COMPARISON OF RADON DAUGHTER MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES USED IN EUROPEAN ANIMAL EXPOSURE FACILITIES

The effects of radon daughter inhalation by animals is being studied b y three organisations in Europe. The individual exposure facilities us ed are described. For meaningful comparisons of the results from these studies, the radiological character of the exposure atmospheres must be compared, therefore a series of comparison exercises has been initi ated. It is planned to make measurements of radon daughter concentrati ons and 'unattached' fractions by the three groups side by side at eac h facility. The exposure atmospheres at two facilities have been studi ed to date; CEA/COGEMA, Razes, France and TNO, Rijswijk, The Netherlan ds. Sampling flow rate and reference standards were also intercompared by the groups. The paper discusses the measurement methods employed, and the reasons for discrepancies in results between the groups, thus ensuring that future work by all three groups will be directly compara ble.