mass–energy conservation); F. H. Attix, Introduction to Radiological Physics and Radiation Dosimetry (photon/EM interactions, non-ionizing radiation, shielding); J. R. Cember and T. E. Johnson, Introduction to Health Physics, 5th ed. (internal dosimetry, radiation weighting factors, MIRD absorbed-fraction formalism, ALARA); J. E. Turner, Atoms, Radiation, and Radiation Protection, 3rd ed. (neutron detection/shielding, Compton scattering, radiation protection tenets).