I saw one occasion where the safety doors would close due
to neutron radiation in a hall reaching a
safety .detection. threshold, when the accelerator wasn't
on (most curious!)... those in charge assumed that there
was no radiation present ... so the controls were
physically bypassed to 'hotwire' the doors open.
This was the case for several months before they were
attended to ...
The complexes 'Licence' to operate should have been
instantly revoked ... however it was more indicative of the
staff operating and working in the place.
Staff should never be in fear of their jobs or careers for
raising _any_ safety concerns (no matter how trivial) - I
know this is a little moral of mine ... however the real
world doesn't work like this - It Should!
Most places have had their share of .accidents., recorded
or not. A lot of the older staff may be blasй about the
doses they receive . again astuteness should be a word on
your lips.
Radioactive materials is a next area to look into -
unlicensed (open)sources within or sitting on unlocked
safes crammed ajar full of multiple Curie materials should
be a good warning sign of things and places to avoid ...
along with loose hot materials lying around in various
nooks and crannies ... there is no point sitting next to
something such as a safe without labels on it for half an
hour and then finding out later that the needle on your
meter buries near it ...
... and your TLD doesn't match
later ...
oops~!
There is also no point finding a hot particle on your glove
one evening and not knowing where it came from ... then
doing a sweep and finding drums of unsealed bagged
materials stashed around the corner ... most universities
have little goodies hidden away in all sorts of places,
recorded or not.
Next we come to the accelerator ....
Most complexes have more than one accelerator - along with
the main beam assembly depending on whom they purchased it
from (some/most in antiquity) ... usually there is a large
target floor with multiple beam lines for targeting
selected charge states ... and various target lines running
to experiments.
Shielding should be present around beam dumps - hydrogenous
materials such as boron in wax being the key here ... don't
think - look for them!
The place should be tidy, clean and well kept - with
equipment stashed neatly away ready for operation.
Also watch out for smaller accelerators ... they should be
in their own little bunkers - with their own rad detection
systems and 'on' lights visible from outside.
There is no point being near these when they are on ... or
having them stationed near where people are working
especially when there is a 4 by 2 gib wall between your
environment and the 'baby' accelerator next door.
All accelerator meters should be fed back to the control
room for real time monitoring - and results be available
and entry points to any complex ... remember with pulsed
beams - the initial flux can overcome the sensitivity of
wall mounted (.homemade. (yet another thing to watch)
detectors ... due to the nature of the response time of the
electronics in their circuits - and the nature of the tubes
themselves . interacting with the beam pulses.
Most beams are pulsed for gamma spec purposes . with
general timing resolutions of sub 50 nanoseconds being
achievable. Having staff working on detectors while firing
a beam down is not good . all electronics should be
calibrated remotely.
A small trick for young players.
The Control Room - accelerator 'beam time' should be
clearly marked out - and should be stuck to - period.
Beam currents should be kept low as reasonably
achievable ... there is no point running high charge state
low Z materials and causing excess generation of products
(directional neutron fluence here ... watch out!) .. that's
just plain _dumb_. An often seen event ...
Have the best detectors that you can lay your hands on - if
you can't afford them - why bother running in the first
place?
