Calibration and Performance of HPGe Detector for Environmental Radioactivity Measurements using LabSOCS

摘要

The full energy calibration is a significant part of the environmental radioactivity measurements for the accurate determination of natural and anthropogenic radionuclides in environmental samples such as soils, rocks, sediments, foodstuffs, etc. In this paper, a methodology to determine the full energy peak efficiency (FEPE) for environmental measurements was discussed. The Laboratory Sourceless Calibration Software (LabSOCS) was used for simulating the absolute efficiency curve for two different Marinelli beakers (250 ml and 500 ml). Different densities of environmental samples are simulated in order to account for the self-absorption. The calibration procedure has been cross-validated for the determination of natural and artificial radionuclide in two different geometries using IAEA 375 certified reference materials and through the participation in an intercomparison test. The results show a relative bias of less than 10% for ~(40)K, ~(137)Cs, ~(226)Ra and ~(232)Th in ceramic and soil material.