[ RadSafe ] Can tritium produce bremsstrahlung?

[Jean-Francois, Stephane]

Can you share the reputable sources that tells you that H-3 (in any amount!)
can be detected by a Beta pancake ? A Geiger counter (gas chamber
technology, this is what UI assume you are saying by "pancake") is very bad
for detecting X-rays, less then 1 % efficiency for pancakes if my memory
serves me well. So obviously "any amount of H-3" is a bit far fetch for a
pancake. I would not recommend AT ALL to use a pancake for tritium, beta
will not go through the window and Bremstrahlung will not be detected. Is
this a clear answer ?

Let's but it this way: I have a large tritium lab (37 TBq...oups, 1000 Ci)
here and I would be VERY HAPPY if I would be able to control contamination
with a pancake.  Please check your sources for info.

This is not a stupid question, hopefully MY ANSWER is not stupid either !

Regards,

Stéphane Jean-François, Eng., CHP
Manager, Environmental and Health Physics services
Merck Frosst Canada
514-428-8695
514-428-8670
stephane_jeanfrancois at merck.com
www.merckfrosst.com


-----Message d'origine-----
De : radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] De la part
de JGinniver at aol.com
Envoyé : Tuesday, February 21, 2006 5:35 PM
À : stiegli1 at msu.edu
Cc : radsafe at radlab.nl
Objet : Re: [ RadSafe ] Can tritium produce bremsstrahlung?


 
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 
_______________________________________________
You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list

Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and understood the
RadSafe rules. These can be found at:
http://radlab.nl/radsafe/radsaferules.html

For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings visit:
http://radlab.nl/radsafe/



------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notice:  This e-mail message, together with any attachments, contains information of Merck & Co., Inc. (One Merck Drive, Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, USA 08889), and/or its affiliates (which may be known outside the United States as Merck Frosst, Merck Sharp & Dohme or MSD and in Japan, as Banyu) that may be confidential, proprietary copyrighted and/or legally privileged. It is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity named on this message.  If you are not the intended recipient, and have received this message in error, please notify us immediately by reply e-mail and then delete it from your system.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------