The continuing saga of alpha CAM (continuous air monitor) development at Los Alamos

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:5519943

Nelson, D C; Wolf, M A; McAtee, III, J L

Monitoring requirements for airborne plutonium are becoming increasingly stringent as regulations require progressively lower limits of detection. The current requirement of 8 DAC-hours reflects the limitations of today's technology for workplace monitoring. Simultaneously, closed-ventilation systems and massive concrete buildings are concentrating radon and its daughter products. The daughter products produce a spectrum that degrades the ability of a continuous air monitor (CAM) to make accurate low-level determinations of plutonium. Los Alamos has been working on improved methods for detecting airborne alpha emitters in the presence of radon daughter products for the last 2 years. These efforts were recently coordinated into a program to examine all facets of CAM operation including aerosol collection, detection, signal processing, computation, alarming, communications, and finally, instrument cost. 4 refs., 2 figs.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/DP
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 5519943
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-89-3431; CONF-891087--9; ON: DE90002382
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

440101 -- Radiation Instrumentation-- General Detectors or Monitors & Radiometric Instruments
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
500300* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ACTINIDES
AEROSOL MONITORING
AIR POLLUTION
AIR POLLUTION MONITORING
ALPHA DETECTION
BACKGROUND RADIATION
CHARGED PARTICLE DETECTION
DESIGN
DETECTION
ELEMENTS
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
METALS
MONITORING
MONITORS
PLUTONIUM
POLLUTION
RADIATION DETECTION
RADIATION MONITORS
RADIATIONS
REGULATIONS
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS