ABSTRACT
World-wide assessment of airborne radioactivity attracted public attention to the serious consequences of uncontrolled handling of fission materials. If, in the future, a larger scale program of nuclear energy operation is developed, all of the processes would multiply in magnitude and numbers, and radioactive contamination of airborne dust will become a serious problem. Therefore, a large assortment of instruments has been developed for measuring radioactive air contaminants, including sampling devices, filter materials, and radioactivity detector systems. Instruments that measure radioactivity after a delay are suited to detect low levels of radioactive dust concentration or to provide samples for radiometric and radiochemical analyses. Accumulating instruments are commonly used for radioactivity measurements of dust. During operation, they draw air at a metered flow rate through a collecting device that separates the dust from the air in such a manner that the sample can be measured at a later time.
