LAB REPORT: (I) HALF LIFE OF K-40 (II)

CONTIMINATION SURVEY AND

DECONTAMINATION
Liquid Scintillators


Submitted to: Dr. Muhammad Mansha
Submitted By: Group 5, MS-NE, 2013-2015
Muhammad Aizaz, Mian Monib Ur Rehman, Mohsin Majeed, Moiz Ul Ain, Muhammad
Adil, Muhammad Ali Khan, Muhammad Arsalan Babar, Muhammad Arslan Awan,
Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Asif.
Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences

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Contents
Part A: Half Life of K-40 ...................................................................................................................... 2
1. Abstract.............................................................................................................................................. 2
2. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 2
3. Experimental Setup .......................................................................................................................... 3
4. Some Relations ................................................................................................................................. 3
5. Calibration and Efficiency Calculation ......................................................................................... 4
A. Tritium .......................................................................................................................................... 4
B. Carbon 14 ...................................................................................................................................... 4
6. Beta Spectrum of C-14 ..................................................................................................................... 5
7. Half Life of K-40 ............................................................................................................................... 7
A. Assumptions and Efficiency ...................................................................................................... 7
B. Half Life Calculation ................................................................................................................... 8
8. Discussion ......................................................................................................................................... 8
A. Questions and Answers ............................................................................................................. 9
Part B: Contamination Survey and Decontamination .................................................................. 10
1. Abstract............................................................................................................................................ 10
2. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 10
3. Contamination Survey .................................................................................................................. 10
4. Decontamination (Principles) ....................................................................................................... 10



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Part A: Half Life of K-40
1. Abstract
Scintillation counters are among the oldest radiation detectors. They use a scintillator
which gives rise to visible photons when incident by radiation. The aim of this part of
experiment is to study the characteristics of liquid scintillation counters by obtaining the
beta spectrum of Carbon 14 (C-14). The detector was firs calibrated by using Tritium and C-
14. The system efficiency in each case was calculated. The result of this calculation shows
that the efficiency is energy (end point) dependent and is higher for C-14. Further same
experimental setup was used to measure the half-life of K-40. For this 0.5 g of KCL was
dissolved in the cocktail (scintillation fluid). Assumptions were taken to estimate the
detection efficiency of the system for the K-40 gamma rays. From the efficiency and the net
counts per minute, the half-life of K-40 was calculated.
2. Introduction
Scintillators are materials that exhibit scintillations (the property whereby incident
radiation cause the material to glow). Scintillators are widely used in radiation detection and
counting. These are among the very first radiation detectors (e.g. in 1896 it was used in the
discovery of electron and in 1911 used in the famous Rutherford experiment which gives
clues to the existence of nucleus). The first scintillation counter was built in 1903 by Sir W.
Crookes and used a ZnS screen. The scintillations produced by the screen were visible to the
human eye if viewed by a microscope. However it was very difficult for the human eye see
the flashed continuously and efficiently. Scintillators gained additional attention in 1944,
when Curran and Baker replaced the naked eye measurement with the newly developed
PMT (photomultiplier tube). This increase the importance of scintillators.
Organic scintillators can be dissolved in an organic solvent (e.g. Toluene and xylene)
to form a liquid scintillator. The scintillation process happens this way: energy is first
absorbed by the solvent, and then passed onto the scintillating solute. The primary solute
absorbs the energy from solvent and emits flashes of light. Among common primary
scintillators are 2,5-diphenyloxazole (PPO) and P-teraphenyl. Certain additives and
solubilizers are added to liquid scintillator to improve the efficiency of energy transfer from
primary solute. A wave shifter is added to the solution for matching the wavelength at
which the response of the PMT is good. It absorbs the emissions of primary solute and emits
photons of longer wavelength. It also improves the transparency of the scintillator solution.
Figure 1 shows the liquid scintillation counting process.
The mixture is sealed in a glass or plastic vial. The vial is then placed in a light-tight
counting system, where commonly two opposite photomultiplier tubes are used to detect
the scintillation light. Vials used for scintillation counting need to have good light
transmission, be chemically resistant and have low background.
Since, the source and detector are mixed together, without any window between
source and detector along with 4-geometry, therefore, maximum counting efficiencies can
be achieved in liquid scintillators. Due to this fact, the chance of self-absorption in sample
and backscattering from the window of the detector is absent in liquid scintillation counting.

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X-ray or -ray spectroscopy cannot be achieved by liquid scintillators due to its low
atomic numbers. Quenching is one of the main problem in such scintillators, which occurs
due to undesirable substances present in the solvent e.g. Oxygen. These substances to
absorb energy from solvent but do not radiate it. Therefore, Quenching refers to all
radiation-less transitions and hence represents the information loss in counting process.
Therefore most of oxygen is washed out from solution while sealing the vial.

Figure 1: Liquid Scintillation Counting Process (from CNS-20)
3. Experimental Setup
Liquid scintillation counting system LSC2 (its block diagram is shown in Figure 2),
EHT supply, CRO, counter/timer, connecting cable, NIM BIN, tritium and carbon solutions
with known activities, K-40 vial.
4. Some Relations
All the symbols have their usual meaning in the following relations.
() =
0

1
1
2
=
(ln 2)

2
=

3
. . = +(

2
) 4
=
0

5

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Figure 2: Block Diagram of LSC-2.
5. Calibration and Efficiency Calculation
A. Tritium
The activity of the tritium sample was quoted on the vial to be 1,03,200 DPM on
March 1
st
, 1983. This experiment was performed on April 9
th
, 2014 hence = 31.11 .
Using relation 1 (with
1/2
= 12.3 ) the present activity comes out to be:
() = 17868
Table 1 gives the CPM at highest voltage for the readings we have taken is 7,989
thereby giving a detection efficiency for the tritium as (relation 3):
=
7989
17868
= 0.447 45 %
B. Carbon 14
The measured activity of the C-14 sample on May 1
st
, 1983 was 30,600 DPM. Again
taking 30 .The present activity comes out to be (
1/2
= 5730 ):
() = 30,486
Table 2 gives the CPM (at optimum voltage of 850 volts) as 28,002. The detection efficiency
of the system for C-14 is thus:
=
28002
30486
= 0.9185 92 %



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HV
(Volts)
CP 20 S
400 4
450 12
500 9
550 21
600 16
650 36
700 329
750 760
800 1324
850 1517
900 2161
950 2516
1000 2663

Table 1: Tritium Figure 3: Voltage vs. CP 20 seconds for tritium source.

HV
(Volts)
CP 20 S
400 3
450 10
500 31
550 1442
600 3409
650 3311
700 7655
750 8415
800 8722
850 9334
900 9083
950 7784
1000 5851

Table 2: C-14 Figure 4: Voltage vs. CP 20 seconds for C-14
6. Beta Spectrum of C-14
In this part of the experiment we fix the voltage = 800 ( )
and use channel B to record data of different channel numbers and corresponding CP 20
seconds. Table 3 gives the recorded data and figure 5 shows the spectrum obtained.


0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
C
P

2
0

s
e
c
Volts
Tritium (CP 20 sec vs. Voltage)
-500
1500
3500
5500
7500
9500
11500
200 400 600 800 1000 1200
C
P

2
0

s
e
c
Volts
C-14 (Counts Rate vs. Voltage)

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S. No Channel Number CP 20 seconds
1 10 336
2 50 601
3 100 784
4 150 781
5 200 749
6 250 683
7 300 570
8 350 509
9 400 478
10 450 410
11 500 356
12 550 278
13 600 212
14 650 177
15 700 119
16 750 76
17 800 55
18 850 34
19 900 15
20 950 10
21 1000 8
22 1010 4
Table 3: C-14, CP 20 second against channel number data.

Figure 5: Beta spectrum of C-14
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
C
P

2
0

s
e
c
Channel No.
C-14 (Beta Spectrum)

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7. Half Life of K-40
Figure 6 shows the decay scheme of K-40. Table 4 gives the HV vs. CP 30 seconds
data for K-40 source. Figure 7 shows the plot of the data in table 4. The optimum voltage
comes out to be 850 volts. Thus we set 850 volts fix and took 5 readings of counts per minute
(Table 5). Table 6 gives three readings of background counts (all solutions were present in
the vial; but, no KCl).

Figure 6: Decay scheme of K-40 (CNS 20)
High Voltage
(Volts)
CP 30
sec
S No CP 60
sec
S No CP 60
sec
400 0 1 457 1 73
450 2 2 405 2 85
500 30 3 380 3 86
550 42 4 405 Av: 81
600 145 5 413
700 245 Av: 412 Table 6
750 232
800 246 Table 5
850 256
900 161 Net CPM: 331
950 111
1000 85

Table 4
A. Assumptions and Efficiency
We assume that the entire K-40 is present at the centre of the vial and the vial itself is
replaced by an equivalent sphere, hence

2
=
4
3

3
. From the known values (CNS-
20)

comes out to be 1.25 cm. Further we assume that the attenuation coefficient of

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liquid scintillator is same as that of water. The fraction of gamma rays that are leaked out
from the vial is obtained from relation 5:

0
=

Now the fraction, f of gamma rays that interact in the vial (assumed spherically) is
= 1

0
= 1

Using =

and = 0.06
1
, = 0.0723, thereby giving
= 89%+(0.0723 11%) = 89.79 %
B. Half Life Calculation
Only 0.0117 % of the naturally occurring K is K-40, therefore the number of K-40 in
our sample is ( = 0.5 and = 74.56):

40
=

0.0117% = 4.72 10
17

Now using

=
0.693
1
2

40
6
For DPM we use relation 3 with CPM as 331 and value of as 89.79 %. We thereby get

1/2
=
0.693
40

= 8.8644 10
14
= 1.68 10
9


Figure 7: Voltage vs. count rate for K-40.
8. Discussion
The higher detection efficiency (92 %) of the system for C-14 as compare to that for
Tritium shows that the detection ability of liquid scintillation counter is energy dependent.
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100
C
P

3
0

s
e
c
Volts
Voltage vs. Count Rate (K-40)

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The end point energy of the beta spectrum of C-14 is 0.156 MeV, about 10 times as compare
to the value 0.0186 MeV for Tritium. Since the end point energy of K-40 is about 10 times
that of the C-14, we correctly assumed that the system is almost 100 % efficient in detecting
K-40 gamma rays.
Though the calculated value of half-life of K-40 is same on the order of magnitude as
that of its usually quoted value of 1.28 10
9
, the higher error from this actual value is
due to the assumptions we have taken in efficiency calculation.
A. Questions and Answers
Q: Comparison between solid and liquid scintillator
A: Solid scintillators are made up of inorganic materials (e.g. Alkali halide like NaI) and are
among the most used scintillators. The relatively high atomic number of these materials
make theme suitable for gamma rays detection. Liquid scintillators are organic solutes
dissolved in organic solvents. Due to their low atomic numbers they cannot be used in
gamma radiation spectroscopy.
Q: Explain the shape of graph?
A: Counts increase with voltage up to a specific value (Optimum voltage, clearly visible in
figure 4). Initially the number of count rate increases with the increase in the voltage and
decrease with further increase in voltage. This happens because when the applied voltage
becomes more than the optimal voltage, the pulses gain height greater than the upper
discriminator level and the count rate decreases. The beta spectrum is also not smoothen and
accurate due to short time observation.
Q: How can we find activity of unknown sample?
A: We can use a detector of known detection efficiency for measuring the count rate, CPM of
the unknown sample (at optimum voltage). Relation 3 can then be used to get DPM
(activity).
Q: What is the role of quenching and ways to overcome these phenomena?
A: Quenching process decreases the fluorescence intensity that the scintillator gives. Clear
transparent samples are used to overcome quenching. Special care is required to avoid
mixing any unwanted material in the vial.
Q: Explain the use of SCA to draw beta spectrum?
A: SCA is a linear to logic converter and involves two independent discrimination levels.
SCA will give logic pulse in the input pulse lies between the two levels. The lower level
(threshold) is changed keeping the energy difference between the levels (called window) fix.
Half the window plus the threshold gives the channel number. Counts rate are recorded for
different channel numbers. The channel number vs. count rate plot gives the beta spectrum.
Q: Explain strategy for determining the half-life of K-40?
A: Find Optimum Voltage Find CPM Using appropriate assumptions calculate the
detection efficiency of the system Get DPM from equation 3 Using the percent

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abundance of K-40 get the number of K-40 in the sample At last get the half-life of K-40
using equation 6.
Q: How did you find DPM of K-40 from CPM?
A: By using

Part B: Contamination Survey and Decontamination

1. Abstract
In this part of the experiment, we aimed to study different surface and places of the
laboratory for contamination using a portable GM detector (contamination survey). Surface
(say a table top) was scanned with GM tube. A contaminated region cause the GM tube to
record higher count rate and thus beep (or set off the alarm) accordingly. It was also
intended to contaminate different surfaces (wood, plastic, glass etc.) with
99
and then
decontaminate it using different cleaning agents and to determine the decontamination
factor (FD)
*
.
2. Introduction
Contamination is the presence of radioactive material on the surfaces or within
solids, liquids or gasses where their presences is either unintended or undesirable. Surface
contamination can be divided into two categories, fixed and loose contamination. Loose
contamination can be airborne and thus cause internal radiation hazard by getting
transmitted into the body via mouth or skin. Fixed contamination cause only external
radiation hazard.
Decontamination loosely refers to the complete or partial removal of radionuclide
from a contaminated surface. The method of the decontamination depends on the nature of
the contaminant, nature of surface, level and type of contamination.
3. Contamination Survey
The location of contaminated surface can be located by scanning the suspected
surface with portable G.M detector. The location where beep sound from GM detector
raises, is the contaminated area. While doing so, one must ensure that the GM end window
do not touch the surface otherwise it will itself be contaminated. The end window to the
detector must also be not too far from the surface (it will not even detect the contamination,
if present).
4. Decontamination (Principles)
The complete removal of radionuclide from a contaminated surface is an ideal case.
However there are some features that must be considered for required decontamination

*
The required radioactive source was not available.

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level. The fundamental principles which are applicable to all decontamination procedures
are:
Wet decontamination methodology is preferable over dry decontamination.
In any decontamination exercise the first treatment is with the mildest cleaning
agent.
Further contamination should be prevented during decontamination procedure.
Short lived decontaminant should be isolated, during decontamination, to allow
natural decay.
During decontamination, it is very important to dispose the swabs after each wiping
step, in order to prevent further contamination.
In case of significant contamination, in which simple decontamination is not
sufficient, mild acids or alkali detergents are recommended.
A standard supervision must be carried out for decontamination assessment between
different stages.
For cationic contamination removal, most efficient methods are implemented in
practice. The chelating agents, for example citric acid, ethylene diamine tetracetic
acid (EDTA) are used.