Cyclic neutron activation analysis of large samples with a pulsed 14 MeV neutron source

摘要

A method for the analysis of 200 L steel drums filled with various amounts of concrete and polyethylene by large sample cyclic neutron activation analysis (LS-CNAA) using a pulsed 14 MeV neutron source was developed. The elemental composition obtained for the homogenous samples was found to agree well with the expected values, the differences lying between −3 and +15%. For the heterogeneous samples, the results were found to agree with the expected values within ±39%. Depending on the polyethylene content of the samples, detection limits ranging between 14 and 24 mg kg−1 for cadmium, 520 and 740 mg kg−1 for mercury and 5.5 and 53 g kg−1 for lead were achieved for a counting time of about 30 min.