Automated QA/QC checks for β-γ coincidence detector

The Automated Radioxenon Sampler/Analyzer (ARSA) (Hayes 1999), built by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), can collect and detect several radioxenon isotopes. The ARSA is very sensitive to 133Xe, 131mXe, 133mXe, and 135Xe due to the compact high efficiency β-γ coincidence detector it uses. As detection technology improves and more emphasis is placed on system automation, QA/QC checks become of increasing importance. By automating the QA/QC checks, the reliability of the data sets is ensured without the necessity of monitoring. Often the automated QA/QC checks will be done on site where Radio-xenon gas is not readily available so it is important to be able to use sealed point sources as an alternative. Immediately after the initial calibration of the detector, a 137Cs source, which has a 661.7 keV gamma-ray, is used to generate both gamma and beta spectra. The two spectra are now saved to file and called the template spectrum and will be used as the template to perform on site QA/QC checks.