Differential Detector for Measuring Radiation Fields

In case of a nuclear accident, it is essential to determine the source of radioactive contamination in order to analyze the risk to the environment and to the population. The radiation source may be a radioactive plume on the air or an area on the ground contaminated with radionuclides. Most commercial radiation detectors measure only the radiation field intensity but are unable to differentiate between the radiation sources. Consequently, this limitation causes a real problem in analyzing the potential risk to the near-by environment, since there is no data concerning the contamination ratios in the air and on the ground and this prevents us from taking the required steps to deal with the radiation event. This work presents a GM-tube-based Differential Detector, which enables to determine the source of contamination