Abstract: Improved radioactivity well logging by mounting a scintillator in a hole extending through a drill collar at the lower end of a drill string so that measurements can be made while drilling. Radioactive sources (when required for well logging) are mounted in cavities which open to the exterior of the drill collar. Light from the scintillator is coupled through a right-angle prism or fiber optics through an angle of about 90.degree. so that an elongated photomultiplier tube can be mounted within a housing within the drill collar with the longitudinal axis of the photomultiplier tube extending substantially parallel to the axis of the drill collar to provide maximum cross sectional area for flow of drilling fluid with the housing in the drill collar.