• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.395-401
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• 2016

Background: Liquid scintillation counters (LSCs) are commonly used as an analytical method for detecting $^{222}Rn$ in groundwater because they involve a simple sample pretreatment and allow high throughout with an autosampler. The Quantulus 1220 is the best-selling LSC in Korea, but its production was stopped. Recently, a new type of LSC, the 300SL, was introduced. In this study, the 300SL was compared with the Quantulus 1220 in order to evaluate the ability of each apparatus to detect $^{222}Rn$ in groundwater. Materials and Methods: The Quantulus 1220 and 300SL were used to detect the presence of $^{222}Rn$. Radon gas was extracted from a groundwater sample using a water-immiscible cocktail in a LSC vial. The optimal analytical conditions for each LSC were determined using a $^{222}Rn$ calibration source prepared with a $^{226}Ra$ source. Results and Discussion: The optimal pulse shape analysis level for alpha and beta separation was 80 for the Quantulus 1220, and the corresponding pulse length index was 12 in the 300SL. The counting efficiency of the Quantulus 1220 for alpha emissions was similar to that of the 300SL, but the background count rate of the Quantulus 1220 was 10 times lower than that of the 300SL. The minimum detectable activity of the Quantulus 1220 was $0.08Bq{\cdot}L^{-1}$, while that of the 300SL was $0.20Bq{\cdot}L^{-1}$. The analytical results regarding $^{222}Rn$ in groundwater were less than 10% different between these LSCs. Conclusion: The 300SL is an LSC that is comparable to the Quantulus 1220 for detecting $^{222}Rn$ in groundwater. Both LSCs can be applied to determine the levels of $^{222}Rn$ in groundwater under the management of the Ministry of Environment.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.142-146
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• 2020

Background: Tritium (³H) analysis in groundwater was difficult because of its low activity. Therefore, the electrolytic enrichment method was used. To improve the detection limit and for performing simple analysis, a high-volume counting vial with the available liquid scintillation counter (LSC) was investigated. Further, it was compared with a conventional 20-mL counting vial. Materials and Methods: The LSC with the electrolytic enrichment method was used ³H analysis in groundwater. A high-volume 145-mL counting vial was compared with a conventional 20-mL counting vial to determine the counting characteristics of different LSCs. Results and Discussion: When a Quantulus LSC was used, the counting window between channels 35 and 250 was used. The background count was approximately 1.86 cpm, and the counting efficiency increased from 8% to 40% depending on the mixing ratio of the volume of sample and cocktail solution. For LSC-LB7, the optimum counting window was between 1 and 4.9 keV, which was selected by the factory (Hitachi Aloka Medical Ltd., Japan) by considering quenching using a standard external gamma source. The background count of LSC-LB7 was approximately 3.60 ± 0.29 cpm when the 145-mL vial was used and 2.22 ± 0.17 cpm when the 20-mL vial was used. The minimum detectable activity (MDA) of the 20-mL vial was greater for LSC-LB7 than for Quantulus. The MDA with the 145-mL vial was improved to 0.3 Bq/L when compared with the value of 1.6 Bq/L for the 20-mL vial. Conclusion: The counting efficiency when using the 145-mL vial was 27%, whereas it was 18% when using the 20-mL vial. This difference can be attributed to the vial volume. The figure of merit (FOM) of the 145-mL vial was four times greater than that of the 20-mL vial because the volume of the former vial is approximately seven times greater than that of the latter. Further, the MDA for ³H decreased from 1.6 to 0.3 Bq/L. The counting efficiency and FOM of LSC-LB7 was slightly less than those of Quantulus when the 20-mL vial was used. The background counting rate of the Quantulus was lower than that of the LSC-LB7.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.149-158
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• 2012

In this paper, we measured the variations of radon concentrations in groundwater using low-level Liquid Scintillation Counter (LSC), an instrument for analyzing the alpha and beta radionuclides at its 10 sites around the Kumjung-Gu, north-western of Busan. Optimization of Pulse Shape Analyzer (PSA) to determinate the highest value of figure of merit (FM) was decided using Quantulus 1200 LSC with radium-226 source, the optimal PSA level was shown in the range of 100 to 110. The results show that the Minimum Detectable Activity (MDA) of radon concentrations is 0.61 $Bq{\cdot}L^{-1}$ for 20 minutes in PSA level. We find that the average radon concentration in groundwater is high in granitic rock area and low in volcanic rock area. (Biotite granite : 191.39 $Bq{\cdot}L^{-1}$, Micro graphic granite : 141.88 $Bq{\cdot}L^{-1}$, Adamellite : 92.94 $Bq{\cdot}L^{-1}$, Andesite (volcanic) : 35.35 $Bq{\cdot}L^{-1}$). No significant seasonal variation pattern is observed from the long-term variation analysis from 10 selected sites. We have not seen the significant correlation of radon concentration to groundwater temperature, atmospheric temperature, atmospheric pressure and rainfall. The concentration variation is probably caused by more complex factors and processes.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.59-66
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• 2006

Optimal method of radon analysis in groundwater was studied using ultra low-level liquid scintillation counter (ULLLSC) which is well known as an analytical instrument for analyzing the alpha and beta radionuclides in environmental materials. Optimization of pulse shape analyzer (PSA) in operating the LSC was performed with $^{241}Am\;and\;^{90}Sr/^{90}Y$ as well as $^{226}Ra$ Also, the chemical quenching of scintillation generation and the color quenching of the generated photon to photomultiplier tubes (PMT) were determined their effects not only to decrease the analytical efficiency but also to change the optimal PSA level and background due to high ion contents of groundwaters. The optimal PSA level was shown in the range of 90 to 110 with less than 5% error. The effects of high ion contents in groundwater for the analytical efficiency show within 10% error from the different ion contents. The chloroform as a quenching agent was used to determine the analytical efficiency with the different amount, showing that the efficiency decreases 20% using the 2% of chloroform.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.146-151
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• 2012

An analytical method was developed for the measurement of uranium isotope in ground water using the liquid scintillation counting technique. A LKB Wallac Quantulus 1220 liquid scintillation counter (LSC) equipped with pulse shape analyzer (PSA) and a solvent extraction method were used for the measurement of uranium isotope in ground water samples. The effect of solution volume on the extraction efficiency was evaluated for 100 to 1000 mL solutions using a NIST standard reference material (NIST SRM 4321C). The effect of groundwater pH on the extraction efficiency was also investigated for pH ranging from 0.5 to 10. It was found that the extraction efficiency had a strong dependence on pH showing a maximum at pH 2. In contrast, the effect of groundwater volume on the extraction efficiency was negligible in the range investigated. According to the method, the extraction efficiency of uranium isotopes was near 96% and the lower detection limit for uranium was 0.018 Bq/L with the counting time of 300 min. The result of this study was also verified by the conventional ICP-MS measurement. It is demonstrated that the suggested method is valuable to the determination of the optimum extraction and measurement conditions for uranium in ground water. The method was successfully applied to the ground water at four locations near the Daejeon province. It was found that the uranium content and the isotopic ratio of $^{234}U/^{238}U$ at the locations ranged 0.59~6.69 Bq/L and 0.72~1.40, respectively.