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This is a completely hypothetical question but say I have an unknown radioactive source inside a steel box, given the dimensions of the volumetric source and the container, the neutron dose rate 1m outside of the box, the density of the volumetric source and the average neutron energy. How would I go about calculating the activity of the source inside? So far I've worked out that I can use the following equation to calculate the neutron dose rate on the inside of the steel box Neutron Attenuation Equation

I figured from here on out I could fairly easily find the neutron flux. The I guess I could probably use this to work out some form of reaction rate with the sides of the steel container and potentially use that to back calculate an activity but I'm unsure exactly how I would do this without knowing what radionuclide(s) were causing this. Any help on how I could proceed to try and find a source activity would be greatly appreciated :) (or if I have gone wrong so far please let me know)

sp444cegirl
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It is simply impossible to give the activity of a radioactive source (unit: Bq, becquerel) by determining the radiation level emitted.

In your case, the emission of a neutron does not necessarily mean 1 Bq.

It depends on the radionuclide and the branching ratio ( branching fraction ) which are nuclear data that you must know moreover, they are given on the decay schemes of each radionuclide

And so, you cannot recognize a radionuclide, simply by counting the particles emitted.

Jean Jacques
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