title: On the209Po half-life error and its confirmation: an answer to the critique.
abstract: Pommé et al. published a paper claiming that the209Po half-life is 20 % higher than the erroneous value of 102 (5) a used for 50 years. Collé and Collé published a critique saying that 'this claim cannot withstand critical scrutiny'. In this work, counterarguments are presented to the critique. The experiment has been continued and a new intermediate half-life value of 122.7 (27) a was obtained. A brief review is made of the209Po half-life value by Collé et al. and a recommended value of 122.9 (23) a is derived from both experiments.
authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements, Retieseweg 111, 2440 Geel, Belgium.
authors.forename: Stefaan
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5017-7451
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pommé
authors.affiliation: Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Ljudmila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Benedik
keywords: Environment; Half-life; Polonium; Radioactivity; Tracer; Uncertainty