question about radiation detector

Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 2011-03-27 01:17

Hi
Thanks a lot for your team's much effort collecting the data and effort answering questions here.

I feel a little worried about the nuclear radiation in our daily life and I am thinking to buy a personal nuclear radiation monitor recently but I heard the regualr radiation detector can not detect nuclear radiation from those I-131, Cs-137, is that right? If so, what 's the requirement for the detector I need to consider before buy it?

Thanks a lot for your help.

Best Regards,
W.J.

‹ Jump of background radiation in Northern California Should we take maximum air contamination or some sort of cumulative contamination? ›

radiation detectors

Submitted by cbates (not verified) on Sun, 2011-03-27 01:43.

First of all there is nothing to fear from radiation in daily life the human race has adapted to our environment which includes radiation. A simple geiger counter can detect I-131 and Cs-137 relatively easily and at levels far below that that are hazardous to health. The only reason it's possible to detect the activity in the rainwater is because the detectors that are being used are upwards of $50,000 per detector and they have to be cooled using liquid nitrogen and operated by a professional.

Sorry I'm not following what

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2011-03-27 12:19.

Sorry I'm not following what you write. Could I ask that you clarify? You say that a simple Geiger counter could detect levels far below those that are hazardous to health. You also write that the current activity in rainwater could only be detected by a more expensive nitrogen cooled detector. So are you saying that a simple $500 Geiger counter would NOT be able to detect the current level increase in the rain water?

I assume your working at NUC as well? Thanks in advance for clarifying.

At the levels we are seeing

Submitted by dchivers on Sun, 2011-03-27 12:21.

At the levels we are seeing in both rain water and air, a geiger counter would not be able to detect the small differences over the normal background variations.

Thanks for your reply. Best

Submitted by W.J. (not verified) on Sun, 2011-03-27 12:00.

Thanks for your reply.

Best regards,
W.J.