Uncertainties evaluation for electrets based devices used in radon detection

Abstract

In recent years uncertainty evaluation in measurements has achieved great importance. National and international standards offer guidelines to evaluate uncertainties, but these procedures are, until now, not well understood by the operators. This is because of the fact that a detailed uncertainty evaluation is not an easy operation and a standard rule to apply in all cases is not available. Every measurement procedure has its own uncertainty evaluation. In this work, attention is focused upon the electret ion chambers (EIC), widely used in radon concentration measurements. Measurements of gamma radiation sensitivity are performed in a secondary standard calibration laboratory and measurement of radon concentration sensitivity is performed in a radon chamber 0.8 m3 in volume. Raw data are analysed to evaluate the calibration factors and the combined uncertainties are determined. The aim of the work is to give a practical method to assess the uncertainty of a radon measurement.