Real-time transuranic monitoring with a Victoreen Model 758 alpha continuous air monitor.

摘要

Data are presented on the performance of the Victoreen Model 758 alpha continuous air monitor (CAM). The solid state silicon detector installed in the Model 758 alpha CAM was calibrated using (sup 239)Pu filter standards specifically prepared for this study. The calibration of the Model 758's mass flow sensor was checked using a conventional flow meter. Using the alpha CAM, ambient air was sampled overnight inside the ETRC Building at TRA and inside the RWMC Building WMF 602. Dust-laden air was generated inside a glove-box using an aerosolizer and samples of soil from the vicinity of the Rocky Flats Plant and the RWMC. This glove-box air was sampled on several occasions to determine the effect of dust loading on the response of the CAM to natural background radiation. High-mass (sup 239)Pu filter standards were also prepared and analyzed to determine the effect of mass loading on the response of the detector to (sup 239)Pu deposited on a sample collection filter. Two commonly used spectrum analysis techniques -- the three-window method and the Los Alamos four-window method -- were evaluated using alpha spectra collected during samplings of natural ambient air. 9 refs., 39 figs., 42 tabs.