1 RESEARCH PROPOSAL TO THE iTHEMBA LABS: PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH PROGRAMME ON THE SSC FACILITY Test of Spectrometers and Dosemeters for the Investigation of the Radiation Environment onboard Spacecraft and around High- Energy Accelerators DATE 2006-10-

Neutron fields encountered around high-energy accelerators and on board spacecraft are both characterised by a broad spectral distribution extending from thermal energies to several hundred MeV. Therefore they pose a considerable challenge for appropriate monitoring of this component for radiation protection purposes on ground and in orbit. This is of particular importance for new accelerators like the upcoming FAIR project in Germany, which are designed to deliver much higher currents at higher energies and for the International Space Station (ISS) where, due to the higher mass, the neutron exposure of the astronauts increased compared to former missions. In addition, the duration of missions was recently increased to more than 180 days. The proposed project focuses on the experimental characterisation of instruments which are either designed for the investigation of the neutron energy distribution in these fields or used for routine monitoring of the exposure of personnel. Due to the deficiencies of nuclear models in the medium energy range around and above 200 MeV, an experimental verification of calculated response functions and detection efficiencies using quasi