Detection question

[danno]

Hello.  I am receiving some recycled material from a decommissioned nuclear weapons facility.  As you all know, nuclear weapons facilities are not totally clean and are constantly being checked and cleaned.  This material is from a part of the facility that was never activated and is physically separated from any reactors or storage areas by an IMO acceptable distance.  The material will be chipped and contained in large open topped boxes, AKA "gaylords".   My specific concerns are cesium, strontium, tritium, tritiated water, and of course plutonium.  Nobody involved in this DOE sanctioned project is concerned and neither am I.  Still, I want to have an incoming inspection checkpoint at my facility.  Can I check this material with a Gamma Scout or is another method a better choice?  I don't know much about nuclear.  Thanks very much for any qualified assistance.

[Rennhack]

I don't think your gamma scout is gonna see that tritium, it is a low energy beta emitter.  The Plutonium is primarily an alpha emitter.  Your "Gamma Scout" looks for gamma.

I hope this steers you in the right direction.

[mostlyharmless]

For the tritium you would need a liquid scintillator for  physical samples or sir samples bubbled through liquid and mixed with a scintillating solution. You could also use a device that sniffs the air around the material (scintrex or equivalent) and sends it through an ion chamber for detection of the low energy beta. If you really want to know  you will have to take samples and perform isotopic analysis. The weapons plants produced a long list of nuclides and without knowing specifically what processes ran and experamentation occurred its hard to predict what you will find. I know this complicates your options without being specific but you should consult with the health physics technical people at your site. Sorry for the lack of any real help.  MH

[X-Nuke]

The Gamma Scout is an alpha-beta-gamma meter but it uses an LND 712 end window Geiger tube with a system of shields to distinguish between the different radiations.  It's an interesting consumer-market focused product and is too insensitive to do you much good.  It's not a serious instrument for use in health physics applications and the readings can be misleading to the point of dangerous.  I actually corresponded with the inventor in Germany a year or so back when I was writing reviews on radiation survey instruments for another internet board.  It's an interesting idea but not useful in your situation.

The problem with looking at large quantities of anything is that the dangers within are unknown and not easily detected on a macro basis.  I like sensitive gamma scintillators just to get a sense of the gamma radioactivity of unknown bulk material.  That said, this can also be misleading in that the presence of radioactivity can be of naturally occurring isotopes in the material (my office at home is about three times background due to the granite facing stones on my house).  The opposite is equally true in that the absence of a reading on a gamma scintillator doesn't mean that it's not contaminated with alpha or beta emitting isotopes.

All this said, best advice is to work with a professional health physicist on the appropriate method.  I sure want you to be working with the professional advice from somebody closer to your situation.  Good luck.

Bill