Radon emanation measurements using silicon photodiode detectors
Abstract
Driven by the global concern about radon hazards, a wide variety of methods to measure radon and its decay products have been developed.Pin silicon photodiodes are increasingly applied in this field, their main advantages being high detection efficiency for alpha particles and low cost.In this paper, we present a system to determine the emanation factor for 222Rn from porous material based on a pin photodiode.This equipment is valid both for field and laboratory measurements, allowing to monitor the external emanation conditions by means of temperature, humidity and pressure sensors.To illustrate the capabilities of the system, we present two case studies of samples with high and low 226Ra content.The activity of this radionuclide in the samples had been previously determined by g-ray spectrometry.
Description
We are thankful to Dr.L. S.Quindos and the staff of his laboratory for assistance in the experiment calibration and to M. Bordonada (ENUSA S.A.) for providing the uraniferous samples.This work has been supported by Junta de Castilla y Leon and Iberdrola.
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