[ RadSafe ] Europium-252 identified instead of Bismuth-214

[Dale Boyce]

Michael,

You certainly have Ra-226, and that may be in equilibrium with U238. Imagine 
finding that in dirt! ;) (Since background level of Ra-226 vary, but are 
around a pCi or less/g of dirt. (higher i am told in beer and Brazil nuts)). 
If you had Eu 152 you would also expect to see Eu154 which has strong 1274 
and 1596 lines.

Dale
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael McNaughton" <mcnaught at lanl.gov>
To: <radsafe at radlab.nl>
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 8:58 AM
Subject: [ RadSafe ] Europium-252 identified instead of Bismuth-214


> Dear Radsafers
>
> I have some soil samples for which I think Bismuth-214 is incorrectly 
> identified as Europium-252. Is this a well-known problem?
>
> The gamma-spec software found a small peak near 1408 keV and reported it 
> as 0.4 pCi/g of Europium-252, though it did not find any other 
> Europium-252 peaks. The sample contains about 3 pCi/g of Bismuth-214, and 
> has large peaks at 609 keV, 1120 keV, and 1765 keV, so I think the small 
> peak at 1408 keV is probably from Bismuth 214. The relative sizes of the 
> peaks correspond to the relative probabilities of decay for Bismuth-214.
>
> I would be interested in discussing this problem with gamma-spec experts.
>
> Thanks, mike
>
> Mike McNaughton
> Los Alamos National Lab.
> email: mcnaught at LANL.gov or mcnaughton at LANL.gov
> phone: 505-667-6130; page: 505-664-7733
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