• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.43 no.4
• /
• pp.137-142
• /
• 2018

Background: Gamma-ray detectors having a thin window of a material with low atomic number can increase the true coincidence summing effects for radionuclides emitting X-rays or gamma-rays. This effect can make efficiency calibration or spectrum analysis more complicated. In this study, a Cu shield was tested as an X-ray filter to neglect the true coincidence summing effect by X-rays and gamma-rays in gamma-ray spectrometry, in order to simplify gamma-ray energy spectrum analysis. Materials and Methods: A Cu shield was designed and applied to an n-type high-purity germanium detector having an $X-{\gamma}$ summing effect during efficiency calibration. This was tested using a commercial, certified mixed gamma-ray source. The feasibility of a Cu shield was evaluated by comparing efficiency calibration results with and without the shield. Results and Discussion: In this study, the thickness of a Cu shield needed to avoid true coincidence summing effects due to $X-{\gamma}$ was tested and determined to be 1 mm, considering the detection efficiency desired for higher energy. As a result, the accuracy of the detection efficiency calibration was improved by more than 13% by reducing $X-{\gamma}$ summing. Conclusion: The $X-{\gamma}$ summing effect should be considered, along with ${\gamma}-{\gamma}$ summing, when a detection efficiency calibration is implemented and appropriate shielding material can be useful for simplifying analysis of the gamma-ray energy spectra.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.43 no.3
• /
• pp.85-96
• /
• 2018

Background: A variety of inorganic scintillators have been developed and improved for use in radiation detection and measurement, and in situ gamma-ray spectrometry in the environment remains an important area in nuclear safety. In order to verify the feasibility of promising scintillators in an actual environment, a performance test is necessary to identify gamma-ray peaks and calculate the radioactivity from their net count rates in peaks. Materials and Methods: Among commercially available scintillators, $LaBr_3(Ce)$ scintillators have so far shown the highest energy resolution when detecting and identifying gamma-rays. However, the intrinsic background of this scintillator type affects efficient application to the environment with a relatively low count rate. An algorithm to subtract the intrinsic background was consequently developed, and the in situ calibration factor at 1 m above ground level was calculated from Monte Carlo simulation in order to determine the radioactivity from the measured net count rate. Results and Discussion: The radioactivity of six natural radionuclides in the environment was evaluated from in situ gamma-ray spectrometry using an $LaBr_3(Ce)$ detector. The results were then compared with those of a portable high purity Ge (HPGe) detector with in situ object counting system (ISOCS) software at the same sites. In addition, the radioactive cesium in the ground of Jeju Island, South Korea, was determined with the same assumption of the source distribution between measurements using two detectors. Conclusion: Good agreement between both detectors was achieved in the in situ gamma-ray spectrometry of natural as well as artificial radionuclides in the ground. This means that an $LaBr_3(Ce)$ detector can produce reliable and stable results of radioactivity in the ground from the measured energy spectrum of incident gamma-rays at 1 m above the ground.

• Analytical Science and Technology
• /
• v.13 no.5
• /
• pp.549-557
• /
• 2000

FRIR-ATR spectrometry has been used to monitor the aqueous reactions of compounds without distinct chromophores in ultraviolet and visible regions. For example, hydrolysis reactions of ${\alpha}$-cyclodextrin and ${\gamma}$-cyclodextrin in acidic aqueous solution were studied. FTIR-ATR method has been used for the monitoring of cyclodextrin hydrolysis in 1.0 M. 0.5 M, and 0.1 M HCl solutions, respectively. We also found that the hydrolysis of ${\alpha}$-cyclodextrin produced glucose, but the hydrolysis of ${\gamma}$-cyclodextrin proceeded further to give more fragmented products than glucose.

• 대한방사선방어학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2009.04a
• /
• pp.128-129
• /
• 2009

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.1
• /
• pp.190-200
• /
• 2023

As the field of application of in-situ gamma spectroscopy is diversified, proficiency is required for consistent and accurate analysis. In this study, a program was developed to virtually create gamma energy spectra of artificial nuclides, which are difficult to obtain through actual measurements, for training. The virtual spectrum was created by synthesizing the spectra of the background radiation obtained through actual measurement and the theoretical spectra of the artificial radionuclides obtained by a Monte Carlo simulation. Since the theoretical spectrum can only be obtained for a given geometrical structure, representative major geometries for in-situ measurement (ground surface, concrete wall, radioactive waste drum) and the detectors (HPGe, NaI(Tl), LaBr₃(Ce)) were predetermined. Generated virtual spectra were verified in terms of validity and harmonization by gamma spectrometry and energy calibration. As a result, it was confirmed that the energy calibration results including the peaks of the measured spectrum and the peaks of the theoretical spectrum showed differences of less than 1 keV from the actual energies, and that the calculated radioactivity showed a difference within 20% from the actual inputted radioactivity. The verified data were assembled into a database and a program that can generate a virtual spectrum of desired condition was developed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.2 no.4
• /
• pp.273-278
• /
• 1970

The Contents of uranium and thorium in radioactive ores produced in Korea were determined by gamma-ray spectrometry utilizing Ge (Li) diode detector. Both methods, namely, gamma-ray spectrometries of activated samples and non-activated samples, were tested and compared for their accuracies and rapidness in determination of contents. Also the useful-ness of application of Ge(Li) diode detector to the determination of uranium and thorium contents in ores was discussed in detail.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.38 no.2
• /
• pp.119-123
• /
• 2013

A simple laboratory-made radioactive source to check the integrity of a gamma spectrometry system with HPGe detector was developed. The check source consists of radium-riched soil which was ground in size of less than 0.154mm and contained in air tight cylinderical vial, and provides photons with 12 distinct energies. The spectra of the check source were measured once a month during one year, analyzed the charactreictics of their peaks. When the gamma spectrometry system was in normal state, the areas and FWHMs of the gamma rays with more than 3% gamma emission rate in radium and its decay products was constant within standard deviation 2% and 3%, respectively, except 77 keV peak. And it was found that this check source can play a sufficient role to check the integrity of a gamma spectrometry system using 10 peaks in the range of 77 to 2202 keV.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.8
• /
• pp.2927-2934
• /
• 2023

The influence of the atmospheric radon background on the airborne gamma spectrum can seriously affect researchers' judgement of ground radiation information. However, due to load and endurance, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-borne gamma-ray spectrometry is difficulty installing upward-looking detectors to monitor atmospheric radon background. In this paper, an advanced spectral-ratio method was used to correct the atmospheric radon background for a UAV-borne gamma-ray spectrometry in Inner Mongolia, China. By correcting atmospheric radon background, the ratio of the average count rate of U window in the anomalous radon zone (S5) to that in other survey zone decreased from 1.91 to 1.03, and the average uranium content in S5 decreased from 4.65 mg/kg to 3.37 mg/kg. The results show that the advanced spectral-ratio method efficiently eliminated the influence of the atmospheric radon background on the UAV-borne gamma-ray spectrometry to accurately obtain ground radiation information in uranium exploration. It can also be used for uranium tailings monitoring, and environmental radiation background surveys.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.46 no.3
• /
• pp.127-133
• /
• 2021

Background: Phosphogypsum is material produced as a byproduct in fertilizer industry and is generally used for building materials. This material may contain enhanced radium-226 (²²⁶Ra) activity concentration compared to its natural concentration that may lead to indoor radon accumulation. Therefore, an accurate measurement method is proposed in this study to determine ²²⁶Ra activity concentration in phosphogypsum sample, considering the potential radon leakage from the sample container. Materials and Methods: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) phosphogypsum reference material was used as a sample in this study. High-purity germanium (HPGe) gamma spectrometry was used to measure the activity concentration of the ²²⁶Ra decay products, i.e., ²¹⁴Bi and ²¹⁴Pb. Marinelli beakers sealed with three different sealing methods were used as sample containers. Due to the potential leakage of radon from the Marinelli beaker (MB), correction to the activity concentration resulted in gamma spectrometry is needed. Therefore, the leaked fraction of radon escaped from the sample container was calculated and added to the gamma spectrometry measured values. Results and Discussion: Total activity concentration of ²²⁶Ra was determined by summing up the activity concentration from gamma spectrometry measurement and calculated concentration from radon leakage correction method. The results obtained from ²¹⁴Bi peak were 723.4 ± 4.0 Bq·kg^-1 in MB1 and 719.2 ± 3.5 Bq·kg^-1 in MB2 that showed about 5% discrepancy compared to the certified activity. Besides, results obtained from ²¹⁴Pb peak were 741.9 ± 3.6 Bq·kg^-1 in MB1 and 740.1 ± 3.4 Bq·kg^-1 in MB2 that showed about 2% difference compared to the certified activity measurement of ²²⁶Ra concentration activity. Conclusion: The results show that radon leakage correction was calculated with insignificant discrepancy to the certified values and provided improvement to the gamma spectrometry. Therefore, measuring ²²⁶Ra activity concentration in TENORM (technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material) sample using radon leakage correction can be concluded as a convenient and accurate method that can be easily conducted with simple calculation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.45 no.3
• /
• pp.415-420
• /
• 2013

A determination method for $^{237}Np$ in spent nuclear fuel samples was developed using an isotope dilution method with $^{239}Np$ as a spike. In this method, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was taken for the $^{237}Np$ instead of the previously used alpha spectrometry. $^{237}Np$ and $^{239}Np$ were measured by ICP-MS and gamma spectrometry, respectively. The recovery yield of $^{237}Np$ in synthetic samples was $95.9{\pm}9.7$% (1S, n=4). The $^{237}Np$ contents in the spent fuel samples were 0.15, 0.25, and $1.06{\mu}g/mgU$ and these values were compared with those from ORIGEN-2 code. A fairly good agreement between the measurements (m) and calculations (c) was obtained, giving ratios (m/c) of 0.93, 1.12 and 1.25 for the three PWR spent fuel samples with burnups of 16.7, 19.0, and 55.9 GWd/MtU, respectively.