Environmental monitoring using large-volume CsI(Tl) scintillation counters

The new scintillation detectors, CsI(Tl) + Si PIN photodiode, were developed in the Kurchatov Institute. The current state of the developed spectrometric probes are large volume (10-300cm3) scintillation detectors intended for gamma-ray spectroscopy. These detectors consist of a spherical CsI(Tl) crystal packed in MgO powder within a cylindrical aluminum housing and a Hamamatsu photodiode. Environmental devices based on the above probes uses methods of field spectrometry. They include spectrometric electronics and algorithms for spectra processing to obtain particular characteristics of environmental radioactivity or radioactive contamination. The description of measurement techniques used with devices, their performance parameters and results of their practical applications are presented.