Large-volume and room-temperature gamma spectrometer for environmental radiation monitoring

Romain Coulon (1) , Jonathan Nicolas Dumazert (1) , Tola Tith (1) , Emmanuel Rohée (1) , Karim Boudergui (1)

1 LCAE (CEA, LIST) - Laboratoire Capteurs et Architectures Electroniques (CEA, LIST)

The use of a room-temperature gamma spectrometer is an issue in environmental radiation monitoring. To monitor radionuclides released around a nuclear power plant, suitable instruments giving fast and reliable information are required. High-pressure xenon (HPXe) chambers have range of resolution and efficiency equivalent to those of other medium resolution detectors such as those using NaI(Tl), CdZnTe, and LaBr3:Ce. An HPXe chamber could be a cost-effective alternative, assuming temperature stability and reliability. The CEA LIST actively studied and developed HPXe-based technology applied for environmental monitoring. Xenon purification and conditioning was performed. The design of a 4-L HPXe detector was performed to minimize the detector capacitance and the required power supply. Simulations were done with the MCNPX2.7 particle transport code to estimate the intrinsic efficiency of the HPXe detector. A behavioral study dealing with ballistic deficits and electronic noise will be utilized to provide perspective for further analysis.

Mots clés: Xenon; Spectrometry; Environmental; ionizing radiation; Ionization chamber

Domaines: Instrumentations et Détecteurs [physics.ins-det]; Modélisation et simulation; Physique Nucléaire Expérimentale [nucl-ex]

Romain Coulon, Jonathan Nicolas Dumazert, Tola Tith, Emmanuel Rohée, Karim Boudergui. Large-volume and room-temperature gamma spectrometer for environmental radiation monitoring. Nuclear Engineering and Technology, 2017, 49 (7), pp.1489 - 1494. ⟨10.1016/j.net.2017.06.010⟩. ⟨hal-01878815⟩