Development of an Internal Monostandard Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis Method Based on In Situ Detection Efficiency for Analysis of Large and Nonstandard Geometry Samples

A k 0-based internal monostandard instrumental neutron activation analysis method for determination of relative elemental concentration in samples of large size and irregular geometry has been developed. In this method, one of the elements present in the sample is used as comparator. A priori knowledge of the concentration of one of the constituents is required to convert the relative concentration into absolute values. The problems of γ-ray self-attenuation and geometrical effects that arise in the assay of large and nonstandard geometry samples were overcome by an in situ relative detection efficiency calibration procedure, which requires one or more activation products emitting γ-rays over a wide range of the spectrum. To minimize the problem of neutron flux perturbations that may arise in large samples, irradiations were carried out using a thermal column with thermal neutron component of more than 99.9%. The method has been standardized with samples of silica (∼0.5 kg) and water (0.5 L) spiked with known amounts of different elements and has been advantageously applied to some alloy and metal samples of irregular geometry, where complete compositional characterization was carried out using mass balance. This approach is highly valuable for analysis of large, irregularly shaped samples if not too high demands are set to the degree of accuracy.