The continuing saga of alpha CAM (continuous air monitor) development at Los Alamos
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 Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- 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
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: IEEE nuclear science symposium and exhibits, San Francisco, CA (USA), 25-27 Oct 1989
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Continuous air monitor correlation to fixed air sample data at Los Alamos National Laboratory
Related Subjects
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
RADIATION MONITORS
DESIGN
AEROSOL MONITORING
ALPHA DETECTION
BACKGROUND RADIATION
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
PLUTONIUM
REGULATIONS
ACTINIDES
AIR POLLUTION
AIR POLLUTION MONITORING
CHARGED PARTICLE DETECTION
DETECTION
ELEMENTS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
METALS
MONITORING
MONITORS
POLLUTION
RADIATION DETECTION
RADIATIONS
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS
500300* - Environment
Atmospheric- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)
440101 - Radiation Instrumentation- General Detectors or Monitors & Radiometric Instruments