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Title: A compendium on the NIST radionuclide assays of the massic activity of {sup 63}Ni and {sup 55}Fe solutions used for an international intercomparison of liquid scintillation spectrometry techniques

Journal Article · · Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology
;  [1]
  1. National Inst. of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD (United States)

The National Institute of Standards and Technology recently participated in an international measurement intercomparison for {sup 63}Ni and {sup 55}Fe, which was conducted among principal national radionuclidic metrology laboratories. The intercomparison was sponsored by EUROMET, and was primarily intended to evaluate the capabilities of liquid scintillation (LS) spectrometry techniques for standardizing nuclides that decay by low-energy {beta}-emission (like {sup 63}Ni) and by low-Z (atomic number) electron capture (like {sup 55}Fe). The intercomparison findings exhibit a very good agreement for {sup 63}Ni among the various participating laboratories, including that for NIST, which suggests that the presently invoked LS methodologies are very capable of providing internationally-compatible standardizations for low-energy {beta}-emitters. The results for {sup 55}Fe are in considerably poorer agreement, and demonstrated the existence of several unresolved problems. It has thus become apparent that there is a need for the various international laboratories to conduct rigorous, systematic evaluations of their LS capabilities in assaying radionuclides that decay by low-Z electron capture.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
OSTI ID:
596833
Journal Information:
Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Vol. 102, Issue 5; Other Information: PBD: Sep-Oct 1997
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English