Looking for a calculator for Cf-252 spontaneous fission rate

[stormgoalie]

Trying to find an online calculator that can provide me the approximate neutron dose rate for a given activity of Cf-252. I am receiving a source as waste and want to establish the estimated dose rate as I have no neutron monitoring capability.  Any help would be appreciated.

[Rennhack]

Have you tried the RadPro Calculator linked to in the study section, under calculators?

http://www.nukeworker.com/study/calculators.shtml

[stormgoalie]

Yep, nothing there that covers this at all.  Reason I am looking is that we are receiving a 2.35 mCi Cf-252 source as waste and there are questions as to its neutron dose rates, if any at all.  Am hoping to find a quick and dirty approximation to pass on to my Health Physicist to assist him.

[cincinnatinuke]

Have you tried to contact the dose manufacturer directly?  Give a Canberra or IPL a call and they may have the information you need.  They can probably give the birth certificate on the source if it is one they made and that should have info like manufacture date, emission rate for beta and neutron sources or AKR for gamma sources.

If it is being shipped to you special form, then you may get this certificate as documentation.  Or you could request the original user to send what he has.

[AnotherExELT]

Actually I currently work for one of those source manufacturers get in contact w/ me and I'd be glad to help you out. CF-252 sources are one of my specialties. I'd be surprised if the OEM isn't willing to take the source back FOC for recycling.

[Rennhack]

We have a winner!  I love this site.  Thanks AnotherExELT.

[stormgoalie]

Actually I currently work for one of those source manufacturers get in contact w/ me and I'd be glad to help you out. CF-252 sources are one of my specialties. I'd be surprised if the OEM isn't willing to take the source back FOC for recycling.

I PM'd you. Thanks for the offer to assist. By the way of an update we have denied acceptance of this source pending a request for more information. Also, further investigation indicated that the activity value supplied by the waste generator was from 1992!! Given the relatively short half life of Cf-252 (just over 2 years) a quick decay calculation brings the activity down to a more comfy level as it were All the responses are appreciated and keep on making this site the great resource that it is.

Cheers,
Jim

[TN-Man]

Maybe this is too simple, but I was looking on our internal ( ORNL) HP web page and we have a copy of the Los Alamos Radiation Monitoring Notebook LA-UR-2584 June 2000 by James T. (Tom ) Voss. On page 73 there is a table of "Radiation Levels of commonly encountered Radionuclide" and for Cf-252 it gives a value of 0.46 mR/hr/mCi at 30 cm. It might be the good estimate you need.
Some one tell me if I used this table incorrectly.