Transient Effects of Pulsed Nuclear Radiation on Electronic Parts and Materials

Nuclear radiation induced transient changes in the electrical characteristics of electronic parts and materials obtained in recent experiments at the GODIVA II pulse reactor are described and discussed. The electronic parts investigated and monitored during exposure include: coaxial cables; resistors of various types and manufacture, ranging in value from 100 ohm to 1 megohm; sensistors; capacitors, ceramic and tantalum; rectifiers, silicon and selenium; and magnetic cores, ferrite. Most of the parts during exposure show transient parameter changes which exceed the tolerance values and then recover generally to the nominal value within two to five msec. This behavior is of serious concern in data and information processing equipment and in high-frequency and high-accuracy instrumentation which are exposed to such a nuclear environment, yet which must maintain their operational tolerance even for short periods of time.