IEC 61453:2007
Nuclear instrumentation - Scintillation gamma ray detector systems for the assay of radionuclides - Calibration and routine tests

Standard No.

IEC 61453:2007

Release Date

2007

Published By

International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)

Latest

IEC 61453:2007

Replace

IEC 61453:1997 IEC 45/645/FDIS:2007

Scope

This International Standard specifies methods of calibration and routine tests of scintillation detector systems for the measurement of gamma-ray energies and emission rates of radionuclides and the assay of radioactivity. This International Standard is applicable to scintillation detector systems based on inorganic scintillators for photon measurements. Typical applications include radionuclide identification and assay in various industrial, environmental, and medical applications. The detector system consists of three major components: a scintillating material that produces photons of light when ionizing radiation interacts with it; one or more photomultipliers or photodiodes, optically coupled to the scintillator, which convert the light photons to an amplified electrical pulse or pulses; and associated electronic instrumentation which powers the photomultiplier and processes the output signal. Both energy calibration and efficiency calibration are covered. The following three techniques are considered: a) total spectrum counting (see 3.1) which employs a system that counts all pulses above a low-energy threshold (see 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3); b) single-channel analyzer (SCA) counting (see 3.2) which employs a system with a counting channel established through upper and lower energy boundaries (see 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3); c) multichannel analyzer counting (see 3.3) which employs a system in which multiple counting windows are utilized. This technique allows measurements for which the continuum under the total absorption peak may be subtracted without introducing unacceptable error. In case of overlapping peaks in the spectrum, a multichannel analyzer (MCA) with access to a peak deconvolution program is necessary. This case is not covered by this standard.

IEC 61453:2007 history

• 2007 IEC 61453:2007 Nuclear instrumentation - Scintillation gamma ray detector systems for the assay of radionuclides - Calibration and routine tests
• 1997 IEC 61453:1997 Nuclear instrumentation - Thallium activated sodium iodide detector systems for assay of radionuclides - Calibration and usage