Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Visualization of Low-Level Gamma Radiation Sources Using a Low-Cost, High-Sensitivity, Omnidirectional Compton Camera
Published on: January 30, 2020
Absolute activity of (133)Ba by liquid scintillation coincidence counting using the 4pi(e,X)-gamma extrapolation
B R S Simpson1, W M van Wyngaardt
1National Metrology Institute of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa. bsimpson@nmisa.org
Abstract:
The Technical Committee for Ionizing Radiation (TCRI) of the Asia Pacific Metrology Programme (APMP) recently organized a regional key comparison of activity measurements of the radionuclide (133)Ba. This paper reports on absolute measurements made at the National Metrology Institute of South Africa (NMISA) by the coincidence extrapolation technique, with liquid scintillation counting (LSC) comprising the 4pi channel. A detection efficiency analysis was undertaken to predict the maximum efficiency likely to be achieved and to confirm that the method does indeed provide the source disintegration rate for (133)Ba. Various experimental and data analysis difficulties to be aware of are discussed in the paper.
Related Concept Videos
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Lab
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Overview
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Instrumentation
Types of Radioactivity
Alpha (α) decay is the emission of an α particle from the nucleus. For example, polonium-210 undergoes α decay:
Radioactive Decay and Radiometric Dating
Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy: Radiation and Light Sources
Two common narrow-range 'line' sources used in AAS are hollow-cathode lamps (HCLs) and...

