SKYDOSE

J.K. Shultis, R.E. Faw and R.C. Brockhoff
Kansas State University,
Manhattan, KS 66506


SKYDOSE evaluates the gamma-ray skyshine dose from an isotropic, polyenergetic, point gamma-photon source collimated by three simple geometries: (1) a source in a silo, (2) a source behind an infinitely long, vertical, black wall, and (3) a source in a rectangular building. In all three geometries an optional overhead slab shield may be specified. This code is based on the integral line-beam method using an improved 3-parameter approximation for the line-beam response function. For shielded sources, an approximate method is used based on exponential attenuation with buildup in the shield.

The source energy E must be between 0.02 and 100 MeV, except for sources with an overhead shield, for which case 0.02 < E < 10 MeV. The maximum source-to-detector distance is 3000 m for E < 10 MeV and 1500 m for higher energies. For more complex geometries and a more accurate treatment of the overhead source shield, a companion code McSKY is available. This code, which is much more computationally intensive, is based on a hybrid Monte Carlo and line-beam method.

For a user's mannual, see the report J.K. Shultis and R.E. Faw, SKYDOSE: A Code for Gamma Skyshine Calculations Using the Integral Line-Beam Method, Report 9902, Institute for Computational Research in Engineering and Scinece, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, June 1999. This report, in PostScript and Adobe PDF format, is provided in the distribution package available from this site.

Current version is 2.3, released June 10, 1999.

For additional information see also: J.K. Shultis and R.E. Faw, Extensions to the Integral Line-Beam Method for Gamma-Ray Skyshine Analyses, SAND94-2019, 161 pp, Sandia National Lab., Albuquerque, NM, 1995. Click for report abstract