From the similarities between neutrons and radon to advanced radon-detection and improved cold fusion neutron-measurements

Abstract

Abstract. Neutrons and radon are both ubiquitous in the earth's crust. The neutrons of terrestrial origin are strongly related to radon since they originate mainly from the interactions between the alpha particles from the decays of radioactive-gas (namely Radon and Thoron) and the light nuclei. Since the early studies in the field of neutrons, the radon gas was used to produce neutrons by ( , n) reactions in beryllium. Another important similarity between radon and neutrons is that they can be detected only through the radiations produced respectively by decays or by nuclear reactions. These charged particles from the two distinct nuclear processes are often the same (namely alpha-particles). A typical neutron detector is based on a radiator facing a alpha-particle detector, such as in the case of a neutron film badge. Based on the similarity between neutrons and radon, a film badge for radon has been recently proposed. The radon film badge, in addition to be similar, may be even identical to the neutron film badge. For these reasons, neutron measurements can be easily affected by the presence of unpredictable large radon concentration. In several cold fusion experiments, the CR-39 plastic films (typically used in radon and neutron film-badges), have been the detectors of choice for measuring neutrons. In this paper, attempts will be made to prove that most of these neutron-measurements might have been affected by the presence of large radon concentrations.