Simple method for calculating time dependence of individual radionuclide activities in decay series

Abstract

A rapid method for calculating the time dependence of activities of individual radionuclides in genetically coupled decay series has been proposed. The method is based on the mathematical procedure, in which the matrix method is used for calculating a set of decay equations given in the vector form. The developed method is computerized and uses the modern Scilab software. This simple method eliminates certain drawbacks of older methods used previously for this purpose and is applicable to even solve calculations which are not easily treatable with the older methods. Some practical examples of such calculations are presented. Moreover, the new method is universal and it also enables a more general approach to the problem of the calculation of decay series in nuclear chemistry. © Versita Warsaw and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.