A method for the quantitative gamma spectroscopic analysis of an unusually shaped unknown source

An unmarked cylindrical device, identified as a ceramic high voltage capacitor, needed its radioactivity assessed so that proper disposal and shipping requirements could be met. Using a high purity germanium detector, naturally occurring 232Th was identified as the source of radioactivity. A series of point source measurements was made along the length of the item's axis using 60Co, having a gamma ray of nearly the same energy as one of the primary 232Th progeny photopeaks. These measurements were then numerically integrated to determine the response of the detector to a line source. A correction for the self shielding of the item was estimated using Monte Carlo simulations. The item was found to contain approximately 1.85 x 10(5) Bq of uniformly distributed 232Th. The overall method has application to any unusually shaped source, with point source measurements performed using an appropriate radionuclide used to establish an overall sensitivity of the detector, including its dead layer, to the radioactivity in a simple geometric representation of the object. An estimation of self shielding from Monte Carlo is then applied to that result.