INSTRUMENTAL NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS USING TRIGA REACTOR HIGH-RESOLUTION GAMMA SPECTROMETER AND COMPUTER

A system of elemental analysis by neutron activation is described which is capable of analyzing and assaying samples for eight or more elements simultaneously by entirely instrumental means. The gamma-ray spectra of the reactor-activated samples are collected at various times after the irradiation with a Ge(Li) detector of 13-cc sensitive volume. The computer program processes the time-dependent spectra and identifies the elemental constituents by the energy and half-life of the corresponding peaks in the spectra. The peak counting rates extrapolated to the time of the end of the activation are compared with the equivalent counting rates per milligram for the individual elements as obtained from experiments with standard samples. Typical samples were analyzed and six to eight constituents identified and assayed with relative errors of 1 to 10%. © 1969, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.