Implementation of a Portable HPGe for Field Contamination Assay

Using MCNP to construct a detector model based initially on x-ray images of a portable high purity germanium (HPGe) detector followed by normalizing covering material values to also agree with check source responses, a validation of the model was attained. By calibrating the detector parameters using large count spectra, rigorous reproducibility is attained for high activity measurements but does not prevent deviations from normality in error distributions at the very low count events where spectral peaks are not always identifiable. The resulting model was created to allow operational assay of contamination over large areal distributions that could not otherwise be measured, such as the exhaust shaft at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Results indicate that contamination levels of activity in the exhaust shaft can be assayed to within a factor of 2. Detection limits are evaluated to be well below the contamination levels, which would constitute a legal environmental release if unfiltered ventilation of the underground facility were used.