Preliminary study of radiation damage in liquid scintillators

An initial examination of radiation-damage phenomenology in selected liquid scintillators was made. Standard liquid scintillators exhibited substantial radiation damage after dosage levels of several megarads. Unlike the case with plastic scintillators, no significant changes in transmission were detected, implying that no strong absorption of the secondary fluor should occur in long samples. The observed substantial drop in scintillation pulse height after exposures of several megarad from a /sup 60/Co gamma source is attributed to radiation-induced absorption of the primary fluor's emission by the damaged solvent. Some new formulations have shown significantly greater radiation resistance.<
>