Comparison among the scintillation and electrets techniques for emission of alpha radiation

A comparison of the scintillation and of electret techniques for measurement of Uranium, Plutonium and transuranic elements in low level radioactivity is presented in this work. The samples of material to measure were obtained by the Research Department of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) of contaminated soils by radioactive material of plutonium and other transuranic elements. The samples in both techniques were measured to infinite thickness. The electret E - PERM of Rad Elec. Inc.; it was the available selected detector in 1993 and the measures with this technique were carried out by the Dr. R. B. Gammage and the Dr. K. E. Meyer of the Health and Safety Research Division of ORNL. The scintillation technique for measurement of the samples up mentioned it was carried out by the Dr. Augusto Moreno y Moreno in the facilities of DOSAR of ORNL. The comparative results of the two techniques agree just as it is shown in this work; but the scintillation technique offers the advantage of a considerable reduction of the exposure time and reading of the samples - electret, if it is compared with the immediate measurement of the scintillation technique that is described in this work. (Author)