A simple and economic method for accurate determination of the energy peak efficiency of 208 keV γ-ray of 237U based on 241Pu/237U secular equilibrium

A new method is developed for the determination of energy peak efficiency of 208 keV γ-ray of 237 U based on 241 Pu/ 237 U secular equilibrium. Plutonium solution was purified to remove Am with Dowex 1 × 2 anion exchange chromatography and the concentration of 241 Pu in the purified solution was determined using 242 Pu isotope-dilution mass spectrometry on an inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The solution can be used as calibration source for the determination of energy peak efficiency of 208 keV γ-ray of 237 U after 48 days. The method was validated for a planar HPGe detector at the 12 mm above the detector surface. The results showed that this is a simple and economic method for determining the energy peak efficiency of gamma detectors for 208 keV γ-ray of 237 U.