Impact of an external radiation field on handheld XRF measurements for nuclear forensics applications

Journal Article · Sat Mar 28 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-015-4105-6· OSTI ID:1184721

Steeb, Jennifer L. ^[1]; Mertz, Carol J. ^[1]; Finck, Martha R. ^[2]; Engelstad, Gary ^[2]; Carney, Kevin P. ^[2]; Chamberlain, David B. ^[1]

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1. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
2. Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is an attractive technique for nuclear forensics applications. We evaluated a handheld, portable XRF device by applying an external radiation field (10 mR/h to 17 R/h) using two types of radiography sources: a ⁶⁰Co radiography camera to observe effects from high-energy gamma emissions and an ¹⁹²Ir radiography camera to observe effects from several low-energy gamma (0.604, 0.468, and 0.317 MeV) and decay daughter x-ray emissions. External radiation tests proved that radiation, in general, has a significant effect on the dead time or background at dose rates over 1 R/hr for both the ¹⁹²Ir and ⁶⁰Co sources.

• Research Organization: Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC07-05ID14517
• OSTI ID: 1184721
• Report Number(s): INL/JOU-15-34295; TRN: US1500204
• Journal Information: Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 305, Issue 802; ISSN 0236-5731
• Publisher: Springer
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
X-RAY FLUORESCENCE ANALYZERS
COBALT 60
IRIDIUM 192
X RADIATION
DEAD TIME
KEV RANGE 100-1000
GAMMA CAMERAS
GAMMA RADIATION
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
MILLI SV PER HOUR RANGE
MICRO SV PER HOUR RANGE 100-1000
HANDHELD XRF
PORTABLE
NUCLEAR FORENSICS
RDD