Comparison of gamma-spectrometric techniques for environmental monitoring of nuclear installations

In environmental monitoring of nuclear installations gamma-spectrometric methods make use of both scintillation probes of large volume and Ge(Li) detectors of high resolution. Both types of detectors are compared with respect to their nuclide-specific lower limit of detection. On the basis of measured spectra their use for various measuring problems in environmental monitoring is discussed. Finally, the relationship between the lower limit of detection of a simple Ge(Li) spectrometer and the measurable discharges into the environment is studied for 181J. (author)