An on-column radiometric detector for capillary isotachophoresis is described. Design of the detector follows its intended use, i.e., mainly the detection of14C labelled ionogenic compounds separable by this electromigration method. A key part of the detector is a small volume (70 or 200 nl) cell with the sensing part made of plastic scintillator with counting efficiencies of 13–15%. An equation correlating the precision of radioactivity measurements with physical and geometrical characteristics of the cell and isotachophoretic conditions has been derived providing a guide in optimizing both the geometrical dimensions of the cell and the isotachophoretic working conditions. A minimum detectability calculated for14C radionuclide (21 Bq for a 3 mm thickness of the sensing part of the cell) was in a good agreement with the value determined experimentally (16 Bq). Other parameters evaluated experimentally include resolving power, short- and long-term reproducibilities of the response. It was also shown that optimized driving current during the detection enables to improve the precision of the radioactivity measurement.