Radiolytic yield of ozone in air for low dose neutron and x-ray/gamma-ray radiation

Radiation ionizes surrounding air and produces molecular species, and these localized effects may be used as a signature of, and for quantification of, radiation. Low-level ozone production measurements from radioactive sources have been performed in this work to understand radiation chemical yields at low doses. The University of New Mexico AGN-201 M reactor was used as a tunable radiation source. Ozone levels were compared between reactor-on and reactor-off conditions, and differences (0.61 to 0.73 ppb) well below background levels were measured. Simulations were performed to determine the dose rate distribution and average dose rate to the air sample within the reactor, giving 35 mGy of mixed photon and neutron dose. A radiation chemical yield for ozone of 6.5±0.8 molecules/100 eV was found by a variance weighted average of the data. The different contributions of photons and neutrons to radiolytic ozone production are discussed.