Comparison of relative and k0 neutron activation analysis methods at MA-R1 TRIGA MARK II Research Reactor of CNESTEN (Morocco)

Abstract

Since the installation of the TRIGA MARK II reactors in the National Centre for Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology (CNESTEN), Neutron Activation Data Analysis software (NADA) for neutron activation analysis (NAA) based on the relative method was the first software used; Over the years, the neutron activation analysis laboratory has been seeking to develop other softwares based on k0-INAA standardization namely the K0-IAEA software and the k0 software for Windows. In this paper we will focus on the comparison between the performance of k0 software for Windows and NADA. We compared the results obtained by the NADA Software and k0 for windows for the same input parameters (sample mass, nuclear data, net peak area for the same gamma line and cooling measurement times). In the neutron activation analysis laboratory of the National Center for Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology (CNESTEN) we analysed several reference materials (RM) or certified reference materials (CRM) and WEPAL samples. In this analysis, only certified or recommended values were used to compare the two processes for the different elements.