[ RadSafe ] Can tritium produce bremsstrahlung?

[JGinniver at aol.com]

In a message dated 21/02/2006 21:25:10 GMT Standard Time, stiegli1 at msu.edu  
writes:

Could  someone please tell me if a beta pancake is able to detect tritium in
any  amounts?  I have heard from reputable sources that it can.   Obviously
the beta is too weak to be detected so as I understand it, the  only way
would be to detect the bremsstrahlung radiation.  Is tritium  energetic
enough to produce bremsstrahlung?  Can anyone tell me how  much would be
needed?  I apologize if this is a stupid question but  nobody has totally
answered the question to my  satisfaction.



According to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory "Because this  
attenuation and/or stopping process produces a bremsstrahlung radiation, the  
detection of this tritium bremsstrahlung appears to be the most direct and  
advantageous way to monitor for STP [stable metal tritides] air  contamination.".  
They have a short article on the development of a CAM for  the measurement of 
STPs at : _http://www.llnl.gov/es_and_h/hc_dept/spd/MetalTritides.html_ 
(http://www.llnl.gov/es_and_h/hc_dept/spd/MetalTritides.html) 
 
However it's not clear what measurement technology they are planing to use  
for the detector.  Most modern CAM use Passively Implanted Planar  Silicon 
(PIPS) detectors.  I would have thought that if it was possible to  use a pancake 
geiger to measure tritium bremsstrahlung, then things like  the 'Flat Ferret' 
from Overhoff would not be in production.
 
Regards,
Julian