Effect of detection geometry on radon dosimetry

Abstract Results are given here on the use of plastic track detectors for environmental alpha particle dosimetry. A simple method is presented to calculate the probability distribution for alpha particle registration in a rectangular detection geometry. The track density distributions obtained with CR39 and CN85 detectors in the laboratory are compared with the calculated distribution, and it is concluded that a rectangular geometry (axaxb) should be a better choice for a flat response of track registration. The maximum track registration rate for CR39 and CN85 is found respectively to be 4.95x10 3 /cm 2 hour and 3.14x10 3 /cm 2 hour. It is estimated that 1 track/cm 2 in CR39 represents around 1.14x10 10 alpha disintegrations/meter 3 of surrounding atmosphere.