Experimental characterization of a multi-chamber alpha spectrometry system using standard actinide sources

Abstract The experimental characterization of the main parameters of a high resolution multi-chamber alpha spectrometer is performed using standard sources of 241 Am, 233 U and 244 Cm. The following performance indicators of the spectrometer based on 8 solid state ORTEC ULTRA-AS detectors were determined for all possible distances source-to-detector: the detector resolution and efficiency for alpha lines of different sources, energy linearity, solid angles associated with different measurement geometries and the repeatability of the results. All measurements were done to accomplish the validation of the method dedicated to alpha radioactive concentration measurements of various environmental samples.