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Reference material for natural radionuclides in glass designed for underground experiments

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Abstract

A reference material designed for the determination of natural radionuclides in solid samples (glass pellets) is described and the results of certification are presented. The material has been certified for 7 natural radionuclides (40K, 226Ra, 228Ra, 228Th, 232Th, 235U and 238U). An information value is given for 210Pb. Radon (222Rn) emanation experiments showed results comparable within participating laboratories, however, the number of data and precision was too low to carry out a certification process. The reference material may be used for quality management of analytical laboratories engaged in the high-sensitive analysis of radionuclides in the construction materials of detectors placed in ultra low background underground laboratories.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are indebted to their numerous colleagues who took part in the analytical works. The Bratislava group acknowledges a partial support provided by the VEGA Grant # 1/0783/14 from The Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, and by the EU Research and Development Operational Program funded by the ERDF (Projects # 26240120012, 26240120026 and 26240220004). The IAEA is grateful for the support provided to its Environment Laboratories by the Government of the Principality of Monaco.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University, 84248, Bratislava, Slovakia

    P. P. Povinec, K. Holý, M. Ješkovský, A. Kováčik, M. Műllerová, J. Staníček & I. Sýkora

  2. Environment Laboratories, International Atomic Energy Agency, Monaco Cedex, 98000, Monaco

    M. K. Pham

  3. Centre de Physique des Particules de Marseille, IN2P3/CNRS, 13288, Marseille, France

    J. Busto & C. Cerna

  4. Centre Etudes Nucléaires de Bordeaux Gradignan, CNRS/IN2P3, 33175, Gradignan, France

    C. Cerna, Ch. Marquet, F. Perrot, F. Piquemal & B. Soulé

  5. Verein für Kernverfahrenstechnik und Analytik Rossendorf e.V., 01314, Dresden, Germany

    D. Degering & M. Köhler

  6. Low-Level Radioactivity Laboratory, University of Kanazawa, Wake, Nomi, Kanazawa, 9231224, Japan

    Y. Hamajima

  7. Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements, Joint Research Centre, 2440, Geel, Belgium

    M. Hult

  8. Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, 67100, Assergi, AQ, Italy

    M. Laubenstein

  9. Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane, 73500, Modane, France

    P. Loaiza & F. Piquemal

  10. Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, Czech Technical University, 12800, Prague, Czech Republic

    F. Mamedov & I. Štekl

  11. University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    J. Mott & R. Saakyan

  12. Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, CNRS, 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France

    J.-L. Reyss

  13. Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany

    H. Simgen

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  1. P. P. Povinec
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  2. M. K. Pham
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  3. J. Busto
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  4. C. Cerna
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  7. K. Holý
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  8. M. Hult
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  9. M. Ješkovský
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  10. M. Köhler
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  12. M. Laubenstein
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  13. P. Loaiza
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  14. F. Mamedov
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  15. Ch. Marquet
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  16. J. Mott
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  17. M. Műllerová
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  18. F. Perrot
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  19. F. Piquemal
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  20. J.-L. Reyss
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  21. R. Saakyan
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  22. H. Simgen
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  23. B. Soulé
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  24. J. Staníček
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  25. I. Sýkora
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to P. P. Povinec.

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Povinec, P.P., Pham, M.K., Busto, J. et al. Reference material for natural radionuclides in glass designed for underground experiments. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 307, 619–626 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-015-4202-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-015-4202-6

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