The radiation environment on the Moon includes albedo neutrons produced by primary particles interacting with the lunar surface. In this work, HZETRN2010 is used to calculate the albedo neutron contribution to effective dose as a function of shielding thickness for four different space radiation environments and to determine to what extent various factors affect such estimates. First, albedo neutron spectra computed with HZETRN2010 are compared to Monte Carlo results in various radiation environments. Next, the impact of lunar regolith composition on the albedo neutron spectrum is examined, and the variation on effective dose caused by neutron fluence-to-effective dose conversion coefficients is studied. A methodology for computing effective dose in detailed human phantoms using HZETRN2010 is also discussed and compared. Finally, the combined variation caused by environmental models, shielding materials, shielding thickness, regolith composition and conversion coefficients on the albedo neutron contribution to effective dose is determined. It is shown that a single percentage number for characterizing the albedo neutron contribution to effective dose can be misleading. In general, the albedo neutron contribution to effective dose is found to vary between 1–32%, with the environmental model, shielding material and shielding thickness being the driving factors that determine the exact contribution. It is also shown that polyethylene or other hydrogen-rich materials may be used to mitigate the albedo neutron exposure.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
1 December 2011
Research Article|
August 22 2011
Variation in Lunar Neutron Dose Estimates
Tony C. Slaba;
Tony C. Slaba
1
NASA Langley Research Center, 2 West Reid St., MS 188E, Hampton, Virginia 23681
1Address for correspondence: NASA Langley Research Center, 2 West Reid St., MS 188E, Hampton, Virginia 23681; e-mail: Tony.C.Slaba@nasa.gov.
Search for other works by this author on:
Steve R. Blattnig;
Steve R. Blattnig
NASA Langley Research Center, 2 West Reid St., MS 188E, Hampton, Virginia 23681
Search for other works by this author on:
Martha S. Clowdsley
Martha S. Clowdsley
NASA Langley Research Center, 2 West Reid St., MS 188E, Hampton, Virginia 23681
Search for other works by this author on:
Radiat Res (2011) 176 (6): 827–841.
Article history
Received:
March 04 2011
Accepted:
July 19 2011
Citation
Tony C. Slaba, Steve R. Blattnig, Martha S. Clowdsley; Variation in Lunar Neutron Dose Estimates. Radiat Res 1 December 2011; 176 (6): 827–841. doi: https://doi.org/10.1667/RR2616.1
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Client Account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Sign in via your Institution
Sign in via your InstitutionCiting articles via
Commonalities Between COVID-19 and Radiation Injury
Carmen I. Rios, David R. Cassatt, Brynn A. Hollingsworth, Merriline M. Satyamitra, Yeabsera S. Tadesse, Lanyn P. Taliaferro, Thomas A. Winters, Andrea L. DiCarlo
DNA Damage Response Genes and the Development of Cancer Metastasis
Constantinos G. Broustas, Howard B. Lieberman
Radiofrequency Fields and Calcium Movements Into and Out of Cells
Andrew Wood, Ken Karipidis
Germicidal Efficacy and Mammalian Skin Safety of 222-nm UV Light
Manuela Buonanno, Brian Ponnaiya, David Welch, Milda Stanislauskas, Gerhard Randers-Pehrson, Lubomir Smilenov, Franklin D. Lowy, David M. Owens, David J. Brenner
Predictive Radiation Oncology – A New NCI–DOE Scientific Space and Community
Jeffrey C. Buchsbaum, David A. Jaffray, Demba Ba, Lynn L. Borkon, Christine Chalk, Caroline Chung, Matthew A. Coleman, C. Norman Coleman, Maximilian Diehn, Kelvin K. Droegemeier, Heiko Enderling, Michael G. Espey, Emily J. Greenspan, Christopher M. Hartshorn, Thuc Hoang, H. Timothy Hsiao, Cynthia Keppel, Nathan W. Moore, Fred Prior, Eric A. Stahlberg, Georgia Tourassi, Karen E. Willcox