Performance of an alpha air monitor in a dusty environment

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA)

OSTI ID:5326131

Hoover, M D; Newton, G J; Yeh, H C; Seiler, F A; Boecker, B B

Monitoring for airborne alpha-emitting radionuclides such as plutonium can be especially problematic because of interference from background radiation and airborne dust. Alpha emissions of naturally occurring radon progeny can result in false alarms or prevent the system for accurately measuring low plutonium concentrations. Fortuitously, advances in microelectronics have enabled the development of affordable instruments that use alpha detection to measure the presence of plutonium in a background of radon progeny. Each air monitor includes a microchip-based multichannel analyzer that distinguishes alpha radiation as a function of alpha energy. Embedded computer programs analyze the spectrum of alpha radiation being detected and compute the contribution arising from plutonium. Accumulation of airborne dust can prevent alpha radiation collected on the sample filter from reaching the detector, thus underreporting plutonium concentration. The work reported in this paper was to quantify the effects of dust burial, determine minimum detection limits, and propose methods for avoiding errors in detecting airborne plutonium in dusty environments. The work was undertaken in support of the US Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), but is relevant to other operations involving the handling, cleanup, or disposal of plutonium.

• OSTI ID: 5326131
• Report Number(s): CONF-890604--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA) Journal Volume: 59
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

053000 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Environmental Aspects
054000* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Health & Safety
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220900 -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Reactor Safety
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540130 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
ACCURACY
ACTINIDES
AEROSOLS
AIR SAMPLERS
ALARM SYSTEMS
ALPHA SOURCES
BACKGROUND RADIATION
COLLOIDS
DETECTION
DISPERSIONS
DUSTS
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
ERRORS
FILTERS
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
ION SOURCES
METALS
MONITORING
MULTI-CHANNEL ANALYZERS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
PARTICLE SIZE
PARTICLE SOURCES
PILOT PLANTS
PLUTONIUM
PULSE ANALYZERS
QUANTITY RATIO
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIATION SOURCES
RADIATIONS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
SAMPLERS
SIZE
SOLS
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
US DOE
US ORGANIZATIONS
WIPP