Future developments in the NRPB PADC neutron personal monitoring service

NRPB has been operating an etched track neutron personal monitoring service for ten years. This has, since its inception, used an etch regime which is a combination of a chemical etch and a 2 kHz electrochemical etch. Processing at most other laboratories has settled on either a chemical etch or a two frequency electrochemical etch. These other types of processing each have significant advantages, but attempts to introduce them for routine processing at NRPB have also shown them to have significant disadvantages. Recent improvements in the manufacture of PADC have, however, changed the situation markedly, leading to the prospect of a viable two frequency electrochemical etch for routine personal monitoring.