Radiation measurement method and device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9958563-B2
Application number	US-201515327080-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 17, 2015
Priority date	Jul 23, 2014
Publication date	May 1, 2018
Grant date	May 1, 2018

Abstract

A solid scintillator member is provided in the internal space of a container. The scintillator member is an aggregate of a plurality of pellets. The internal space also confines a gas produced through the vaporization of a liquid sample containing a radioactive substance. When radiation emitted from a plurality of particles within the gas reaches the scintillator member, light is generated. That light is detected by a pair of photomultipliers. A plurality of particles may be produced outside of the container and introduced into the container.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A radiation measurement method comprising:
a state formation step in which a liquid sample containing a radioactive substance is vaporized to generate gas containing a plurality of particles, and the gas is confined along with a solid scintillator member in a space isolated from the outside environment, to form an interaction state; and
a detection step in which light generated on the scintillator member due to radiation from the plurality of particles in the interaction state is detected.

2. The radiation measurement method according to claim 1 , wherein
the scintillator member has a gap structure including a plurality of gaps that can capture the plurality of particles.

3. The radiation measurement method according to claim 2 , wherein
a container having an internal space serving as the space is used,
the scintillator member is a collective structure of a plurality of scintillator elements filled in the container, and
the collective structure has, as the gap structure, a flow path network through which the gas flows.

4. The radiation measurement method according to claim 3 , wherein
the state formation step comprises:
a collective structure filling step in which the plurality of scintillator elements are introduced into the container;
a sample introduction step in which the liquid sample is introduced into the container;
a tightly sealing step in which the container into which the plurality of scintillator element and the liquid sample are introduced is set to a tightly sealed state; and
a vaporization step in which vaporization of the liquid sample is caused in the container in the tightly sealed state.

5. The radiation measurement method according to claim 4 , wherein
the vaporization step comprises a heating step in which the liquid sample is heated.

6. The radiation measurement method according to claim 1 , further comprising, after the detection step, a cleaning step in which the scintillator member is cleaned.

7. The radiation measurement method according to claim 1 , wherein
the radioactive substance includes tritium which emits β-ray as the radiation.

8. A radiation measurement apparatus comprising:
a vaporizer unit that vaporizes a liquid sample containing a radioactive substance to generate gas containing a plurality of particles;
a container that stores a solid scintillator member and the gas; and
a detector that detects light generated on the scintillator member due to radiation from the plurality of particles.

9. The radiation measurement apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein
the scintillator member is a collective structure of a plurality of scintillator elements filled in the container.

10. The radiation measurement apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein
each of the scintillator elements has a form that forms a plurality of gaps within the collective structure in a formed state of the collective structure.

11. The radiation measurement apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein
each of the scintillator elements comprises a plastic scintillator.

12. The radiation measurement apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein
the vaporizer unit is a unit that vaporizes the liquid sample in the interior of the container to generate the gas.

13. The radiation measurement apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein
the vaporizer unit is a unit that vaporizes the liquid sample at an outside of the container to generate the gas, and
a mechanism is provided that introduces the gas generated at the outside of the container into the container.

Assignees

• Univ Ochanomizu
• Hitachi Ltd
• Ochanomzu Univ

Inventors

• Furuta Etsuko
• Kato Yuka
• Ogiwara Kiyoshi

Classifications

• G01T7/02 Primary

  Collecting means for receiving or storing samples to be investigated {and possibly directly transporting the samples to the measuring arrangement; particularly for investigating radioactive fluids (sampling, preparing specimens for investigation in general G01N1/00, G01N1/02; shielded cells or rooms structurally combined with manipulatin devices G21F; measuring of chromatographically separated samples G01N30/00 - G01N30/96)} · CPC title

• G01T1/203

  the detector being made of plastics · CPC title

• G01T1/167 Primary

  Measuring radioactive content of objects, e.g. contamination (whole body counters G01T1/163) · CPC title

• G01T1/20

  with scintillation detectors · CPC title

• G01T7/08

  Means for conveying samples received · CPC title