Influence of environmental changes on continuous radon monitors. Results of a Spanish intercomparison exercise

The first Spanish intercomparison exercise for continuous radon monitors was carried out with the participation of nine monitoring systems from eight laboratories. The exposures were carried out in the radon and thoron chambers at the Institute of Energy Techniques (INTE) of the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC), which is considered to be the Spanish reference chamber. The monitors were exposed to three different temperatures (13, 20 and 30 degrees C), relative humidities (30, 45 and 80%) and radon concentrations (450, 2000 and 9000 Bq m(-3)). Exposures in the thoron chamber were carried out at concentrations of approximately 450 Bq m(-3). The response of the ionisation chambers and scintillation monitors was acceptable. However, the response of monitors based on electrostatic collection was found to be influenced by external climatic conditions. Moreover, all radon monitors were sensitive to thoron concentration, which was especially significant for scintillation monitors.