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Updated: May 23, 2026

Separation of Uranium and Thorium for 230Th-U Dating of Submarine Hydrothermal Sulfides
Published on: May 20, 2019
Measurement of the 230U half-life
S Pommé1, T Altzitzoglou, R Van Ammel
1European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements, Retieseweg 111, B-2440 Geel, Belgium. stefaan.pomme@ec.europa.eu
Abstract:
The (230)U half-life was determined by measuring the decay curve of (230)U sources by various nuclear detection techniques: α-particle counting at a defined small solid angle; 4πα+β counting with a windowless CsI sandwich spectrometer, a liquid scintillation counter and a pressurised proportional counter; gamma-ray spectrometry with a HPGe detector and nearly-2π α-particle counting with an ion-implanted silicon detector. Depending on the technique, the decay was followed for 100-200 d, which is 5-10 times the (230)U half-life. The measurement results of the various techniques were in good mutual agreement. The mean value, T(1/2)((230)U)=20.23 (2) d, is lower than the literature value which is based on one measurement in 1948 and resulted in a half-life value of 20.8d without statement of uncertainty. A correction for the ingrowth of the long-lived (210)Pb and its daughter products may have been overlooked in the past.
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