The uncertainty of the half-life

Abstract

Half-life measurements of radionuclides are undeservedly perceived as ‘easy’ and the experimental uncertainties are commonly underestimated. Data evaluators, scanning the literature, are faced with bad documentation, lack of traceability, incomplete uncertainty budgets and discrepant results. Poor control of uncertainties has its implications for the end-user community, varying from limitations to the accuracy and reliability of nuclear-based analytical techniques to the fundamental question whether half-lives are invariable or not. This paper addresses some issues from the viewpoints of the user community and of the decay data provider. It addresses the propagation of the uncertainty of the half-life in activity measurements and discusses different types of half-life measurements, typical parameters influencing their uncertainty, a tool to propagate the uncertainties and suggestions for a more complete reporting style. Problems and solutions are illustrated with striking examples from literature.