Plastic scintillator beta ray scanner for in-situ discrimination of beta ray and gamma ray radioactivity in soil

Jun Woo Bae; Hee Reyoung Kim

doi:10.1016/j.net.2019.11.013

Plastic scintillator beta ray scanner for in-situ discrimination of beta ray and gamma ray radioactivity in soil

Jun Woo Bae, Hee Reyoung Kim

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

A beta ray scanner was proposed for in-situ discrimination of beta and gamma ray radioactivity. This scanner is based on the principle that gamma and beta rays experience different changes in detection efficiency in scintillators with different geometries, especially with regard to the scintillator thickness. The ratios of the counting rates of gamma rays (R_gamma), beta rays (R_beta), and sample measurements (R_total) in a thick scintillator to those in a thin one are reported. The parameter X_thick, which represents the counting rate contributed by beta rays to the total counting rate in the thick scintillator, was derived as a function of those ratios. The values of R_gamma and R_beta for ⁶⁰Co and ⁹⁰Sr sources were estimated as 3.2 ± 0.057 and 0.99 ± 0.0049, respectively. The estimated beta ray contributions had relative standard deviations of 2.05–4.96%. The estimated range of the beta rays emitted from ⁹⁰Sr was 19 mm as per the Monte Carlo N-Particle simulation, and this value was experimentally verified. Homogeneous and surface contaminations of ⁶⁰Co and ⁹⁰Sr-⁹⁰Y were simulated for application of the proposed method. The counting rate contributed by the beta rays was derived and found to be proportional to the concentration of ⁹⁰Sr-⁹⁰Y contamination.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1259-1265
Number of pages	7
Journal	Nuclear Engineering and Technology
Volume	52
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.net.2019.11.013
State	Published - Jun 2020
Externally published	Yes

Funding

This work was supported in part by the “Development of the Beta ray Distribution Measurement Technology of the Site” through the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute under Grant KAERI-2015-2015M2A8A5022235 , in part by the Industrial Technology Innovation Program (Real-Time Underwater Tritium Monitoring Technology by Electrolysis) through the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning under Grant 2016520101340 , and in part by the National Research Foundation of Korea through the Korean Government (MSIP: Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning ) under Grant 2016M2B2B1945083 .

Funders	Funder number
Ministry of Education
Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning	2016M2B2B1945083
Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute	KAERI-2015-2015M2A8A5022235
National Research Foundation of Korea
Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning	2016520101340

Keywords

Clearance level
In-situ discrimination
Plastic scintillator
Residual radioactivity
Sr

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10.1016/j.net.2019.11.013

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title = "Plastic scintillator beta ray scanner for in-situ discrimination of beta ray and gamma ray radioactivity in soil",

abstract = "A beta ray scanner was proposed for in-situ discrimination of beta and gamma ray radioactivity. This scanner is based on the principle that gamma and beta rays experience different changes in detection efficiency in scintillators with different geometries, especially with regard to the scintillator thickness. The ratios of the counting rates of gamma rays (Rgamma), beta rays (Rbeta), and sample measurements (Rtotal) in a thick scintillator to those in a thin one are reported. The parameter Xthick, which represents the counting rate contributed by beta rays to the total counting rate in the thick scintillator, was derived as a function of those ratios. The values of Rgamma and Rbeta for 60Co and 90Sr sources were estimated as 3.2 ± 0.057 and 0.99 ± 0.0049, respectively. The estimated beta ray contributions had relative standard deviations of 2.05–4.96%. The estimated range of the beta rays emitted from 90Sr was 19 mm as per the Monte Carlo N-Particle simulation, and this value was experimentally verified. Homogeneous and surface contaminations of 60Co and 90Sr-90Y were simulated for application of the proposed method. The counting rate contributed by the beta rays was derived and found to be proportional to the concentration of 90Sr-90Y contamination.",

keywords = "Clearance level, In-situ discrimination, Plastic scintillator, Residual radioactivity, Sr",

author = "Bae, {Jun Woo} and Kim, {Hee Reyoung}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019",

year = "2020",

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AB - A beta ray scanner was proposed for in-situ discrimination of beta and gamma ray radioactivity. This scanner is based on the principle that gamma and beta rays experience different changes in detection efficiency in scintillators with different geometries, especially with regard to the scintillator thickness. The ratios of the counting rates of gamma rays (Rgamma), beta rays (Rbeta), and sample measurements (Rtotal) in a thick scintillator to those in a thin one are reported. The parameter Xthick, which represents the counting rate contributed by beta rays to the total counting rate in the thick scintillator, was derived as a function of those ratios. The values of Rgamma and Rbeta for 60Co and 90Sr sources were estimated as 3.2 ± 0.057 and 0.99 ± 0.0049, respectively. The estimated beta ray contributions had relative standard deviations of 2.05–4.96%. The estimated range of the beta rays emitted from 90Sr was 19 mm as per the Monte Carlo N-Particle simulation, and this value was experimentally verified. Homogeneous and surface contaminations of 60Co and 90Sr-90Y were simulated for application of the proposed method. The counting rate contributed by the beta rays was derived and found to be proportional to the concentration of 90Sr-90Y contamination.

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KW - Residual radioactivity

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Plastic scintillator beta ray scanner for in-situ discrimination of beta ray and gamma ray radioactivity in soil

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