Optimitzant la gestió de residus radioactius amb el detector Timepix

A radioactive material is any substance that emits ionizing radiation. The aim of this work was to optimize the radioactivity measurement of solid radioactive materials by means of using a particular detection device, the Timepix, a portable USB device with an attached 256-pixel sensor. First and foremost, pure beta and alpha emitter materials were measured so as to set up the optimal measurement conditions, such as background and measurement time, to ensure the quality of radioactivity data.

Secondly, sample thickness and distance between detector and sample were systematically modified to study their influence on the detection efficiency of 40K and 241Am activity by using KNO3 salt and a cellulose filter spiked with 241Am.

Finally, two NORM reference materials, more complex and representative of solid radwaste, were chosen and the same experimental design was applied. From our study, the viability of using the TimePix detector in routine control of 40K and 241Am activity in NORM waste has been checked. Although it can be considered a less time-consuming, cheaper and easy to implement technique, more research is needed to overcome the intrinsic limitations of the detector that makes it not suitable for real scenarios.