In reply to Eric Walker's message of Sat, 7 Feb 2015 10:12:40 -0800: Hi, [snip]
I have a different question altogether. How does one distinguish between Cherenkov radiation and light emitted by recombining ion - electron pairs? (Where fast particles are responsible for creating the pairs.) >Hi, > >What is the flux of fast electrons needed to create the kind of visible >Cherenkov radiation seen in pool-type fission reactors? > >http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Advanced_Test_Reactor.jpg >http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Cerenkov_Effect.jpg > >Is it a relatively small amount of activity that will accomplish what is >seen in these images, or is a large amount of activity required? I assume >it is possible to characterize the flux that will lead to visible Cherenkov >radiation in terms along the lines of "10e9 electrons per cm^2 per second". > >What is the typical energy of the beta particles observed in these images? >My understanding is that the betas go back to the decay of fission >intermediate products. Is it in the MeV range, or the keV range, or >possibly even lower? > >Eric Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/project.html