Standardization of 89Sr

Herceg-Novi summer school, the starting point in the history of the International Committee for Radionuclide Metrology

This paper presents some of the most important points connected with the 1972 Herceg-Novi Radionuclide Metrology Summer School and its impact on the forthcoming evolution of the field. Topics of the conference, the state of the art at that time and recommendations for future developments as published in the journal Nuclear Instruments and Methods (Nim, 1973) are discussed. People and places, how a young participant perceived them then and remembers today, and the Romanian Laboratory of Radionuclide Metrology and its participation in ICRM activities are briefly presented.

60 years of absolute standardization of radionuclides by coincidence counting methods in the Romanian metrology laboratory

This review paper presents the contribution of the Radionuclide Metrology Laboratory (RML) to the development and practical application of the coincidence counting methods. It is also intended to pay tribute to Dr. Enric Leon Grigorescu, the founder of our school of radionuclide metrology. A synthetic treatment of the method, applied to some classes of radionuclides with their common and particular aspects in standardization, is presented: pioneering calculation of instrumental corrections, specific method corrections applied for various types of decay schemes in the variant of efficiency extrapolation, results obtained in international comparisons.

Radionuclide metrology in the life sciences: Recent advances and future trends

This paper reviews activities in the field of radionuclide metrology applied to the life sciences between the years 2000 and 2005. The requirements for accuracy and consistency in making radioactivity measurements in radiation medicine, coupled with an increased awareness of the role of measurement standards in quality assurance programmes, has prompted a great deal of research in this area. During the past 5 years, particular emphasis has been on: (1) the development of primary standards for radionuclides, (2) development of secondary/transfer standards, (3) development of radionuclide standards for brachytherapy, and (4) inter-laboratory comparisons at the end-user level. Activities carried out by National Metrology Institutions in these areas are reviewed and a look at future trends is presented.

Activity measurements of the high-energy pure β-emitters 89Sr and 90Y by the TDCR efficiency calculation technique

The absolute activities of the pure beta-emitters 89Sr and 90Y have been determined by a direct method, namely the triple-to-double coincidence ratio (TDCR) efficiency calculation technique. This undertaking has extended further the number of radionuclides that have been standardized by this non-extrapolation liquid scintillation (LS) method. Both measurements were carried out within the framework of international key comparisons under the auspices of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM). The TDCR results agreed well with those of other participating national laboratories, most using alternative (tracer) methods.