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The use of neutron activation analysis (NAA) sometimes has limitations with the identification of specific gamma ray peaks due to spectral interferences. The implementation of gamma-gamma coincidence techniques using the XIA Pixie-16 system has demonstrated the ability reduce many of these challenges. Experiments were performed on two different NIST reference materials using gamma-gamma coincidence techniques to identify long-lived radionuclides that are often difficult to evaluate due to various spectral interferences. The experiments have shown that utilizing gamma-gamma coincidence with the XIA Pixie-16 system for 177mLu, 124Sb, 160 Tb, 175Yb, and 153Sm can eliminate spectral interferences and high backgrounds due to Compton scattering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to formulate semi-empirical processing applied to analyze simulated and experimental scattering spectra on pipeline samples for estimating the intensity of the single scattering component for the Compton scattering technique. Firstly, a procedure has been developed based on probability density functions of each scattering component, which are obtained by GEANT4. Secondly, sixteen targets are simulated with MCNP6 to validate the proposed procedure. It is shown that the relative deviation for all samples is under 3%. Thirdly, the nine calculated thickness of pipeline samples is determined with a maximum relative deviation lower than 5% in comparing to calibration thickness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, various detector configurations have been investigated in order to explore the optimal condition for decay rate measurements of radioactive samples using gamma spectroscopy technique. A limitation of detecting low energy gamma rays from decaying radioactive nuclei, is the Compton background which can be significantly reduced by rejecting Compton scattered events through active Bismuth germanate (BGO) shielding. On the other hand, for a CLOVER detector without BGO shielding, one can place the radioactive samples very close to the detector for enhancing geometrical efficiency. A single crystal High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector can also be used for decay rate measurements. In order to measure the decay rate of nuclei decaying via gamma emission with reasonable intensity, optimal close geometry options have been investigated for various HPGe detector configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital pulse processing methods have various applications in radiation spectroscopy due to their unique properties. Here, the effect of light reflector on the response of a large plastic scintillator with different reflective coverings (Teflon tape, aluminum foil and black tape) coupled to a fast photomultiplier tube is investigated based on some extracted anode pulse features. Results showed that the pulse features were changed according to the reflection coefficient of the covering. For instance, the fall time of the average anode pulse shape for Teflon tape, aluminum foil and black tape coverings are 10.46, 6.88 and 3.65 ns, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the noise resulting from Compton scattering was quantified when gamma images were acquired with a 50-mm thick scintillator array detectors, and the solution method was proposed to its elimination. To perform it, a system capable of recording the events and occurrence times at each one of the 144 scintillator array elements has been developed. This study also presents that the Compton noise was not the dominant source of image quality degradation in the experiment, but its negative influence of the Monte Carlo simulation can increase greatly to lower detection threshold energies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we propose a semi-empirical method for determining the thickness of pipe-wall, of which the determination is performed by combining the experimental and Monte Carlo simulation data. The testing measurements show that this is an efficient method to measure the thickness of pipe-wall. In addition, this work also shows that it could use a NaI(Tl) scintillation detector and a low activity source to measure the thickness of pipe-wall, which is simple, quick and high accuracy method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, an advanced gamma spectrum processing technique is applied to analyze experimental scattering spectra for determining the thickness of C45 heat-resistant steel plates. The single scattering peak of scattering spectra is taken as an advantage to measure the intensity of single scattering photons. Based on these results, the thickness of steel plates is determined with a maximum deviation of real thickness and measured thickness of about 4 %. Monte Carlo simulation using MCNP5 code is also performed to cross check the results, which yields a maximum deviation of 2 %. These results strongly confirm the capability of this technique in analyzing gamma scattering spectra, which is a simple, effective and convenient method for determining material thickness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of a radiation shielding system for a hyper-pure germanium detector has been characterised for Terrestrial radiation sources, Cosmic muons, X-ray fluorescence and the Compton scattering of source photons. Several methods to reduce the background seen are quantified, including increasing the inner radius of the Pb cave, and increasing the thickness of the shielding. Substantial improvements in the reduction of fluorescence X-rays are found to be achievable by modifying the liner thicknesses used. Increasing the Sn liner from 1.5 to 2.5 mm will increase the shielding of Pb X-rays from 95 to 99.5 %. Reducing the Cu liner from 1.0 to 0.5 mm maintains a 99.5 % level of shielding for Sn/Cd X-rays, however it greatly reduces the amount of Compton scattering of source photons into the detector (a process that is shown to cause an order of magnitude more events in the background than X-ray fluorescence). Cosmic muons were found to increase the amount of background radiation seen, both through direct interaction and the production of secondary radiation. The Cosmic muon contribution, however, was found to produce a much smaller effect than that caused by Terrestrial radiation and Compton scattered photons/fluorescence from the source. The total level of background radiation entering the detector chamber was found to decrease up to the full 200 mm of Pb shielding simulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both the peak and total detection efficiencies are generally needed in order to calculate sample activity from a gamma spectroscopic measurement, except in the case of isotope specific calibration. This is particularly true when the sample is in close proximity to the detector and corrections for cascade summing effects are required to avoid significant inaccuracy in the result. These corrections use the total detection efficiency to correct for summing-in and summing-out events, and the extent of the correction depends on both the geometry and the gamma cascade for the isotope in question. Experimentally determining the total efficiency is a labor intensive endeavor requiring multiple measurements with a set of single-gamma-emitting standards. Modeling the total efficiency vs. energy may be less time consuming, but is also likely to produce less confidence in the final result. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Radiation Detection and Nuclear Sciences group has constructed a low background 14-crystal HPGe array for sample measurement; in all measurements, samples will be in close proximity to the germanium crystals. This close geometry and the sheer number of efficiency calibrations required for the system have led us to investigate methods to simplify the efficiency calibration procedure. One method we are developing uses the γ-γ coincidence plane to isolate Compton scattering event populations, allowing experimental determination of total detection efficiency values from the measurement of a single mixed isotope standard. A description of the analysis and experimental results of this method are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have written a Monte Carlo code to simulate the experimental results of a previously reported study. We were able to analyse the energy distributions of photons that reached the detector system after suffering several successive Compton scatterings in the target. We have also investigated how the number of multiply backscattered events depends on the target thickness and the energy of the primary photons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a Monte Carlo program has been developed to simulate the response function of the NaI(Tl) detector with all features for Co and Cs and to investigate the effects of detector housing material on response function. The pulse height spectra in a 2″ × 2″ NaI(Tl) detector due to these gamma ray sources have been measured. Comparison of the experimentally obtained and simulated spectra shows that there is good agreement between both spectra. Energy distributions of gamma photons that generate the backscattering peak in the response function were obtained and the contribution of single, double and multiple Compton scattering events to these distributions was investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphorus is an essential element for plants and animals, playing a fundamental role in the production of biochemical energy. Despite its relevance, phosphorus is not commonly determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA), because P does not emit gamma-rays in its decay. There are alternative methods for the determination of phosphorus by INAA, such as the use of beta counting or the measurement of bremsstrahlung originated from the high energy beta particle from P. Here the determination of phosphorus in plant materials by measuring the bremsstrahlung production was further investigated, to optimize an analytical protocol for minimizing interferences and overcoming the poor specificity. Eight certified reference materials of plant matrices with phosphorus ranging between 171 and 5,180 mg kg were irradiated at a thermal neutron flux of 9.5 × 10 cm s and measured with a HPGe detector at decay times varying from 7 to 60 days. Phosphorus solutions added to a certified reference material at three levels were used for calibration. Counts accumulated in the baseline at four different regions of the gamma-ray spectra were tested for the determination of phosphorus, with better results for the 100 keV region. The Compton scattering contribution in the selected range was discounted using an experimental peak-to-Compton factor and the net areas of all peaks in the spectra with energies higher than 218 keV, i.e. Compton edge above 100 keV. Amongst the interferences investigated, the production of P from sulfur, and the contribution of Compton scattering should be considered for producing good results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]