Determination of LaBr3(Ce) internal background using a HPGe detector and Monte Carlo simulations

The presence of 138La and 227Ac impurities in LaBr3(Ce) scintillator crystals is a drawback for their use in environmental radiation monitoring. A method is presented to evaluate the internal 138La activity. Firstly, an experimental set-up is prepared with the LaBr3(Ce) crystal acting as the radiati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied radiation and isotopes 2016-03, Vol.109, p.512-517
Main Authors: Camp, Anna, Vargas, Arturo, Fernández-Varea, José M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
138La
Ambient dose rate
Gamma-ray spectrometry
Internal background
LaBr3(Ce)
Monte Carlo simulation
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Summary:The presence of 138La and 227Ac impurities in LaBr3(Ce) scintillator crystals is a drawback for their use in environmental radiation monitoring. A method is presented to evaluate the internal 138La activity. Firstly, an experimental set-up is prepared with the LaBr3(Ce) crystal acting as the radiation source and an HPGe detector that acquires the photon spectrum. Then, the internal background spectrum is simulated with a modified version of the PENELOPE/penEasy Monte Carlo code. The simulated spectra agree with measurements conducted at ultra-low-background facilities. •A methodology was developed to determine the 138La internal activity in LaBr3(Ce).•Lanthanum-138 decay chain was implemented in the PENELOPE/penEasy Monte Carlo code.•LaBr3(Ce) internal background was simulated using PENELOPE/penEasy code.•Simulation of 138La impurities fits properly with measurements done at UDO.
ISSN:0969-8043
1872-9800
DOI:10.1016/j.apradiso.2015.11.093