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- Author or Editor: M. Cooper x
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Abstract
This paper describes the measurement of210Bi by Cerenkov counting in a commercial liquid scintillation counter. The counting efficiency in water is 0.17 counts per second per Becquerel (17%). When the enhancers Triton X-100 (15% v/v) and sodium salicylate (1% m/v) are added to the solution the counting efficiency for210Bi increases from 17% to 75%. The210Po daughter of210Bi causes interference of 0.85 counts per second per Becquerel in the presence of the enhancers but not in water. When210Bi and210Po are present in secular equilibrium the total counting efficiency is 160%. When210Bi and210Po are not in secular equilibrium the210Po can be removed immediately before counting by plating onto silver foil. The use of the enhancers gives a substantial increase in counting efficiency compared to counting in water. Compared with solutions used in liquid scintillation counting the enhancer solution is inexpensive and can be disposed of without environmental hazard.
Abstract
This paper examines the process of making a decision on the optimum technique for the measurement of low concentrations of226Ra in environmental materials. The available counting techniques are alpha spectrometry, high resolution gamma spectrometry and liquid scintillation counting. The properties of the analytical technique; sensitivity, lower limit of detection (LLD) and precision are considered. Method selection is also restricted by the available sample size and activity. The influence of procedure backgrounds, geometric efficiency, chemical recovery, counting time, sample size and activity on the precision and LLD are investigated. The process of method selection, applicable to a wide range of samples, is illustrated by reference to sediments, waters and tissues.
Abstract
Re-suspension studies on soils contaminated with plutonium during nuclear weapons tests were performed by use of a mechanical dust-raising apparatus. Airborne dust was analyzed in terms of mass and241Am activities for particle sizes less than 7 
m. The AMAD was determined as 4.8 to 6 m, for re-suspended soil. Also, surface soil was characterized in the laboratory by means of sieving and microparticle classification, yielding mass and241Am activity distributions with respect to size. Data indicate the granularity of plutonium contamination at both major and minor trial sites. Depth profile analyses for undisturbed, areas demonstrate that most (74% on average) of the americium and plutonium activity is found in the top 10 mm of soil. Plutonium and americium activities were found to be enhanced in the inhalable fraction over their values, in the total soil, and the enhancement factors were similar in re-suspended dust and surface soil. Observed enhancement factors ranged from 3.7 to 32.5.
Abstract
Sandy soils of the coastal plain area of Western Australia have poor phosphorous retention capacity which leads to pollution of surface water bodies in the region. Application of bauxite mining residues (termed 
red mud
) to vegetable and crops has been proposed as a solution to increase the phosphorous and water retention and thereby reduce the leaching of nutrients. The thorium and radium-226 concentrations in the red mud residues are in excess of 1 kBq/kg and 300 Bq/kg, respectively. Potentially, the use of these residues on agricultural land could result in increased levels of radionuclides in food crops grown in amended soils. The transfer of long-lived radionuclides of both the natural thorium and uranium series to a variety of vegetable crops grown under controlled conditions is investigated. The effects of varying the rates of application of red mud and phosphate fertilisers on radionuclide uptake are studied. It has been shown previously that fallout caesium-137 in sandy soils of the region transfers readily to food and grazing crops. Some of the parameters which influence that transfer are also examined.
Abstract
A selective dopamine D1 antagonist, SCH 23390, is routinely labelled with C-11 at our institution for use in imaging dopamine D1 receptors in primate brain using positron emission tomography.However, little is known about the metabolism of this compound. In this report, a method is presented for the HPLC characterization of SCH 23390 and its possible metabolites in blood using a liquid-solid extraction technique. This procedure was applied to the analysis of blood samples collected at time intervals from rhesus monkeys after the injection of C-11-SCH 23390. About 4 minutes after injection, polar metabolite(s) were found in the circulation. However, the amounts detected would not be expected to interfere with the analysis of brain PET scans.
Abstract
A physics-based approach to gamma-ray response-function generation is presented in which the response of CdZnTe detectors is modeled from first principles. Numerical modeling is used to generate response functions needed for spectrum analysis for general detector configurations (e.g., electrode design, detector materials and geometry, and operating conditions). With numerical modeling, requirements for calibration and characterization are significantly reduced. Elements of the physics-based model, including gamma-ray transport, charge carrier drift and diffusion, and circuit response, are presented. Calculated and experimental gamma-ray spectra are compared for a coplanar-grid CdZnTe detector.
Abstract
Measurement of radioactive xenon in the atmosphere is one of several techniques to detect nuclear weapons testing. For high sensitivity, some existing systems use beta/gamma coincidence detection to suppress background, which is very effective, but increases complexity due to separate beta and gamma detectors that require careful calibration and gain matching. In this paper, we will describe the development and evaluation of a simpler detector system, named PhosWatch, consisting of a CsI(Tl)/BC-404 phoswich well detector, digital readout electronics, and pulse shape analysis algorithms implemented in a digital signal processor on the electronics, and compare its performance to existing multi-detector systems.
