DEVELOPMENT, VALIDATION, AND DEMONSTRATION OF THE NTHU FLIGHT DOSE CALCULATOR

• Main Authors: Li, An-Lun, 李安倫
• Other Authors: Sheu, Rong-Jiun
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2017
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/497f32

碩士 === 國立清華大學 === 核子工程與科學研究所 === 105 === Galactic cosmic rays from outer space enter the Earth’s atmosphere and interact with air nuclei, leading to a phenomenon called the cosmic-ray air shower. Because the atmosphere provides scant protection to aircraft at high altitudes, aircrew are exposed to elevated levels of cosmic radiation. It’s necessary to evaluate receiving dose of aircrew. Aircrew in the European Union have been recognized as occupationally exposed workers since 1996. Several national and international organizations have published guidelines for monitoring and managing the doses received by aircrew. In line with this trend, the Atomic Energy Council in Taiwan has initiated research on improving aircrew exposure and regulatory control. Absolute intensities and energy spectra of secondary components in the atmosphere are complex and depend on numerous factors, including altitude, latitude, and solar activity. Numerical methods are extensively used to evaluate radiation exposure for aircraft crew and passengers. Literature on this topic is abundant, and various assessment codes are currently being used for aircrew dosimetry. To the authors’ knowledge, most flight routes investigated in the literature serve cities at intermediate and high latitudes; these routes do not include various flights of interest in Taiwan, although where the geomagnetic cutoff rigidity is nearly the highest in the world and the intensity of cosmic radiation is relatively low. Therefore, this study performed appropriate dose assessments for popular flights in Taiwan and developed a reliable and easy-to-use computer program (NTHU Flight Dose Calculator) for this purpose. 10 completed simulation projects which content electronic components was added to improve accuracy of database, following by previous work, which contain 50 simulation projects (44 simplified & 6 completed projects). Using newly developed NTHU flight dose calculator to compare 11 different software in 23 flight routes, which from EURADOS report. Also, choosing flight routes from Taipei to 11 cities worldwide to calculate flight dose of interest in Taiwan. The radiation components include neutron, proton, muon, photon, electron and positron. Finally, we use error propagation theory to analyze and confirm the accuracy. The software is available to public and authority, and can become a tool of cosmic radiation research.