Low-background gamma-ray spectrometry for the international monitoring system.

Appl Radiat Isot

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, United States.

Published: August 2017

PNNL has developed two low-background gamma-ray spectrometers in a new shallow underground laboratory, thereby significantly improving its ability to detect low levels of gamma-ray emitting fission or activation products in airborne particulate in samples from the IMS (International Monitoring System). The combination of cosmic veto panels, dry nitrogen gas to reduce radon and low background shielding results in a reduction of the background count rate by about a factor of 100 compared to detectors operating above ground at our laboratory.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2016.12.034DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

low-background gamma-ray
8
international monitoring
8
monitoring system
8
gamma-ray spectrometry
4
spectrometry international
4
system pnnl
4
pnnl developed
4
developed low-background
4
gamma-ray spectrometers
4
spectrometers shallow
4

Similar Publications

To estimate the radiation hazard due to the natural terrestrial radioactivity, 598 samples of soil covering the entire Romanian territory were collected and analyzed for the distribution of natural radionuclides K, Ac, and Ra. The ultra-low background Slanic-Prahova underground laboratory was used to determine the gamma-ray-specific activity of these radioactive isotopes with an uncertainty between 5 and 20%. All these data permitted to establishing a set of 2D maps illustrating the distribution of specific activity of each radionuclide as well as of the resulting air dose rate, all of them illustrating an heterogeneous distribution, increased values being displaced on the western and south-western territory.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A ground-level prototype system for low-background measurements was developed and tested. The system consists of a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector used for detecting γ rays and coupled to a liquid scintillator (LS) used for detecting α and β particles. Both detectors are surrounded by shielding materials and anti-cosmic detectors ("veto") used to suppress background events.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Prompt secondary electron bremsstrahlung X-ray (prompt X-ray) imaging using a low-energy X-ray camera is a promising method for observing a beam shape from outside the subject. However, such imaging has so far been conducted only for pencil beams without a multi-leaf collimator (MLC). The use of spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) with an MLC may increase the scattered prompt gamma photons and decrease the contrast of the images of prompt X-rays.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The L6 chondritic meteorite, HaH-346, fell in Libya. However, neither the exact date of the fall nor the exact size of the original meteoroid or asteroid is known. A specimen of the meteorite, weighing 488 g, was measured using ultra low-background gamma-ray spectrometry in the 225 m deep underground facility HADES.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

CONRAD-A low level germanium test detector for the CONUS experiment.

Appl Radiat Isot

April 2023

Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.

This proceeding presents the CONRAD high-purity germanium spectrometer with a large diode (2.2 kg mass) employing electrical cryocooling. The detector is an ideal tool to characterize background up to high energies of ∼12 MeV.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!