Radon leakage as a source of additional uncertainty in simultaneous determination of ²²⁶Ra and ²²⁸Ra by gamma spectrometry--validation of analysis procedure

Siiri Suursoo; Madis Kiisk; Antonio Semakalu; Kadri Isakar

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2013.11.031

Radon leakage as a source of additional uncertainty in simultaneous determination of ²²⁶Ra and ²²⁸Ra by gamma spectrometry--validation of analysis procedure

Appl Radiat Isot. 2014 May:87:447-51. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2013.11.031. Epub 2013 Nov 25.

Authors

Siiri Suursoo¹, Madis Kiisk², Antonio Semakalu², Kadri Isakar²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, Riia 142, 51014 Tartu, Estonia. Electronic address: siiri.suursoo@ut.ee.
² Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, Riia 142, 51014 Tartu, Estonia.

PMID: 24321496
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2013.11.031

Abstract

A series of validation experiments was carried out to assess robustness, repeatability, and trueness of an analysis procedure for simultaneous determination of (226)Ra and (228)Ra in water samples. The study revealed instabilities in the radon holding capacity of the sample matrix (epoxy resin). The discovered effect is a new additional component in the uncertainty budget which should be considered when (226)Ra is measured via its progeny in similar sample matrices.

Keywords: Gamma spectrometry; Radium isotopes; Radon leakage.