title: A modified Lucas cell for leakage measurement from encapsulated radium sources.
abstract: A new method to determine the leakage rate from encapsulated radium sources is proposed. The method is based on the principle of enclosing the source to be tested in a hermetically sealed container and measuring the radon radioactivity growth in the container as a function of time. A cylindrical modified Lucas cell, designed and built in our laboratory, is used for measuring the radon which are done by ZnS(Ag) alpha scintillation counting and can be easily compared with existing standard for leak tests. Results obtained show the applicability of the method for leak testing for radon leakage from sealed radium sources.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Applied Physics, Faculty of Medicine of Santander, University of Cantabria, Spain.
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Quindos
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Soto
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Newton
mesh_terms: D007700:Kinetics; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D011883:Radium; D011886:Radon / Q000032:analysis*; D012588:Scintillation Counting
chemical_list: D011886:Radon; D011883:Radium