title: Measurement of the 230U half-life.
abstract: The (230)U half-life was determined by measuring the decay curve of (230)U sources by various nuclear detection techniques: α-particle counting at a defined small solid angle; 4πα+β counting with a windowless CsI sandwich spectrometer, a liquid scintillation counter and a pressurised proportional counter; gamma-ray spectrometry with a HPGe detector and nearly-2π α-particle counting with an ion-implanted silicon detector. Depending on the technique, the decay was followed for 100-200 d, which is 5-10 times the (230)U half-life. The measurement results of the various techniques were in good mutual agreement. The mean value, T(1/2)((230)U)=20.23 (2) d, is lower than the literature value which is based on one measurement in 1948 and resulted in a half-life value of 20.8d without statement of uncertainty. A correction for the ingrowth of the long-lived (210)Pb and its daughter products may have been overlooked in the past.
authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements, Retieseweg 111, B-2440 Geel, Belgium. stefaan.pomme@ec.europa.eu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pommé
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Altzitzoglou
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Van Ammel
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Suliman
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marouli
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Jobbágy
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Paepen
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stroh
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Apostolidis
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Abbas
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morgenstern
mesh_terms: D006207:Half-Life; D038622:Internationality; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011874:Radiometry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000592:standards*; D012015:Reference Standards; D012016:Reference Values; D014501:Uranium / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D014501:Uranium