Standardization of 152Eu and 88Y

Area of Science:

• Nuclear physics
• Metrology
• Radiochemistry

Background:

• Accurate activity measurements are crucial for nuclear applications.
• Conventional coincidence counting techniques have limitations in precision and data handling.
• Digital coincidence counting (DCC) offers a potential advancement in radioactivity measurement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of the digital coincidence counting (DCC) technique for radionuclide activity determination.
• To compare DCC measurements with results from conventional coincidence counting.
• To validate the DCC method using international metrology standards.

Main Methods:

• Utilized digital coincidence counting (DCC) with commercial ADCs and a 10 MHz clock for pulse digitization and time stamping.
• Performed off-line analysis of pulse height and time data to determine source activity.
• Measured the activities of 152Eu and 88Y using the DCC technique.
• Extrapolated efficiency functions at 3gamma gates for 152Eu activity determination.

Main Results:

• The DCC technique yielded results for 152Eu activity with an uncertainty of 0.2%, showing excellent agreement with the conventional method.
• Activity measurements of 88Y using DCC were validated through an Asia Pacific Metrology Program (APMP) inter-comparison.
• The study demonstrated the precision and reliability of the DCC method for radionuclide metrology.

Conclusions:

• Digital coincidence counting (DCC) is a precise and reliable method for determining radionuclide activity.
• DCC offers comparable or improved accuracy to conventional techniques.
• The validated DCC method can be applied to various radionuclides in metrology and nuclear science.