Issues in continuous air monitoring

The Health Physics groups at Los Alamos determined that the 15 yr-old alpha CAM instrumentation in use at the Laboratory would soon have to be replaced and upgraded. A program was initiated to prepare detailed performance specifications, evaluate new CAM instrumentation being offered, and if necessary, to develop advanced technologies which would enable the Laboratory to meet or exceed all of the requirements of the new DOE Order 5480.11. ''Radiation Protection for Occupational Workers'' (DOE, 1988), and other related Orders and standards. After careful evaluation of available alpha CAMs and consideration of the many factors affecting CAM performance, a project for the design, and development of advance CAM technology was initiated. This project culminated in the completion of a new alpha CAM concept featuring advances in the design of the CAM inlet enabling discrimination against radon daughters, in the multi-channel analyzer electronics, in the data processing and communication electronics, and in background compensation algorithm. The objective in the following discussion is examine the DOE Order 5480.11 requirements in some detail. While the new CAM sensitivity requirement is of critical importance, this is only one of many requirements of the Order with implications for CAM design, placement and operation. It is essential to orient our thinking about CAMs to the primary objectives of the Order with air monitoring implications. This paper discusses air monitoring issues in the Order. 7 refs