Evaluation of Temperature Compensated Bubble Dosimeters for Treaty Verification Applications

Due to drawdown of nuclear weapons through treaties among countries and the possible proliferation of nuclear weapons to the Third World, the Defense Nuclear Agency is investigating different methods that can be used to distinguish nuclear from nonnuclear munitions. Due to its small size, lack of electronics, and nonobtrusive data collection capability, the bubble dosimeter is a candidate for this process. The objective of this research is to investigate the response of alternate droplet material bubble dosimeters as it pertains to arms control verification procedures. This was accomplished by theoretically and experimentally studying (1) The bubble dosimeter's response to warhead neutron intensity and energy, (2) the bubble dosimeter's sensitivity to gamma radiation, (3) the bubble dosimeter1s response as a function of temperature, and (4) the bubble dosimeter's response as a function of neutron energy. Conclusions are drawn regarding the potential use of bubble dosimeters for treaty verification applications. Through research on simulated warhead sources, practical procedures are outlined for using the bubble dosimeter to distinguish nuclear from nonnuclear munitions.