Home radon monitor modeled after the common smoke detector

Conference · Wed Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:10120280

Bolton, R D; Johnson, J P

The EPA has declared that five million or so of the nation`s 80 million homes may have indoor radon levels that pose an unacceptably high risk of lung cancer to occupants. They estimate that four times as many people die from radon-induced lung cancers as from fires in the home. Therefore the EPA has recommended that all homes be tested and that action be taken to reduce the radon concentration in homes that test above the 4 pCi/L level. The push to have homeowners voluntarily test for elevated radon levels has been only marginally successful. A reliable, inexpensive, and accurate in-home radon monitor designed along the same general lines as a home smoke detector might overcome much of the public reluctance to test homes for radon. Such a Home Radon Monitor (HRM) is under development at Los Alamos National Laboratory. To be acceptable to the public, HRMs should have the following characteristics in common with smoke detectors: low cost, small size, ease of installation and use, low maintenance, and high performance. Recent advances in Long-Range Alpha Detection technology are being used in the design of a HRM that should meet or exceed all these characteristics. A proof-of-principle HRM detector prototype has been constructed and results from tests of this prototype will be presented.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 10120280
• Report Number(s): LA-UR--95-172; CONF-950216--38; ON: DE95006299
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320107
440101
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540130
560101
61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY
BUILDING SYSTEMS
DESIGN
DETECTION
DOSIMETRY AND MONITORING
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
GENERAL DETECTORS OR MONITORS AND RADIOMETRIC INSTRUMENTS
HEALTH HAZARDS
HOUSES
INDOOR AIR CONTAMINATION
LUNGS
NEOPLASMS
RADIATION DETECTORS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS MONITORING AND TRANSPORT
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
RADON