Influence of dead time in Compton suppression NAA

Journal Article · Sat Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1994 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society

OSTI ID:88963

Landsberger, S; Peshev, S

Compton suppression spectrometry has developed into an established position in low-level counting. It is attractive because of the reduction in the Compton continuum, and cosmic and natural background. Usually Compton suppression methods have been used in environmental studies with low-level activities and subsequent low dead times. In neutron activation analysis (NAA), Compton suppression can help by increasing the sensitivity for isotope identification and also substantially reduce spectral interferences. In general, NAA deals with a much broader range of dead times. Millard did a study on this subject for dead times up to 18% and concluded that the results obtained with Compton suppression counting depended not only on the physical arrangement of the detectors and the performance characteristics of the electronic equipment but also on the decay characteristics of the nuclides analyzed. The ratio of the count rate in a gamma line in anticoincident and coincident modes was used to monitor the proper quantification of the activity measured. Therefore, for successful and reliable implementation of Compton suppression in NAA, a detailed investigation on the change in activity quantification is warranted.

• OSTI ID: 88963
• Report Number(s): CONF-941102--
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 71; ISSN TANSAO; ISSN 0003-018X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

40 CHEMISTRY
44 INSTRUMENTATION
INCLUDING NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE DETECTORS
ANTICOINCIDENCE
AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS
COINCIDENCE METHODS
COMPTON SPECTROMETERS
DEAD TIME
MANGANESE
MANGANESE 56
NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS
OPTIMIZATION
SENSITIVITY