Standardization of 241Am by digital coincidence counting, liquid scintillation counting and defined solid angle counting

Abstract

The nuclide 241Am decays by alpha emission to 237Np. Most of the decays (84.6 %) populate the excited level of 237Np with energy of 59.54 keV. Digital Coincidence Counting was applied to standardize a solution of 241Am by alpha-gamma coincidence counting with efficiency extrapolation. Electronic discrimination was implemented with a pressurized proportional counter and the results were compared with two other independent techniques: Liquid Scintillation Counting using the logical sum of double coincidences in a TDCR array and Defined Solid Angle Counting taking into account activity inhomogeneity in the active deposit. The results show consistency between the three methods within a limit of a 0.3%. An ampoule of this solution will be sent to the International Reference System (SIR) during 2009. Uncertainties were analysed and compared in detail for the three applied methods.