Measuring radioactive noble gases by absorption in polycarbonates and other organics: From radon indoors to nuclear safety

The report summarizes recent research and practice of using materials with high absorption ability to noble gases to measure their radioactive isotopes. Most of the studies employ bisphenol-A based polycarbonates, because of their remarkably high absorption ability to noble gases. This is the material of which commercial CDs/DVDs are made and they may serve as serendipitous, already available in dwellings, radon and thoron detectors. We present the essence of the gathered experimental evidence that the CD/DVD method can successfully address some long-lasted problems in radon dosimetry: The first is making sufficiently precise retrospective Rn dosimetry for the purposes of epidemiological studies and risk estimation. The second is rapid identification of buildings with radon problem. We demonstrate how this can be used to develop an integrated approach to the radon problem. Within this approach detection, diagnostic and mitigation are considered as an unified whole, and the interval between the decision to provide disks for analysis and the complete mitigation of the building, if radon problem is identified, is short. Besides radon and thoron, bisphenol-A based polycarbonates were successfully used to measure Kr and Xe for the purposes of the effluents control and nuclear safety of nuclear installations. The perspectives to employ other organic materials in which noble gases are highly soluble for measurement of their radioactive isotopes are also discussed.