Virginia Strati

Calibration of HPGe detectors using certified reference materials of natural origin

The feasibility of using certified reference materials for the full energy efficiency calibration of p-type coaxial high-purity germanium detectors for the determination of radioactivity in environmental samples is discussed. The main sources of uncertainty are studied and the contributions to the total uncertainty budget for the most intense gamma lines are presented. The correction factors due to self-absorption and true coincidence summing effects are discussed in detail. The calibration procedure is validated for natural and artificial radionuclide determination in different matrices through an internal cross-validation and through the participation in a world-wide open proficiency test.

A multivariate spatial interpolation of airborne γ-ray data using the geological constraints

In this paper we present maps of K, eU, and eTh abundances of Elba Island (Italy) obtained with a multivariate spatial interpolation of airborne γ-ray data using the constraints of the geologic map. The radiometric measurements were performed by a module of four NaI(Tl) crystals of 16 L mounted on an autogyro. We applied the collocated cokriging (CCoK) as a multivariate estimation method for interpolating the primary under-sampled airborne γ-ray data considering the well-sampled geological information as ancillary variables. A random number has been assigned to each of 73 geological formations identified in the geological map at scale 1:10,000. The non-dependency of the estimated results from the random numbering process has been tested for three distinct models. The experimental cross-semivariograms constructed for radioelement-geology couples show well-defined co-variability structures for both direct and crossed variograms. The high statistical correlations among K, eU, and eTh measurements are confirmed also by the same maximum distance of spatial autocorrelation. Combining the smoothing effects of probabilistic interpolator and the abrupt discontinuities of the geological map, the results show a distinct correlation between the geological formation and radioactivity content. The contour of Mt. Capanne pluton can be distinguished by high K, eU and eTh abundances, while different degrees of radioactivity content identify the tectonic units. A clear anomaly of high K content in the Mt. Calamita promontory confirms the presence of felsic dykes and hydrothermal veins not reported in our geological map. Although we assign a unique number to each geological formation, the method shows that the internal variability of the radiometric data is not biased by the multivariate interpolation.

Total natural radioactivity, Tuscany, Italy

In this paper, we report an extensive survey of the natural radioactive content of rocks of the Tuscany Region (Italy): this permitted the first total natural radioactivity map of the region. The sampling was planned using the geological map of Tuscany at scale 1:250,000, which contains 45 distinct geological groups recognized by tectonic and stratigraphic features. Each geological group was characterized for the total activity by measuring the activity concentrations of 40K, 238U and 232Th in 865 samples using a high-purity germanium (HPGe) gamma-ray spectrometer. The average areal distribution of samples is approximately one sample per 25 km2. The radiometric map was constructed through the reclassification of each geological formation based on the median value of the total activity. Seven classes of total activity are identified by choosing percentiles almost evenly spread across the range of values. This map represents the starting point for future studies on natural background radiation, geochemical processes and epidemiological investigations.

Reference worldwide model for antineutrinos from reactors

correction to the reference reactor spectra associated with the long-lived isotopes and we estimate a 2.4% increase of the unoscillated event rate in the geoneutrino energy window due to the storage of spent nuclear fuels in the cooling pools. We predict that the research reactors contribute to less than 0.2% to the commercial reactor signal in the investigated 14 sites. We perform a multitemporal analysis of the expected reactor signal over a time lapse of 10 years using reactor operational records collected in a comprehensive database published at www.fe.infn.it/antineutrino.

Total natural radioactivity, Veneto (Italy)

We present the first detailed map of the terrestrial natural radioactivity of the Veneto Region (Italy), a 18,264 km2 densely populated area, previously investigated through indoor radon surveys. The activity concentration in 709 representative samples of the main Alpine lithostratigraphic units was measured by using a high-purity germanium (HPGe) γ-ray spectrometer to characterize the radioactivity content of the 41 cartographic units of the Veneto Lithostratigraphic map at 1:250,000 scale. An area accounting for 61% of the territory, comprising alluvial plains was investigated through airborne γ-ray measurements. The large-volume NaI detectors were mounted on an ultralight aircraft, flying a 7000 km line. The data were interpolated using Ordinary Kriging, and a distribution model of the radioactivity content was produced. The result of the data analysis is a total natural radioactivity map of Veneto at 1:250,000 scale in which the activity concentration of the territory is visualized in seven classes, according to the percentile values calculated on the total dataset of measurements.

Accuracy of Flight Altitude Measured with Low-Cost GNSS, Radar and Barometer Sensors: Implications for Airborne Radiometric Surveys

Flight height is a fundamental parameter for correcting the gamma signal produced by terrestrial radionuclides measured during airborne surveys. The frontiers of radiometric measurements with UAV require light and accurate altimeters flying at some 10 m from the ground. We equipped an aircraft with seven altimetric sensors (three low-cost GNSS receivers, one inertial measurement unit, one radar altimeter and two barometers) and analyzed ~3 h of data collected over the sea in the (35–2194) m altitude range. At low altitudes (H < 70 m) radar and barometric altimeters provide the best performances, while GNSS data are used only for barometer calibration as they are affected by a large noise due to the multipath from the sea. The ~1 m median standard deviation at 50 m altitude affects the estimation of the ground radioisotope abundances with an uncertainty less than 1.3%. The GNSS double-difference post-processing enhanced significantly the data quality for H > 80 m in terms of both altitude median standard deviation and agreement between the reconstructed and measured GPS antennas distances. Flying at 100 m the estimated uncertainty on the ground total activity due to the uncertainty on the flight height is of the order of 2%.

Uranium distribution in the Variscan Basement of Northeastern Sardinia

ABSTRACT We present a detailed map of uranium distribution and its uncertainties in the Variscan Basement of Northeastern Sardinia (VBNS) at a scale of 1:100,000. An area of 2100 km2 was investigated by means of 535 data points obtained from laboratory and in situ gamma-ray spectrometry measurements. These data volume corresponds to the highest sampling density of the European Variscides, aimed at studying the genetic processes of the upper crust potentially triggered by an enrichment of radiogenic heat-producing elements. For the first time, the Kriging with Variance of Measurement Error method was used to assign weights to the input data which are based on the degree of confidence associated with the measurements obtained using different gamma-ray spectrometry techniques. A detailed tuning of the model parameters for the adopted Experimental Semi-Variogram led to the identification of a maximum distance of spatial variability coherent to the observed tendency of the experimental data. We demonstrate that the obtained uranium distribution in the VBNS, characterized by several calc-alkaline plutons emplaced within migmatitic massifs and amphibolite-facies metamorphic rocks, is an excellent benchmark for the study of ‘hot’ collisional chains. The uranium map of VBNS, and in particular the Arzachena minor pluton, confirms the emplacement model based on the recognition of the different petrological associations characterizing the Variscan magmatic processes in the Late Paleozoic. Furthermore, the presented model of the uranium content of the geological bedrock is a potential baseline for future mapping of radon-prone areas.

A century of oil and gas exploration in Albania: Assessment of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORMs)

The Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORMs) that are potentially generated from oil and gas extractions in Albania have been disposed of without regulations for many decades, and therefore, an extensive survey in one of the most productive regions (Vlora-Elbasan) was performed. A total of 52 gamma ray spectrometry measurements of soil, oil-sand, sludge, produced water and crude oil samples were performed. We discovered that relatively low activity concentrations of (226)Ra, (228)Ra, (228)Th and (40)K, with concentrations of 23±2Bq/kg, 23±2Bq/kg, 24±3Bq/kg and 549±12Bq/kg, respectively, came from the oil-sands produced by the hydrocarbon extraction of the molasses formations. The mineralogical characterizations and the (228)Ra/(40)K and (226)Ra/(40)K ratios of these Neogene deposits confirmed the predictions of the geological and geodynamic models of a dismantling of the Mesozoic source rocks. The average activity concentrations (±standard deviations) of the radium isotopes ((226)Ra and (228)Ra) and of the (228)Th and (40)K radionuclides in soil samples were 20±5Bq/kg, 25±10Bq/kg, 25±9Bq/kg and 326±83Bq/kg, respectively. Based on the measurements in this study, the future radiological assessments of other fields in the region should be strategically planned to focus on the oil-sands from the molasses sediments. Disequilibrium in the (228)Ra decay segment was not observed in the soil, sludge or oil-sand samples within the standard uncertainties. After a detailed radiological characterization of the four primary oil fields, we concluded that the outdoor absorbed dose rate never exceeded the worldwide population weighted average absorbed dose rate in outdoor air from terrestrial gamma radiation.

Regional study of the Archean to Proterozoic crust at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO+), Ontario: Predicting the geoneutrino flux

The SNO+ detector that is currently under construction in Ontario, Canada, will be a new kiloton-scale liquid scintillation detector with the capability of recording geoneutrino events that can be used to constrain the strength of the Earths radiogenic power, and in turn, to test compositional models of the bulk silicate Earth (BSE). We constructed a detailed 3-D model of the regional crust centered at SNO+ from compiled geological, geophysical, and geochemical information. Crustal cross sections obtained from refraction and reflection seismic surveys were used to characterize the crust and assign uncertainties to its structure. The average Moho depth in the study area is 42.3 ± 2.6 km. The upper crust was divided into seven dominant lithologic units on the basis of regional geology. The abundances of U and Th and their uncertainties in each upper crustal lithologic unit were determined from analyses of representative outcrop samples. The average chemical compositions of the middle and lower crust beneath the SNO+ region were determined by coupling local seismic velocity profiles with a global compilation of the chemical compositions of amphibolite and granulite facies rocks. Monte Carlo simulations were used to predict the geoneutrino signal originating from the regional crust at SNO+ and to track asymmetrical uncertainties of U and Th abundances. The total regional crust contribution of the geoneutrino signal at SNO+ is predicted to be 15.6−3.4+5.3 TNU (a Terrestrial Neutrino Unit is one geoneutrino event per 1032 target protons per year), with the Huronian Supergroup near SNO+ dominantly contributing 7.3−3.0+5.0 TNU to this total. Future systematically sampling of this regional unit and denser seismic surveys will better model its composition and structure, and thus reduce the uncertainty on geoneutrino signal at SNO+. The bulk crustal geoneutrino signal at SNO+ is estimated to be 30.7−4.2+6.0 TNU, which is lower than that predicted in a global-scale reference model that uses an average composition of the global upper continental crust, due to the fact that Archean to Proterozoic Canadian Shield has lower U and Th concentrations. Finally, without accounting for uncertainties on the signal from continental lithospheric mantle and convecting mantle, the total geoneutrino signal at SNO+ is predicted to be 40−4+6 TNU.

Geoneutrinos and reactor antineutrinos at SNO

In the heart of the Creighton Mine near Sudbury (Canada), the SNO+ detector is foreseen to observe almost in equal proportion electron antineutrinos produced by U and Th in the Earth and by nuclear reactors. SNO+ will be the first long baseline experiment to measure a reactor signal dominated by CANDU cores (~55% of the total reactor signal), which generally burn natural uranium. Approximately 18% of the total geoneutrino signal is generated by the U and Th present in the rocks of the Huronian Supergroup-Sudbury Basin: the 60% uncertainty on the signal produced by this lithologic unit plays a crucial role on the discrimination power on the mantle signal as well as on the geoneutrino spectral shape reconstruction, which can in principle provide a direct measurement of the Th/U ratio in the Earth.