Measurement of the 230U half-life

The 230U half-life was determined by measuring the decay curve of 230U sources by various nuclear detection techniques: alpha-particle counting at a defined small solid angle; 4pi alpha+beta counting with a windowless CsI sandwich spectrometer, a liquid scintillation counter and a pressurised proportional counter; gamma-ray spectrometry with a HPGe detector and nearly-2pi alpha-particle counting with an ion-implanted silicon detector. Depending on the technique, the decay was followed for100-200 d, which is 5-10 times the 230U half-life. The measurement results of the various techniques were in good mutual agreement. The mean value, T1/2(230U)=20.23 (2) d, is lower than the literature value which is based on one measurement in 1948 and resulted in a half-life value of 20.8 d without statement of uncertainty. A correction for the ingrowth of the long-lived 210Pb and its daughter products may have been overlooked in the past.

POMME Stefaan;  ALTZITZOGLOU Timotheos;  VAN AMMEL Raf;  SULIMAN Gabriel;  MAROULI Maria;  JOBBAGY Viktor;  PAEPEN Jan;  STROH Heiko;  APOSTOLIDIS Christos;  ABBAS Kamel;  MORGENSTERN Alfred; 

2012-12-05

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

JRC66156

0969-8043,   

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC66156,   

10.1016/j.apradiso.2012.02.053,