See below. David Brehm Radiological Engineer Radiation Protection - Nuclear Operations Omaha Pubic Power District - Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station 9610 Power Lane, Blair, NE 68008
Office: 402.533.7582 Cellular: 402.214.0107 Pager: 402.561.3310 [email protected] From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Holmes, Stephen J Sent: Friday, May 04, 2012 11:41 AM To: '[email protected]' Subject: Powernet: Benchmark: Alpha Spec At Ginna, we are evaluating purchasing Alpha Spec equipment (such as the Canberra Alpha Analyst with Alpha Apex software). Part of our justification for this expense would be to reduce our reliance on independent laboratories for performing alpha characterization (i.e. per the EPRI alpha monitoring guidelines). We currently have Ludlum 3030Ps and MGPI ABPMs which use alpha spec in a limited manner to perform radon rejection, but no true alpha spectroscopy equipment. We would like to know what the rest of the industry is doing; any experience, comments, or feedback are appreciated. Do you have Alpha Spec capabilities at your facility? Yes If so, what equipment do you use? Canberra Alpha Analyst What do you use the equipment for (e.g. radon rejection or a quantitative alpha spectrum of individual nuclides)? Still in development & implementation phase. We will be using it for air & lapel samples for the most part, but will also use it to supplement our work location characterization efforts. If using for alpha spectrum analysis, what energy resolution can you achieve? What type of sample preparation is required? Not great...but then we do not digest & plate out the filter media. Good enough for nuclide ID & relative ratios. Combining the results with an alpha-plateau count on a gas-proportional counter gives reasonable results quite useful for RP purposes. Any other equipment strengths/limitations or lessons learned you would like to share? I would not (and do not) expect to be able to get very many staff proficient on the instrument. The spectrum analysis and data reduction are not very straight forward. I used Apex Alpha in a previous life. It's pretty easy to use and makes the analysis job much easier. Thanks, -Steve Stephen J Holmes, PE Sr. Plant Health Physicist, CENG-RE Ginna NPP [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> 585-771-3577; 585-545-1661 (cell) >>> This e-mail and any attachments are confidential, may contain legal, professional or other privileged information, and are intended solely for the addressee. If you are not the intended recipient, do not use the information in this e-mail in any way, delete this e-mail and notify the sender. -IP2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This e-mail contains Omaha Public Power District's confidential and proprietary information and is for use only by the intended recipient. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, this e-mail is not a contract offer, amendment, or acceptance. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.
