Calibration of a gamma-ray spectrometer using electronic spreadsheet package and dedicated spectral analysis software.

Abstract

As a first step after installation of new software and hardware in the Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) laboratories of Nigeria Research Reactor-1 (NIRR-1) the calibration of the spectrometer was carried out before any spectral analysis could be done. Both electronic spreadsheet and dedicated spectral analysis software (k0-IAEA) were employed and the results obtained from both methods were compared in this study. The efficiency curves were established from measurement and interpretation of several spectra from nine standard gamma-ray calibration sources (Na-22, Mn-54, Co-57, Co-60, Y-88, Cs-137, Eu-152, Ra-226, Am-241) whose activities are known to better than ±3%. The sets of values obtained for the full-energy peak detection efficiency from the two approaches are close at higher geometries with less than 10% variation.