Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
1. INTRODUCTION
*
Paper presented at the 5th International Balkan Workshop on Applied Physics, 57 July 2004,
Constana, Romania.
Rom. Journ. Phys., Vol. 51, Nos. 12, P. 2126, Bucharest, 2006
22 Maria Sahagia et al. 2
equivalence for the national standards, at the international level, for the ionizing
radiations, in preparing an international system of recognition of the standards,
certificates and measurements [1, 2].
In 1999, a great number of national metrology institutes signed the
International Committee of Weights and Measures Mutual Recognition
Arrangement (CIPM- MRA), as a technical base for mutual recognition of
standards and certificates. In the field of radionuclide metrology, an amplified
number of international comparisons were organized by the BIPM and the
evaluation of the former comparisons, as well as of the measurements made in the
frame of the SIR, were carried out. An impressing rich Data Base, known as
BIPM- Key Comparison Data Base (KCDB), Appendix B, of the CIPM-MRA was
constructed. It is accessible on the address: www.bipm.org. KCDB, and it reflects
the degree of equivalence for the worldwide metrology laboratories. In the field of
the activity unit, Becquerel, our Institute is registered with 19 results.
The radionuclides for the most recent comparisons, were chosen such as to cover
several areas of interest, as follows:
- to respond the necessities of practical use of radionuclides: 32P, 192Ir,
radionuclides used in medicine, life sciences, industry
- to assure the most precise standards for radionuclides used in the
calibration of the gamma spectrometers, for scientific purposes, as well as
for environmental radioactivity survey and other analyses: 241Am, 54Mn,
65
Zn, or for the calibration of beta contaminometers: 204Tl
- to check various types of standardization methods, and various types of
radionuclides: 241Am is an alphagamma emitter; 32P and 204Tl are pure
beta emitters; 192Ir has a very complex decay scheme, including beta and
electron capture decays, followed by emission of gamma rays; 54Mn is an
electron capture-gamma emitter, while 65Zn is an electron capture beta
plus-gamma emitter.
We participated at all these comparisons, by using various methods of
standardization.
2. STANDARDIZATION METHODS
The method was first developed at the R.C., Poland and at the LNHB, France
[3, 4]. Nowadays, it is fully applied at the international scale, including our
laboratory. Our equipment consists in a detection unit, provided with three photo-
multipliers, acted by the light emitted in the vial containing the radioactive solution
dissolved in a liquid scintillator, and the electronic unit; the principle of the method
was described in detail in the paper [5].
3 International comparisons of standard solutions 23
The equipment and the method had been verified previously in the 89Sr,
CIPM and in the bilateral, IFIN-HH, Romania LNHB, France, 3H comparisons
[6,7].
The method was used for 204Tl and 32P, two beta emitters. 32P is a high energy
beta emitter, Ebeta maxim= 1710.4 keV, while 204Tl has a 97.5% beta decay branch,
with Ebeta maxim= 763.4 keV and a 2.5% decay branch by electron capture.
Leaving from the general theory of the TDCR principle, it is necessary to
determine the detection efficiency. The following process is used:
The counting rates on the triple and on the double coincidence channels, T
and D, are registered; the theoretical detection efficiencies on the same channels, t
and d, are calculated, by taking into account the decay scheme parameters and the
scintillator photomultipliers system characteristics; the counting rate ratios and
the calculated efficiencies ratios are compared; when these ratios are equal, means:
T/D = t/d (1)
the theoretical models of efficiency calculations, with their parameters, are good,
and the activity to be measured is calculated as:
No=D/ d or No=T/ t (2)
No is the activity of the source
The method was also used for standardization of 241Am. In this special case, due to
the high detection efficiency of the alpha particles in the scintillator, the values
t = d =1, and
No=D (2)
This method was used for the radionuclides: 192Ir, 65Zn, 54Mn, with the
detection of the beta rays, Auger electrons, X rays, in the proportional counter
(PC).The method was described in detail in literature [8].
192
Ir, has a very complex decay scheme, decaying by beta minus/plus and
electron capture, both of decays being followed by the emission of a high number
of gamma rays, with energies within the interval 205.79 keV612.45 keV. For
obtaining a linear graph of extrapolation, linearity conditions had to be
accomplished; they were applied such were found in our laboratory [9], by
choosing a proper energetic measurement window on the gamma channel. 65Zn
decays by electron capture, with a decay probability of 98.5%, and by positron
emission, with a probability of 1.5%. Its emissions on the beta channel consist from
positrons, X-rays and Auger electrons. The emitted gamma rays are: annihilation,
511 keV and 1115.6 keV. An original method of assurance of the linearity
24 Maria Sahagia et al. 4
conditions was found in our laboratory [9] and further developed [10]; it consisted
in the combination of the selection of measurement window with the use of lead
absorbers. 54Mn decays by electron capture, followed by the emission of 834.84
keV gamma quanta. Its decay scheme is simple, but the special difficulty is due to
the very low energy of X-rays and Auger electrons emitted after decay, resulting in
a low detection efficiency; when the extrapolation method is applied, a long
extrapolation interval must be used, and supplementary type B uncertainties can
occur. In order to reduce them, the extrapolation procedure was applied for every
measured source.
3. RESULTS
The BIPM report of comparison was first issued for the radionuclide 192Ir.
Afterwards, the Draft B Report Ir-192 2004/06/14, entitled BIPM comparison
BIPM.RI(II)-K1.Ir-192 of the activity measurements of the radionuclide 192Ir and
links for the international comparison CCRI(II)-K2.Ir-192 was introduced in the
CIPM- MRA, Appendix B, KCDB.
Our result was A = 204.81 kBqg-1, with uc = 0.33 kBq g-1 (k =1), very near
the results of NPL-UK and PTB-Germany. It is 0.52% higher than the mean value.
A worldwide mean of the reference value, Key Comparison Reference Value
(KCRV), was established. It was declared that our result is included in the KCRV
calculation.
In the case of 65Zn, our result is A = 54.78 kBq g-1, with uc = 0.27 kBq g-1
(k= 1) on the reference date.
For the radionuclide 54Mn, our result was: A = 312.69 kBqg-1, with uc = 0.84
kBq g-1, (k =1).
For this radionuclide, two different results, corresponding to the two methods
of standardization were transmitted to the BIPM. They were: A = 296.9 kBqg-1,
with uc = 1.1 kBq g-1 (k=1), corresponding to the coincidence method, and
A = 294.5 kBqg-1, with uc = 1.4 kBq g-1 (k=1), corresponding to the LSC-TDCR
method. The two independent results agree within the limit of 0.81%, with a
calculated coverage value k =1.33.
4. CONCLUSIONS
REFERENCES