Calibration facilites for borehole and surface environmental radiation measurements

Instruments that measurein situ radiation from natural or radiochemically-contaminated earth formations must be calibrated in appropriate facilities to provide quantitative assessments of concentrations of radionuclides. For instruments that are inserted into boreholes, these calibration facilities are typically special models having holes for probe insertion and having sufficient size to appear radiometrically infinite in extent. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has such models at Hanford, Washington, and Grand Junction, Colorado. They are concrete cylinders having a central borehole and containing known, enhanced amounts of K, U, and Th for spectral gamma-ray measurements. Additional models contain U for calibrating neutron probes for fissile materials and total-count gamma-ray probes. Models for calibrating neutron probes for moisture measurements in unsaturated formations exist for steel-cased boreholes at Hanford and for uncased boreholes at the DOE's Nevada Test Site. Large surface pads are available at Grand Junction for portable, vehicle-mounted, or airplane-mounted spectral gamma-ray detectors.