Radiopurity control in the NEXT-100 double beta decay experiment

Journal Article · Thu Aug 08 00:00:00 EDT 2013 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4818073· OSTI ID:22218196

Álvarez, V.; Cárcel, S.; Cervera, A.; Díaz, J.; Ferrario, P.; Gil, A.; Gómez-Cadenas, J. J.; Laing, A.; Liubarsky, I.; Lorca, D.; Martín-Albo, J.; Martínez, A.; Monrabal, F.; Muñoz Vidal, J.; Nebot-Guinot, M.; Rodríguez, J.; Serra, L.; Simón, A.; Sofka, C.; Sorel, M. ^[1] ; others, and

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1. Instituto de Física Corpuscular (IFIC), CSIC and Universitat de València, 46980 Paterna, Valencia (Spain)

An extensive material screening and selection process is underway in the construction of the 'Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon TPC' (NEXT), intended to investigate neutrinoless double beta decay using a high-pressure xenon gas TPC filled with 100 kg of Xe enriched in {sup 136}Xe. Determination of the radiopurity levels of the materials is based on gamma-ray spectroscopy using ultra-low background germanium detectors at the Laboratorio Subterráneo de Canfranc (Spain) and also on Glow Discharge Mass Spectrometry. Materials to be used in the shielding, pressure vessel, electroluminescence and high voltage components and energy and tracking readout planes have been already taken into consideration. The measurements carried out are presented, describing the techniques and equipment used, and the results obtained are shown, discussing their implications for the NEXT experiment.

• OSTI ID: 22218196
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1549, Issue 1; Conference: LRT 2013: 4. international workshop on low radioactivity techniques, Assergi (Italy), 10-12 Apr 2013; Other Information: (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
DOUBLE BETA DECAY
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
ELECTROLUMINESCENCE
GAMMA SPECTROSCOPY
GE SEMICONDUCTOR DETECTORS
GLOW DISCHARGES
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
NEUTRINOS
POSITION SENSITIVE DETECTORS
PRESSURE VESSELS
READOUT SYSTEMS
SHIELDING
TIME PROJECTION CHAMBERS
XENON
XENON 136