Abstract
As COVID-19 outbreak enters its second phase of lockdown ease, healthcare plans involve elective surgery re-establishment to provide essential life-saving care. Patients are increasingly ...requesting information about their facility's readiness for safely performing surgery. This information should be open and transparent including patient's education with objective data regarding the state of the pandemic in the country and the control measures undertaken by the facility.
166Ho (T1/2≈ 26.8 h) is an emerging theragnostic radionuclide of interest in nuclear medicine due to its peculiar decay scheme, featuring high-energy β− emission (≈ 1.8 MeV) coupled with the main ...gamma-ray emission (≈ 80.6 keV). Using the new 166Ho activity standard and the well-calibrated, high-energy resolution HPGe detector, both available at ENEA-INMRI, a new determination of several 166Ho gamma-ray emission intensities, Iγ, was performed with low uncertainty. The new Iγ values contributed to the Decay Data Evaluation Project.
•166Ho and its use in nuclear medicine as theragnostic radionuclide.•Absolute activity measurements by Triple-to-Double Coincidence Ratio (TDCR) technique.•Hidex and portable ENEA-INMRI TDCR counters.•Gamma-ray spectrometry technique.•166Ho gamma-ray emission intensities.
In this paper, the application of the efficiency transfer method to the evaluation of the surface beta contamination is described. Using efficiency transfer factors, the reference calibration factor ...of contamination monitors is corrected, to obtain the calibration factor for an actual contamination source. The experimental part of the paper illustrates the applicability of the method to the direct measurement of the surface beta contamination.
•Efficiency transfer method is applied to surface beta contamination measurements.•Efficiency transfer factors are computed by Monte Carlo method.•Efficiency transfer factors are computed using the available information on sources.•Calibration factor of contamination monitors is corrected using transfer factors.
This paper describes a new approach in evaluating the surface beta contamination using the direct method of measurement. It makes use of previous results obtained in numerical modeling of electron ...transport in planar geometry and is mainly based on the estimation of the efficiency of contamination sources for beta radiation and its standard uncertainty using the available information concerning the component materials of the sources and their main parameters. Experimental results illustrate the appropriateness of the new approach for surface beta contamination measurements.
•A new approach in evaluating surface beta contamination is described.•The approach is based on the evaluation of the source efficiency for beta radiation.•It alleviates difficulties in uncertainty evaluation in beta contamination measurements.
A bilateral comparison between ENEA-INMRI (Italy) and NCBJ RC POLATOM (Poland) of
I-solution activity measurements was organized in the year 2015 and piloted by POLATOM, which provided the sources ...for the comparison. The
I master solution was standardized independently at both institutes by using Liquid Scintillation Counting and ionization chamber techniques. The
I master solution was then sent by POLATOM to the BIPM International Reference System (SIR). The comparison was registered as an EURAMET.RI(II)-K2.I-131 key comparison allowing the ENEA-INMRI result to enter in the SIR database.
A bilateral comparison between ENEA-INMRI (Italy) and NCBJ RC POLATOM (Poland) of 131I-solution activity measurements was organized in the year 2015 and piloted by POLATOM, which provided the sources ...for the comparison. The 131I master solution was standardized independently at both institutes by using Liquid Scintillation Counting and ionization chamber techniques. The 131I master solution was then sent by POLATOM to the BIPM International Reference System (SIR). The comparison was registered as an EURAMET.RI(II)-K2.I-131 key comparison allowing the ENEA-INMRI result to enter in the SIR database.
•Bilateral comparison of the activity concentration of 131I solution.•Use of three Liquid Scintillation Counting methods and Ionization Chambers.•Instruments, methods and uncertainty budgets are detailed.•Excellent agreement of the reported results.•Good agreement within the uncertainties with the KCRV value obtained by SIR result.
A severe supply crisis of 99Mo, precursor of 99mTc a diagnostic radionuclide largely used in Nuclear Medicine, occurred in 2008–2009 due to repeated shut-down of the two main (aged) fission reactors. ...An alternative route for producing 99Mo by 100Mo(n,2n)99Mo reaction was investigated at ENEA. The experiment, designed according to Monte Carlo simulations performed with the Fluka code, produced 99Mo by irradiating a natural Molybdenum powdered target with 14MeV neutrons produced at the Frascati Neutron Generator. The 99Mo specific activity was measured at metrological level by γ-ray spectrometry.
•The problem of 99mTc crisis in the world.•99Mo production at ENEA via 14MeV neutron beam.•99Mo produced, identified and measured by γ-ray spectrometry.•Fluka code for the design phase and its benchmarking.•Perspectives on 99Mo/99mTc production by intense 14MeV neutron beams.
99Tcm is a widely used radionuclide for SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) diagnostics thanks to its short half-life (about 6h) and the low-energy gamma ray emission (140 keV) well ...suited for diagnostic devices. The specific method for producing 99Tcm via 100Mo(n,2n)99Mo reaction, as it was investigated in ENEA, is discussed in detail in this paper. The 99Mo activity achieved by means of 14 MeV neutron irradiation on natural Molybdenum sample irradiated at the Frascati Neutron Generator (FNG) facility, at the Research Centre of ENEA-Frascati, was accurately assessed, by tracing it to the activity standards provided by the Italian National Institute of Ionizing Radiation Metrology (INMRI), located at the Research Centre of ENEA-Casaccia. The whole experiment carried out in ENEA was supported by simulations performed with the Fluka Monte Carlo code, whose predictions have been benchmarked against the experimental data collected at ENEA-FNG, relying on the traceability to the activity standards developed and maintained at the ENEA-INMRI Radioactivity laboratories.
This paper is concerned with the modeling of the transmission of beta rays through thin foils in planar geometry based on the plane source concept, using Monte Carlo simulation of electron transport ...and least squares fitting. Applications of modeling results for calculating the efficiency of large-area beta sources, transmission coefficient of beta rays through thin foils and the beta detection efficiency of large-area detectors used in surface contamination measurements are also presented.
•A mathematical model of electron transport in planar geometry is developed.•The model is based on the plane source concept.•The efficiency of plane sources is computed using Monte Carlo method.•A simple function for the plane source efficiency is obtained by curve fitting.•Applications of the mathematical model are also presented.
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