Uncertainty analysis of in-situ gamma spectrometry measurements of air cleaning filter cartridges and 200 L drums by a HPGe detector.

This work deals with most significant sources of uncertainty in determination of radionuclides massic activity in 200 L drums with radioactive waste (RAW) from decommissioning of nuclear power plant (NPP) A1 and operational air cleaning filters coming from different parts of NPP's ventilation system. It turned out that the most significant source of uncertainty is determination of photo peak detection efficiency, in particular measurement geometry. The detection efficiency of HPGe detector has been determined by calculation using ISOCS software (In Situ Object Counting System) and detector characteristics delivered by the manufacturer (LABSOCS). The detector efficiency is influenced by various factors like measurement geometry, deviation from standard geometry, environmental characteristics, sample properties (density, material composition), used collimator etc. Mentioned factors and their contributions to the uncertainty of detection efficiency and thus to the total uncertainty of massic activity determination have been individually evaluated in the paper. The main part of the work consists of evaluation of maximum uncertainty factor due to presence of hypothetical point source in measurement volume for both types of measurement geometry. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.