Survey of analytical methods for environmental monitoring of krypton-85

Numerous methods have been developed for measuring krypton-85 in air as krypton ultimately accumulates in air once it is released into the environment. However, krypton-85 can be present in other media such as natural gas from wells stimulated with nuclear devices or in water when krypton-85 is used for aeration studies. Methods for the measurement of ambient levels of krypton-85 require a concentration of krypton from a large air sample of one m3 or more. If elevated levels are to be measured, carrier krypton may be used provided the contamination of atmospheric krypton with krypton-85 does not interfere with the measurement. In certain cases, such as in the vicinity of nuclear fuel processing plants, direct measurement techniques may be used. A variety of techniques are employed for krypton-85 counting. At low levels, internal gas counting or organic scintillation is used to measure the beta emission of this radionuclide. At higher levels the gamma emission of krypton-85 may be measured using scintillation or solid state gamma spectroscopic methods. Techniques for collection of the sample, concentration of krypton, and radioactivity measurement of krypton-85 are discussed and various processes are critically evaluated and compared