Browsing by Author "Kossert, K"

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    Evidence against solar influence on nuclear decay constants
    (Elsevier B. V., 2016-10-10) Pommé, S; Stroh, H; Paepen, J; Van Ammel, R; Marouli, M; Altzitzoglou, T; Hult, M; Kossert, K; Nähle, O; Schrader, H; Juget, F; Bailat, CJ; Nedjadi, Y; Bochud, F; Buchillier, T; Michotte, C; Courte, S; van Rooy, MW; van Staden, MJ; Lubbe, J; Simpson, BRS; Fazio, A; De Felice, P; Jackson, TW; van Wyngaardt, WM; Reinhard, MI; Golya, J; Bourke, S; Roy, T; Galea, R; Keightley, JD; Ferreira, KM; Collins, SM; Ceccatelli, A; Unterweger, MP; Fitzgerald, R; Bergeron, DE; Pibida, L; Verheyen, L; Bruggeman, M; Vodenik, B; Korun, M; Chisté, V; Amiot, MN
    The hypothesis that proximity to the Sun causes variation of decay constants at permille level has been tested and disproved. Repeated activity measurements of mono-radionuclide sources were performed over periods from 200 days up to four decades at 14 laboratories across the globe. Residuals from the exponential nuclear decay curves were inspected for annual oscillations. Systematic deviations from a purely exponential decay curve differ from one data set to another and are attributable to instabilities in the instrumentation and measurement conditions. The most stable activity measurements of alpha, beta-minus, electron capture, and beta-plus decaying sources set an upper limit of 0.0006% to 0.008% to the amplitude of annual oscillations in the decay rate. Oscillations in phase with Earth's orbital distance to the Sun could not be observed within a to range of precision. There are also no apparent modulations over periods of weeks or months. Consequently, there is no indication of a natural impediment against sub-permille accuracy in half-life determinations, renormalisation of activity to a distant reference date, application of nuclear dating for archaeology, geo- and cosmochronology, nor in establishing the SI unit becquerel and seeking international equivalence of activity standards. © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
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    On decay constants and orbital distance to the Sun—part I: alpha decay
    (IOP Publishing, 2016-11-28) Pommé, S; Stroh, H; Paepen, J; Van Ammel, R; Marouli, M; Altzitzoglou, A; Hult, M; Kossert, K; Nähle, O; Schrader, H; Juget, F; Bailat, C; Nedjadi, Y; Bochud, F; Buchillier, T; Michotte, M; Courte, S; van Rooy, MW; van Staden, MJ; Lubbe, L; Simpson, BRS; Fazio, A; De Felice, D; Jackson, TW; van Wyngaardt, WM; Reinhard, MI; Golya, J; Bourke, S; Roy, T; Galea, R; Keightley, JD; Ferreira, KM; Collins, SM; Ceccatelli, A; Verheyen, L; Bruggeman, M; Vodenik, M; Korun, M; Chisté, V; Amiot, MN
    Claims that proximity to the Sun causes variation of decay constants at permille level have been investigated for alpha decaying nuclides. Repeated decay rate measurements of 209Po, 226Ra, 228Th, 230U, and 241Am sources were performed over periods of 200 d up to two decades at various nuclear metrology institutes around the globe. Residuals from the exponential decay curves were inspected for annual oscillations. Systematic deviations from a purely exponential decay curve differ in amplitude and phase from one data set to another and appear attributable to instabilities in the instrumentation and measurement conditions. The most stable activity measurements of α decaying sources set an upper limit between 0.0006% and 0.006% to the amplitude of annual oscillations in the decay rate. There are no apparent indications for systematic oscillations at a level of weeks or months. Oscillations in phase with Earth's orbital distance to the sun could not be observed within 10−5–10−6 range precision. © The Authors CC BY 3.0 licence
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    On decay constants and orbital distance to the Sun—part II: beta minus decay
    (IOP Publishing, 2016-11-28) Pommé, S; Stroh, H; Paepen, J; Van Ammel, R; Marouli, M; Altzitzoglou, A; Hult, M; Kossert, K; Nähle, O; Schrader, H; Juget, F; Bailat, C; Nedjadi, Y; Bochud, F; Buchillier, T; Michotte, M; Courte, S; van Rooy, MW; van Staden, MJ; Lubbe, L; Simpson, BRS; Fazio, A; De Felice, D; Jackson, TW; van Wyngaardt, WM; Reinhard, MI; Golya, J; Bourke, S; Roy, T; Galea, R; Keightley, JD; Ferreira, KM; Collins, SM; Ceccatelli, A; Verheyen, L; Bruggeman, M; Vodenik, M; Korun, M; Chisté, V; Amiot, MN
    Claims that proximity to the Sun causes variations of decay constants at the permille level have been investigated for beta-minus decaying nuclides. Repeated activity measurements of 3H, 14C, 60Co, 85Kr, 90Sr, 124Sb, 134Cs, 137Cs, and 154Eu sources were performed over periods of 259 d up to 5 decades at various nuclear metrology institutes. Residuals from the exponential decay curves were inspected for annual oscillations. Systematic deviations from a purely exponential decay curve differ in amplitude and phase from one data set to another and appear attributable to instabilities in the instrumentation and measurement conditions. Oscillations in phase with Earth's orbital distance to the Sun could not be observed within 10−4–10−5 range precision. The most stable activity measurements of β− decaying sources set an upper limit of 0.003%–0.007% to the amplitude of annual oscillations in the decay rate. There are no apparent indications for systematic oscillations at a level of weeks or months. © The Authors CC BY 3.0 licence
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    On decay constants and orbital distance to the Sun—part III: beta plus and electron capture decay
    (IOP Publishing, 2016-11-28) Pommé, S; Stroh, H; Paepen, J; Van Ammel, R; Marouli, M; Altzitzoglou, T; Hult, M; Kossert, K; Nähle, O; Schrader, H; Juget, F; Bailat, C; Nedjadi, Y; Bochud, F; Buchillier, T; Michotte, C; Courte, S; van Rooy, MW; van Staden, MJ; Lubbe, J; Simpson, BRS; Fazio, A; De Felice, P; Jackson, TW; van Wyngaardt, WM; Reinhard, MI; Golya, J; Bourke, S; Roy, T; Galea, R; Keightley, JD; Ferreira, KM; Collins, SM; Ceccatelli, A; Verheyen, L; Bruggeman, M; Vodenik, B; Korun, M; Chisté, V; Amiot, MN
    The hypothesis that seasonal changes in proximity to the Sun cause variation of decay constants at permille level has been tested for radionuclides disintegrating through electron capture and beta plus decay. Activity measurements of 22Na, 54Mn, 55Fe, 57Co, 65Zn, 82+85Sr, 90Sr, 109Cd, 124Sb, 133Ba, 152Eu, and 207Bi sources were repeated over periods from 200 d up to more than four decades at 14 laboratories across the globe. Residuals from the exponential nuclear decay curves were inspected for annual oscillations. Systematic deviations from a purely exponential decay curve differ from one data set to another and appear attributable to instabilities in the instrumentation and measurement conditions. Oscillations in phase with Earth's orbital distance to the sun could not be observed within 10−4–10−5 range precision. The most stable activity measurements of β+ and EC decaying sources set an upper limit of 0.006% or less to the amplitude of annual oscillations in the decay rate. There are no apparent indications for systematic oscillations at a level of weeks or months. © The Authors CC BY 3.0 licence
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    Results of an international comparison of activity measurements of 68Ge
    (Elsevier B. V., 2018-04) Cessna, JT; Fitzgerald, R; Zimmerman, BE; Laureano-Pérez, L; Bergeron, DE; van Wyngaardt, WM; Smith, ML; Jackson, TW; Howe, B; da Silva, CJ; Iwahara, A; da Cruz, PAL; Zhang, M; Liu, H; Liang, JC; Fréchou, C; Bobin, C; Cassette, P; Kossert, K; Nähle, O; Marganiec-Gałązka, J; Joseph, L; Ravindra, A; Kulkarni, DN; Yunoki, A; Sato, Y; Lee, KB; Lee, JM; Agusbudiman, A; Dziel, T; Listkowska, A; Tymiński, Z; Sahagia, M; Antohe, A; Ioan, MR; Luca, A; Krivosek, M; Ometakova, J; Javornik, A; Zalesakova, M; García-Toraño Martinez, E; Roteta, M; Mejuto, M; Nedjadi, Y; Juget, F; Yuan, MC; Yeh, CY; Yeltepe, E; Dirican, A; Keightley, JD; Pearce, AK
    An international key comparison, identifier CCRI(II)-K2.Ge-68, has been performed. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) served as the pilot laboratory, distributing aliquots of a 68Ge/68Ga solution. Results for the activity concentration, CA, of 68Ge at a reference date of 12h00 UTC 14 November 2014 were submitted by 17 laboratories, encompassing many variants of coincidence methods and liquid-scintillation counting methods. The first use of 4π(Cherenkov)β-γ coincidence and anticoincidence methods in an international comparison is reported. One participant reported results by secondary methods only. Two results, both utilizing pure liquid-scintillation methods, were identified as outliers. Evaluation using the Power-Moderated Mean method results in a proposed Comparison Reference Value (CRV) of 621.7(11) kBq g−1, based on 14 results. The degrees of equivalence and their associated uncertainties are evaluated for each participant. Several participants submitted 3.6 mL ampoules to the BIPM to link the comparison to the International Reference System (SIR) which may lead to the evaluation of a Key Comparison Reference Value and associated degrees of equivalence. An international key comparison, identifier CCRI(II)-K2.Ge-68, has been performed. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) served as the pilot laboratory, distributing aliquots of a 68Ge/68Ga solution. Results for the activity concentration, CA, of 68Ge at a reference date of 12h00 UTC 14 November 2014 were submitted by 17 laboratories, encompassing many variants of coincidence methods and liquid-scintillation counting methods. The first use of 4π(Cherenkov)β-γ coincidence and anticoincidence methods in an international comparison is reported. One participant reported results by secondary methods only. Two results, both utilizing pure liquid-scintillation methods, were identified as outliers. Evaluation using the Power-Moderated Mean method results in a proposed Comparison Reference Value (CRV) of 621.7(11) kBq g−1, based on 14 results. The degrees of equivalence and their associated uncertainties are evaluated for each participant. Several participants submitted 3.6 mL ampoules to the BIPM to link the comparison to the International Reference System (SIR) which may lead to the evaluation of a Key Comparison Reference Value and associated degrees of equivalence. An international key comparison, identifier CCRI(II)-K2.Ge-68, has been performed. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) served as the pilot laboratory, distributing aliquots of a 68Ge/68Ga solution. Results for the activity concentration, CA, of 68Ge at a reference date of 12h00 UTC 14 November 2014 were submitted by 17 laboratories, encompassing many variants of coincidence methods and liquid-scintillation counting methods. The first use of 4π(Cherenkov)β-γ coincidence and anticoincidence methods in an international comparison is reported. One participant reported results by secondary methods only. Two results, both utilizing pure liquid-scintillation methods, were identified as outliers. Evaluation using the Power-Moderated Mean method results in a proposed Comparison Reference Value (CRV) of 621.7(11) kBq g−1, based on 14 results. The degrees of equivalence and their associated uncertainties are evaluated for each participant. Several participants submitted 3.6 mL ampoules to the BIPM to link the comparison to the International Reference System (SIR) which may lead to the evaluation of a Key Comparison Reference Value and associated degrees of equivalence. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd.
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    Results of the CCRI(II)-S12.H-3 supplementary comparison: comparison of methods for the calculation of the activity and standard uncertainty of a tritiated-water source measured using the LSC-TDCR method
    (Elsevier B. V., 2018-04) Cassette, P; Altzitzoglou, T; Anthohe, A; Rossi, M; Arinc, A; Capogni, M; Galea, R; Gudelis, A; Kossert, K; Lee, KB; Liang, J; Nedjadi, Y; Oropesa Verdecia, P; Shilnikova, T; van Wyngaardt, WM; Ziemek, T; Zimmerman, BE
    A comparison of calculations of the activity of a 3H2O liquid scintillation source using the same experimental data set collected at the LNE-LNHB with a triple-to-double coincidence ratio (TDCR) counter was completed. A total of 17 laboratories calculated the activity and standard uncertainty of the LS source using the files with experimental data provided by the LNE-LNHB. The results as well as relevant information on the computation techniques are presented and analysed in this paper. All results are compatible, even if there is a significant dispersion between the reported uncertainties. An output of this comparison is the estimation of the dispersion of TDCR measurement results when measurement conditions are well defined. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd.