Calibration of a gamma ray Compton camera for radioactivity measurements

Abstract

A dual-plane Compton imaging detector previously developed for prompt gamma imaging has been further tested and calibrated for quantitative radioactivity determination, specifically to assess radioactive debris from a reactor fuel element. The debris piece contains uranium isotopes and several long-lived fission products, including cesium-137 (Cs-137). The detector consists of two pixelated planes of cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) crystals which record gamma ray events interacting within these volumes. In addition to the energy spectrum obtained by pulse height analysis, the time-stamped events from each detector pixel are sorted by location into 3 categories for post-processing: intra-plane, inter-plane, and coincidence. An image reconstruction software enables spatial localization of the select gamma ray peak(s) from the spectrum, thereby separating the gamma ray by specific isotopes. We used the camera to image a small piece of debris for demonstration purposes. A measurement was performed alongside a high purity germanium (HPGe) detector, which could determine the isotopes' absolute activities and be used as a reference for the camera. In addition, a known isotopic point source was used to calibrate the camera’s energy detection efficiency in the same measurement geometry, correlating the image pixel intensity to the isotopic activity.