What is the instrument commonly used for continuous monitoring of airborne radioactive contamination?

• A. Continuous Air Monitor
• B. Geiger-Maer Counter
• C. Scintillation Counter
• D. Personal Dosimeter

Answer: (A)

Continuous monitoring of airborne radioactive contamination is achieved by instruments that continuously sample the air and measure the radioactivity of whatever particles or gases are present in that air. A Continuous Air Monitor does exactly this: it constantly pulls air through a sampling medium (often a filter) and uses a detector to track the radioactivity on that medium in real time, raising alarms if the airborne activity exceeds preset limits. This real-time capability and built-in alarm system are essential for quickly detecting releases or leaks and for protecting workers.

Geiger-Müller counters and scintillation counters are general-purpose radiation detectors. They don’t inherently provide continuous, real-time sampling of air for contamination in the same integrated way as a CAM, and they’re not optimized for monitoring low levels of airborne particulates or gases over time. Personal dosimeters, on the other hand, measure the dose received by an individual, not the level of airborne contamination in the environment.