Solidang, a computer code for the computation of the effective solid angle and correction factors for gamma spectroscopy-based waste assay

Abstract

Detection efficiency calibration of gamma spectroscopy for waste assay systems is a difficult and time-consuming task. Commonly, reference waste packages are used for efficiency calibration but these are sometimes difficult to build, are expensive and have limited use since there is large variability of parameters which influence the assay. Numerical calibrations, however, are an interesting alternative and have begun to find more and more application in waste assay. A dedicated computer code, Solidang, has been developed to compute detection efficiencies for gamma waste assay. Solidang uses the effective solid angle approach to derive detection efficiency and aims at improving and facilitating the calibration of gamma waste assay systems and at serving as a tool to investigate the influence of the many system and sample parameters involved.