A Radon Progeny Deposition Model

Journal Article · Wed Apr 27 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3579565· OSTI ID:21513220

Guiseppe, V E ^[1]; Elliott, S R; Hime, A; Rielage, K ^[2]; Westerdale, S ^[2]

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1. University of South Dakota, Vermillion, South Dakota 57069 (United States)
2. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)

The next generation low-background detectors operating underground aim for unprecedented low levels of radioactive backgrounds. Although the radioactive decays of airborne radon (particularly {sup 222}Rn) and its subsequent progeny present in an experiment are potential backgrounds, also problematic is the deposition of radon progeny on detector materials. Exposure to radon at any stage of assembly of an experiment can result in surface contamination by progeny supported by the long half life (22 y) of {sup 210}Pb on sensitive locations of a detector. An understanding of the potential surface contamination from deposition will enable requirements of radon-reduced air and clean room environments for the assembly of low background experiments. It is known that there are a number of environmental factors that govern the deposition of progeny onto surfaces. However, existing models have not explored the impact of some environmental factors important for low background experiments. A test stand has been constructed to deposit radon progeny on various surfaces under a controlled environment in order to develop a deposition model. Results from this test stand and the resulting deposition model are presented.

• OSTI ID: 21513220
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1338, Issue 1; Conference: LRT-2010: Topical workshop on low radioactivity techniques, Sudbury (Canada), 28-29 Aug 2010; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3579565; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR
BETA DECAY
DAUGHTER PRODUCTS
DEPOSITION
DEPOSITS
HALF-LIFE
LEAD 210
MATERIALS
NONLUMINOUS MATTER
PROGENY
RADIATION SOURCES
RADON
RADON 222
SIMULATION
SURFACE CONTAMINATION
UNDERGROUND
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CONTAMINATION
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DECAY
ELEMENTS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FLUIDS
GASES
HEAVY NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
LEAD ISOTOPES
LEVELS
MATTER
NONMETALS
NUCLEAR DECAY
NUCLEI
RADIOISOTOPES
RADON ISOTOPES
RARE GASES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES