The aerodynamic size distribution of nuclear fuel aerosols measured with an inertial spectrometer

The application of the inertial spectrometer (INSPEC) to highly radioactive aerosols from nuclear fuels is described. The particle size distribution was obtained from the spectrometer deposit by measuring the variation in radioactivity along the collecting filter using a travelling collimated alpha detector. Because the measurements were made on fuel materials of known isotopic composition it was possible to calculate the airborne particle concentrations from the alpha activity of the collected deposits. The AMAD values measured on 4 fuel materials with the INSPEC were in the range 7.3 to 10.5 μm and were within 10% of values obtained previously by sedimentation. (author)