Abstract Radon is a gaseous alpha emitter radionuclide deriving from the primordial radioactive nuclides present on Earth. Although only 222Rn isotope is commonly considered in radon pollution surveys, there is another isotope, 220Rn, also called Thoron, that is dangerous for human health. In this work these two radon isotopes discrimination is investigated, using a solid-state nuclear track detector (SSNTD) based passive detector named Radout. Experimental exposures to 220Rn and 222Rn were performed and the CR-39 SSNTDs, placed in the Radout detector, were chemically etched and analysed with the automatic track detector reader Politrack®. The analysis of track morphology performed by Politrack® allows to measure the reduced etch rate V for each track. The distributions of V have different shapes for 220Rn and 222Rn exposure, permitting to define a distribution parameter indicative of the presence of 220Rn. The experimental data are compared with a computational model that calculates the expected V distributions produced by the two radionuclides. The agreement of the model with the experimental data is very satisfactory.

中文翻译：

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Radout探测器中氡和钍鉴别技术的研究

摘要 氡是一种气态 α 发射体放射性核素，源自地球上存在的原始放射性核素。尽管氡污染调查通常只考虑 222Rn 同位素，但还有另一种同位素 220Rn，也称为钍气，对人类健康有害。在这项工作中，使用名为 Radout 的基于固态核径迹检测器 (SSNTD) 的无源检测器研究了这两种氡同位素鉴别。对 220Rn 和 222Rn 进行了实验性暴露，并将放置在 Radout 检测器中的 CR-39 SSNTD 进行化学蚀刻，并使用自动轨迹检测器读取器 Politrack® 进行分析。Politrack® 执行的轨迹形态分析允许测量每个轨迹降低的蚀刻速率 V。V 的分布在 220Rn 和 222Rn 暴露下具有不同的形状，允许定义指示 220Rn 存在的分布参数。将实验数据与计算两种放射性核素产生的预期 V 分布的计算模型进行比较。模型与实验数据的一致性非常令人满意。