BS IEC 60515: 2007 Instrumentation important to safety - Radiation detectors - Characteristics and test methods

This International Standard applies to the radiation detectors which are installed external to
the core of nuclear reactors and which provide electrical input signals to the reactor’s control
and instrumentation system. These detectors are usually gas-filled neutron detectors and this
standard applies only to that type although many of its principles could be used for others, for
example, gas-filled gamma radiation detectors. This standard therefore describes
characteristics and tests methods for gas-filled radiation detectors used for the protection of
nuclear reactors.
The detectors subject to this standard are:
— boron d.c. ionization chambers,
— fission d.c. ionization chambers or fission pulse ionization chambers (fission counters),
— boron trifluoride proportional pulse counter tubes,
— helium-3 proportional pulse counter tubes.
This standard may be used for d.c. ionization chambers for gamma radiation but the detectors
discussed here are not used for personnel dosimetry.
In-core radiation detectors are specifically addressed by IEC 60568 and IEC 61468.