Scintillators are used by the American government as Homeland Security radiation detectors. Scintillators can also be used in particle detectors, new energy resource exploration, X-ray security, nuclear cameras, computed tomography and gas exploration. Other applications of scintillators include CT scanners and gamma cameras in medical diagnostics, and screens in older style CRT computer monitors and television sets. Scintillators have also been proposed as part of theoretical models for the harnessing of gamma-ray energy through the photovoltaic effect, for example in a nuclear battery.
The use of a scintillator in conjunction with a photomultiplier tube finds wide use in hand-held survey meters used for detecting and measuring radioactive contamination and monitoring nuclear material. Scintillators generate light in fluorescent tubes, to convert the ultra-violet of the discharge into visible light. Scintillation detectors are also used in the petroleum industry as detectors for Gamma Ray logs.