skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Deconvolution of mixed gamma emitters using peak parameters

Abstract

When evaluating samples containing mixtures of nuclides using gamma spectroscopy the situation sometimes arises where the nuclides present have photon emissions that cannot be resolved by the detector. An example of this is mixtures of {sup 241}Am and plutonium that have L x-ray emissions with slightly different energies which cannot be resolved using a high-purity germanium detector. It is possible to deconvolute the americium L x-rays from those plutonium based on the {sup 241}Am 59.54 keV photon. However, this requires accurate knowledge of the relative emission yields. Also, it often results in high uncertainties in the plutonium activity estimate due to the americium yields being approximately an order of magnitude greater than those for plutonium. In this work, an alternative method of determining the relative fraction of plutonium in mixtures of {sup 241}Am and {sup 239}Pu based on L x-ray peak location and shape parameters is investigated. The sensitivity and accuracy of the peak parameter method is compared to that for conventional peak decovolution.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Los Alamos National Laboratory
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1047138
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-11-00340; LA-UR-11-340
TRN: US1203865
DOE Contract Number:  
AC52-06NA25396
Resource Type:
Conference
Resource Relation:
Conference: Health Physics Society Midyear Topical Meeting ; February 7, 2011 ; Charleston, SC, USA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY; ACCURACY; AMERICIUM; GAMMA SPECTROSCOPY; GE SEMICONDUCTOR DETECTORS; ISOTOPES; MIXTURES; PHOTON EMISSION; PLUTONIUM; RADIATION PROTECTION; SENSITIVITY; SHAPE

Citation Formats

Gadd, Milan S, Garcia, Francisco, and Magadalena, Vigil M. Deconvolution of mixed gamma emitters using peak parameters. United States: N. p., 2011. Web.
Gadd, Milan S, Garcia, Francisco, & Magadalena, Vigil M. Deconvolution of mixed gamma emitters using peak parameters. United States.
Gadd, Milan S, Garcia, Francisco, and Magadalena, Vigil M. 2011. "Deconvolution of mixed gamma emitters using peak parameters". United States. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1047138.
@article{osti_1047138,
title = {Deconvolution of mixed gamma emitters using peak parameters},
author = {Gadd, Milan S and Garcia, Francisco and Magadalena, Vigil M},
abstractNote = {When evaluating samples containing mixtures of nuclides using gamma spectroscopy the situation sometimes arises where the nuclides present have photon emissions that cannot be resolved by the detector. An example of this is mixtures of {sup 241}Am and plutonium that have L x-ray emissions with slightly different energies which cannot be resolved using a high-purity germanium detector. It is possible to deconvolute the americium L x-rays from those plutonium based on the {sup 241}Am 59.54 keV photon. However, this requires accurate knowledge of the relative emission yields. Also, it often results in high uncertainties in the plutonium activity estimate due to the americium yields being approximately an order of magnitude greater than those for plutonium. In this work, an alternative method of determining the relative fraction of plutonium in mixtures of {sup 241}Am and {sup 239}Pu based on L x-ray peak location and shape parameters is investigated. The sensitivity and accuracy of the peak parameter method is compared to that for conventional peak decovolution.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1047138}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Jan 14 00:00:00 EST 2011},
month = {Fri Jan 14 00:00:00 EST 2011}
}

Conference:
Other availability
Please see Document Availability for additional information on obtaining the full-text document. Library patrons may search WorldCat to identify libraries that hold this conference proceeding.

Save / Share: