Temperature-related effects in radon dosimetry using plastic track detectors

The effects of temperature-related phenomena in radon dosimetry using CN-85 cellulose nitrate track detectors are reported. In isothermal annealing of α-tracks in CN-85 exposed to radon gas in equilibrium with its daughters, the track density as a function of annealing time follows a curve which is step-like. Such a step-like behaviour has been confirmed by computer simulation of α-tracks from radon both for post-irradiation annealings and for simultaneous irradiation and annealing. Studies on the effect of irradiation temperature on the registration efficiency η of CN-85 detectors show that η is a decreasing function of temperature in the temperature range 26–90°C studied in this work.