Abstract Thermoluminescence (TL) characteristics of SrSO4:Eu nanostructured phosphor under gamma excitation has been studied and their suitability for environmental radiation dosimetry applications is discussed. The dopant level is tuned for optimum TL response. The effect of radiation dose and heating rate were investigated. The phosphor preserves linearity in the low dose region, 0.1 Gy to 20 Gy. PL studies of irradiated and un-irradiated phosphors reveal that the dopant Eu exists in divalent state and are the luminescence emission centres in the material. The fading properties of SrSO4:Eu phosphor are observed to be better than that of the commercial dosimeters TLD-200 and TLD-400. The kinetic parameters are calculated using Chen's method and initial rise method and verified by Computerized Glow curve Deconvolution (CGCD). The sensitivity of the synthesized phosphor is found to be very high when compared with that of the commercial standard dosimeter CaSO4:Dy. The phosphor is found to be stable for short term radiation monitoring.