Calibration of an ultra-low-background proportional counter for measuring [sup 37]Ar

Clicks: 254
ID: 269676
2013
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Steady

Ranked #40 of 234 articles by views in AIP Conference Proceedings

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 234 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
An ultra-low-background proportional counter design has been developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) using clean materials, primarily electro-chemically-purified copper. This detector, along with an ultra-low-background counting system (ULBCS), was developed to complement a new shallow underground laboratory (30 meters water-equivalent) at PNNL. The ULBCS design includes passive neutron and gamma shielding, along with an active cosmic-veto system. This system provides a capability for making ultra-sensitive measurements to support applications like age-dating soil hydrocarbons with 14C/3H, age-dating of groundwater with 39Ar, and soil-gas assay for 37Ar to support On-Site Inspection (OSI). On-Site Inspection is a key component of the verification regime for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Measurements of radionuclides created by an underground nuclear explosion are valuable signatures of a Treaty violation. For OSI, the 35-day half-life of 37Ar, produced from neutron interactions with calcium in soil, provides both high specific activity and sufficient time for inspection before decay limits sensitivity. This work describes the calibration techniques and analysis methods developed to enable quantitative measurements of 37Ar samples over a broad range of proportional counter operating pressures. These efforts, along with parallel work in progress on gas chemistry separation, are expected to provide a significant new capability for 37Ar soil gas background studies.
Reference Key
williams2013aipcalibration Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors A. Seifert,C. E. Aalseth,R. M. Bonicalzi,T. W. Bowyer,Anthony Day,E. S. Fuller,D. A. Haas,J. C. Hayes,E. W. Hoppe,P. H. Humble,Martin Keillor,B. D. Laferriere,E. K. Mace,J. I. McIntyre,J. H. Merriman,H. S. Miley,A. W. Myers,J. L. Orrell,C. T. Overman,M. E. Panisko,R. M. Williams;A. Seifert;C. E. Aalseth;R. M. Bonicalzi;T. W. Bowyer;Anthony Day;E. S. Fuller;D. A. Haas;J. C. Hayes;E. W. Hoppe;P. H. Humble;Martin Keillor;B. D. Laferriere;E. K. Mace;J. I. McIntyre;J. H. Merriman;H. S. Miley;A. W. Myers;J. L. Orrell;C. T. Overman;M. E. Panisko;R. M. Williams;
Journal AIP Conference Proceedings
Year 2013
DOI
10.1063/1.4818068
URL
https://sciprofiles.com/publication/view/e2d8cdc8077398deab3fd72c1b1f165f
Keywords
calibration shielding gamma-ray detection neutron detection particle counting proportional counters radioactivity measurement radioisotopes

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.