Gamma spectrometry efficiency calibration using Monte Carlo methods to measure radioactivity of 137Cs in food samples

Abstract

A simple method of efficiency calibration for gamma spectrometry was performed. This method, which focused on measuring the radioactivity of (137)Cs in food samples, was based on Monte Carlo simulations available in the free-of-charge toolkit GEANT4. Experimentally, the efficiency values of a high-purity germanium detector were calculated for three reference materials representing three different food items. These efficiency values were compared with their counterparts produced by a computer code that simulated experimental conditions. Interestingly, the output of the simulation code was in acceptable agreement with the experimental findings, thus validating the proposed method.