Radiochemical Manual

The radiochemical manual. Second Ed. Amersham Radiochemical Centre 1966. 

B. J. Wilson (Ed.), The Radiochemical Manual, The Radiochemical Centre, Amersham, 1966. 

Longworth, G. (Ed.), (1998). The Radiochemical Manual, AEA Technology pic, HMSO, London, UK. Incorporates the NPL RSA(EXT)53 data and other data taken from the UKHEDD database. Includes the TECDOC-619 nuclides but does not incorporate the TECDOC-619 data. Superseded by DDEP and no longer recommended as a source of nuclear data. That does not diminish the value of this manual from a general informative point of view. 

From G. N. A. Bailey et al. (1973). Physical data of radionuclides are from The Radiochemical Manual, 2nd ed., 1966 The Radiochemical Center, Amersham, England. The half-life gives an indication of persistence y energies and y-ray constant give data that are related to strength of y emission and therefore to ease of detection dose rate, presence of rays, presence of other radiations, and toxicity are all important when considering the possibility of tissue damage. 

Gamma spectra can be quite complex, as a result of both complicated emission spectra and detector artefacts. Radiochemical data are from The Radiochemical Manual unless indicated otherwise. There is the possibility of peak overlaps as a result of finite detector resolution, two of which are significant to the present discussion ... 

The Radiochemical Manual, H. M. Stationery Office. London, 1998. http //wwwndc.iaea.go.ip/cgi-bin/nuclinfo2010788.226. accessed on 11 September 2014. 

Alpha counting is done with an internal proportional counter or a scintiUation counter. Beta counting is carried out with an internal or external proportional gas-flow chamber or an end-window Geiger-MueUer tube. The operating principles and descriptions of various counting instmments are available, as are techniques for determining various radioelements in aqueous solution (20,44). A laboratory manual of radiochemical procedures has been compiled for analysis of specific radionucHdes in drinking water (45). Detector efficiency should be deterrnined with commercially available sources of known activity. 

Conventional radiochemical analysis of nuclear process or waste samples in the laboratory entails three primary activities sample preparation, radiochemical separation, and detection. Each of these activities may entail multiple steps. The automated fluidic methods described above, typically also carried out in the laboratory, link separation and detection. Sample preparation has, in many cases, been carried out first by manual laboratory methods. 

HASL (1972) Radiochemical Determination of Strontium-90. In Procedures Manual HASL-300, Health and Safety Laboratory (now Environmental Measurements Laboratory), US Department of Energy, New York, USA. 

A variety of radiochemical measurements have been successfully automated, both in the laboratory and in the field. It might appear to the student that the effort involved in automating a process is more trouble than the manual measurement of the activity. To an experienced practitioner, it is exactly this economic and quality decision point that makes the selection of automation or manual approaches interesting. When the expected variations in sample type and process parameters allow, automation should be evaluated for ongoing capabilities and field measurements. But it should also be said that the interactions of scientists, technicians, and engineers on an automation project can be truly rewarding in many ways, as the fusion of disciplines tends to accelerate the productivity of all. 

Although there are many radioactivity detectors available, there has been very little development of analytical instruments or radiochemical sensors suitable for rapid and selective quantification of beta- and alpha-emitting radionuclides such as c, Sr, and TRU actinides in water or process streams. Current baseline analytical methods for these analytes are based on tedious manual radiochemical analysis methods performed in centralized laboratories. 

Monitoring may also involve sampling. Sampling may be done automatically or manually, and may be for chemical analysis, radiochemical analysis, material analysis or isotopic purity analysis. Since the techniques involved in such sampling and analyses are specialized, these activities should generally be conducted by specially trained personnel. 

FIGURE 4.10 Outline of radiochemical separation processes used to prepare uranium bioassay samples for alpha spectroscopy. (Adapted from training manual IAEA, Determination of Uranium in Urine by Alpha Spectroscopy, IAEA, Vienna, Austria, 2000.)... 

The luminescence produced when radiation strikes a phosphor is one of the oldest methods of detecting radioactivity and X-rays, and it is still used widely for certain types of measurements. In its earliest application, the technique involved the manual counting of flashes that resulted when individual photons or radiochemical particles struck a zinc sulfide screen. The tedium of counting individual flashes by eye led Geiger to develop gas-filled transducers, which were not only more convenient and reliable but more responsive to radiation. The advent of the photomultiplier tube (Section 7E-2) and better phosphors, however, has given new life to the technique, and scintillation counting has again become one of the important methods for radiation detection. 

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