Research of methods of measurement of radionuclide activity for calibration of α-, β-, γ-radiation sources
Abstract
The article considers methods for measuring the activity of ionizing radiation sources. The normative documents that regulate the safety of the use of ionizing radiation sources are considered. Based on the analysis of the literature, a classification of methods for measuring the activity of radionuclides depending on the physical principle of radiation registration is formed. Methods for measuring the activity of radionuclides are considered. Analysis of methods for absolute measurements of nuclide activity shows that none of them is universal. Absolute measurement methods are used only in scientific research and in metrological practice. In all other cases, relative measurement methods are used. It is indicated that it is better to use relative methods to measure the activity of radionuclides. Measuring instruments that implement relative methods of measuring activity are easy to operate and have a low cost. Requirements for methods that can be used to measure the activity of ionizing radiation sources during their calibration are specified, namely the uncertainty of the measurement results does not exceed 10 % and the simplicity of their technical implementation. The analysis of literature sources on different methods is carried out. Scintillation and ionization methods and means of their implementation are considered in detail. The advantages of scintillation and ionization methods for 3/2021 practical use for calibration of ionizing radiation sources and α-, β-, γ-radiation spectrometers are determined. The results of measuring the activity of radionuclides by scintillation method with gamma spectrometer SEG-05 and the results of measuring the activity of radionuclides by ionization method with gamma spectrometer ORTEC GEM-130 are shown in the graphs. The obtained results of measurements performed by these methods indicate that scintillation and ionization methods of measuring the activity of radionuclides are best suited for calibration of ionizing radiation sources, as the uncertainty of measurement results performed by these methods does not exceed 7.5 % and is the same level
Keywords
scintillation method; semiconductor method; spectrometer; detector; ionizing radiation
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