Solid-state detector system for measuring concentrations of tritiated water vapour and other radioactive gases

A detector system was built using a silicon photodiode plus preamplifier an d a cesium iodide scintillator plus preamplifier that were commercially ava ilable. The potential of the system for measuring concentrations of tritiat ed water vapour in the presence of other radioactive sources was investigat ed. For purposes of radiation protection, the sensitivity of the detector s ystem was considered too low for measuring tritiated water vapour concentra tions in workplaces such as nuclear power plants. Nevertheless, the spectro metry capability of the system was used successfully to differentiate among st some radioactive gases in laboratory tests, Although this relatively sma ll system can measure radioactive noble gases as well as tritiated water va pour concentrations, its response to photons remains an issue. (C) 1999 Els evier Science B.V. All rights reserved.