Rapid and simple measurement method of 90Sr concentration in water by measuring β-rays from90Y

Abstract

A rapid and simple method to measure the concentration of 90Sr in water by measuring β-rays from 90Y was presented. Under the situation that 90Sr/90Y, 134Cs and 137Cs are the main radionuclides included in the water sample, only β-rays from 90Y can transmit through 1.5-mm-thick polyethylene. From this fact, it is possible to measure β-rays from 90Y using a β-ray detector, such as the GM-counter, set beneath the 1.5-mm-thick bottom of the water bottle containing the sample with 90Sr/90Y. The acrylic resin collimator having 0 cm, 1.00 cm, 1.50 cm or 3.00 cm diameter was made to detect β-rays at the fixed region of the GM-counter used. Contributions from bremsstrahlung produced by β-rays and γ-rays from radionuclides such as 134Cs and 137Cs/137mBa are removed by subtracting the count rate measured with a 1.00 cm acrylic resin collimator without a hole as the background count rate. The developed method was studied using the bottle routinely used at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. It was confirmed that the developed method can be applied to measure the 90Sr concentration in water to the order of several Bq/cm3 if 134Cs and 137Cs concentrations are less than or equal to the 90Sr/90Y concentration.