**5. Innovation in NAA applications**

**4.3. Nuclear data**

2002 Enrico Sabbioni

for use in the k<sup>0</sup>

lished the k<sup>0</sup>

ment of a unique recommended k<sup>0</sup>

**4.4. Neutron activation systems**

[25]. As indicated in the paper, "the 2012 recommended k<sup>0</sup>

**Table 1.** List of the laureates of George de Hevesy award 1968–2018 [10].

**Year Laureates Year Laureates**

6 Advanced Technologies and Applications of Neutron Activation Analysis

1969 Albert A. Smales 2004 Attila Vértes

1972 Philippe Albert and Julian Hoste 2006 Jan Kucera

1968 W. Weine Meinke 2003 Jeroen J.M. De Goeij

1975 Tibor Braun and Juraj Tölgyessy 2007 Robert R. Greenberg 1976 Francesco Girardi 2008 Syed M. Qaim

1977 Saadia Amiel Richard E. Wainerdi 2009 Richard M. Lindstrom 1978 Robert E. Jervis 2010 Darleane C. Hoffman 1979 Vincent P. Guinn 2011 Peter Bode (TU Delft page)

1981 William S. Lyon Max Peisach 2012 Boris F. Myasoedov 1983 Edward V. Sayre and Garman Harbottle 2013 Rajmund S. Dybczyński

1986 Emile A. Schweikert 2016 Tomoko M. Nakanishi 2000 Frans De Corte 2017 Pavel P. Povinec 2001 Amares Chatt and Eiliv Steinnes 2018 Rolf Zeisler

1985 Nobuo Suzuki 2015 Kattesh V. Katti and Susanta Lahiri

1984 Georges Amsel 2014 Heino Nitsche

www.kayzero.com/k0naa/News/News.html [26].

The authors F. De Corte and A. Simonits published in 2003, the recommended nuclear data

1970 Ivan Pavlovich Alimarin 2005 Zhifang Chai, Gregory Choppin, and Nicholas M. Spyrou

in his paper "Towards an international authoritative system for coordination and manage-

Database from the IAEA's Research Reactor Database (RRDB) provides information with respect to the status of the world's research reactors. More than half of the 241 operational RRs worldwide performing neutron activation analysis distributed over 59 member states [31]. The highest roles of NAA have been identified as the most suitable opportunity for research, education and training, and commercialization of RR services. For that, NAA groups focused their efforts on the development and modernization of neutron activation analysis process including irradiation devices, gamma-ray spectrometers, and data analyzing instruments [31–35].


database in the form of an accessible excel file freely downloadable at http://


database", R. Javimovic et al. estab-

Interesting paper published by P. Bode, the opportunities for innovation in NAA gives an overview by focused position-sensitive detection of elements in large samples, Monte-Carlo calculations replacing the use of standards, use of scintillator detectors, and new deconvolution techniques for increasing the sensitivity are examples of challenging new roads in NAA [30].

Menezes et al. reported in the paper "Advances in neutron activation analysis of large objects LSNAA with emphasis on archaeological examples", the recent developments and perspectives about the implementation of LSNAA and analyzing several kinds of matrices such as archeology, geology, and art objects [31]. During 2010–2015 period, the proficiency Tests and Inter-laboratory Comparisons have been carried out at the international level, by many NAA laboratories, under the framework of IAEA projects using IPE (International Plant-analytical Exchange) and ISE (International Soil-analytical Exchange) samples provided by the accredited organism such WEPAL [32].

the much more intense low-energy gamma rays emitted by several short-lived Se isotopes produced by neutron irradiation of Se. In order to reduce the detection efficiency for the interfering low-energy gamma rays relative to the high-energy Cl-38 gamma rays, discriminating gamma-ray spectrometry [40] has been used. A 10 mm thick lead plate was placed between sample and detector. To reduce the uncertainty of the calculated area of the barely visible 2167 keV peak, samples were counted for 30 m at the maximum tolerable count rate, which gave between 10 and 30% dead-time, and the peak fit was carried out using maximum predetermined information: the peak position and width were fixed relative to nearby strong Se peaks. A similar discriminating gamma-ray spectrometry technique was used [41] for the determination of vanadium in materials with high content of titanium, barium, and strontium. To satisfy the increasing demand for rare-earth elements used in the electronics industry, new rare-earth mines are opening along with their associated refineries and the development of refining techniques. This development requires the measurement of rare-earth concentrations in the ore and products at all stages of refinement. The great sensitivity of NAA for most rare-earth elements has made it an excellent method for measuring rare-earths at low concentrations in rocks, sediments, soils, and plants. However, at the high concentrations found in ores and refinery products, the high neutron absorption cross-sections cause a severe neutron self-shielding problem even with small samples. This problem has recently been solved [42] with the development of an accurate neutron self-shielding model coupled with accurate gamma attenuation calculations for the low energy gamma rays of Ce, Nd, Sm, Dy, Ho, and Tm. The correction calculation is iterative, using the raw NAA-measured rare-earth concentrations in each sample as input and then simultaneously adjusting the neutron self-shielding factors and the gamma attenuation coefficients according to the models. For 100 mg samples with very high rare-earth concentrations, NAA results accurate to better than 5% were achieved for 13 rare-earth elements [43].

Overview of Neutron Activation Analysis http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85461 9

The use of nuclear analytical techniques is most practical to analyze a variety of samples in different fields related to life sciences in particular food product for humans. The objective of this research is to point out the research results of content and nutritional importance of individual essential elements that are present in various milks and dairy products. Recently, an extensively studied on nutrients and heavy metals concentration in food overall the world. In the last years, several brands of milk powder for categories child and adult have been

is very important to evaluate the consumption of the commercial baby formula milk for the first and the second age in Algeria. The chemical element Ca, K, Na, Br, Rb, and Zn have been determined in six kinds of baby formula milk using k0-NAA technique. Results obtained in

Relevance of activation analysis is driven by its stakeholders. As an example of the existing stakeholder's needs are mainly to evaluate the whole blood and hair correlation factor of Na and K, Fe, and Zn of patients suffering from Alzheimer and psoriasis pathologies and normal

ation, the results obtained in these studies have been discussed [45, 46]. For quality control and quality assurance, the biological matrix NIST1566b Ouster Tissue), IAEA A13 (animal blood) were analyzed simultaneously with the samples. Three statistical parameters Z-score,

this work show a good agreement with concentration values given by producers [9].



studied by using the k<sup>0</sup>

controls using INAA and k<sup>0</sup>

U-score, and bias were determined and discussed.

Neutron activation analysis has traditionally been used mainly for the characterization of geological, environmental, and biological materials. However, other analysis techniques have emerged to replace NAA for many of those applications, and NAA now thrives mainly because of its unique advantage, the high penetrating power of neutrons and gamma rays, leading to ease of use in many instances where no sample preparation is required. In addition, NAA practitioners have innovated to provide fast, accurate, and reliable analyses of various matrices posing great difficulties for other techniques. Some of the applications made possible by these innovations are listed here.

In the medical field, it has often been hypothesized that a lack of selenium in the body may lead to increased risk for certain cancers. To measure the body's selenium status, toenails have been found to be a good indicator of the selenium status over a period of several months prior to the taking of the sample. Several NAA laboratories [37–39] have measured Se in toenails using the very short-lived Se-77m, half-life 17.5 s. This required the development of fast pneumatic sample transfer systems with accurate control of irradiation and decay times as well as accurate correction of counting losses when the count-rate is changing during the counting period. The results of studies [37–39] using thousands of samples sometimes revealed an association between lower Se levels and increased cancer risk, while in others, no significant difference in Se level was observed between the controls and subjects who developed certain forms of cancer.

A knowledge of the levels of trace elements in plastics may be useful from several points of view, as it may reveal the presence of toxic elements such as Cd [36], or information on the production process through the presence of catalyst residues, it may permit differentiating new plastics from those containing recycled material with flame retardants Br and Sb, and it may help decide the suitability of plastics for insulation of high-voltage electrical cables [37] or cables used in the nuclear industry [38]. Plastic samples of 100 mg mass are appropriate for some applications but several NAA laboratories have innovated to be able to analyze routinely and quickly samples up to 4 g mass which, for certain trace elements, are more representative of the original material, and in special cases, even larger samples may be analyzed using large-sample NAA.

The problem of the growth of fungus or mold on wood or paper products used in humid environments, wood for windows, cardboard on wallboard used in basements, and wrappers for bars of soap stored in bathrooms, has been remediated by the application of fungicides containing heavy elements like copper and iodine. Regular quality control measurements are needed to ensure that the right amount of fungicide has been applied. NAA is ideally suited for this as there is no sample preparation and methods have been developed [39] for large representative samples, at least 6 cm<sup>2</sup> for wood samples cut from the surface of the board and 60 cm<sup>2</sup> for paper, and the NAA results are independent of penetration depth. To successfully provide a fast and reliable service for industry, the reactor and staff must be available when needed; the service must be given high priority.

Pure selenium used for photographic film must be very low in chlorine; an upper limit of 2 μg/g is tolerable. Achieving this sensitivity by INAA is difficult because Cl is detected by 37 min half-life Cl-38 with gamma rays at 1642 and 2167 keV which suffer interference from the much more intense low-energy gamma rays emitted by several short-lived Se isotopes produced by neutron irradiation of Se. In order to reduce the detection efficiency for the interfering low-energy gamma rays relative to the high-energy Cl-38 gamma rays, discriminating gamma-ray spectrometry [40] has been used. A 10 mm thick lead plate was placed between sample and detector. To reduce the uncertainty of the calculated area of the barely visible 2167 keV peak, samples were counted for 30 m at the maximum tolerable count rate, which gave between 10 and 30% dead-time, and the peak fit was carried out using maximum predetermined information: the peak position and width were fixed relative to nearby strong Se peaks. A similar discriminating gamma-ray spectrometry technique was used [41] for the determination of vanadium in materials with high content of titanium, barium, and strontium.

laboratories, under the framework of IAEA projects using IPE (International Plant-analytical Exchange) and ISE (International Soil-analytical Exchange) samples provided by the accred-

Neutron activation analysis has traditionally been used mainly for the characterization of geological, environmental, and biological materials. However, other analysis techniques have emerged to replace NAA for many of those applications, and NAA now thrives mainly because of its unique advantage, the high penetrating power of neutrons and gamma rays, leading to ease of use in many instances where no sample preparation is required. In addition, NAA practitioners have innovated to provide fast, accurate, and reliable analyses of various matrices posing great difficulties for other techniques. Some of the applications made possible

In the medical field, it has often been hypothesized that a lack of selenium in the body may lead to increased risk for certain cancers. To measure the body's selenium status, toenails have been found to be a good indicator of the selenium status over a period of several months prior to the taking of the sample. Several NAA laboratories [37–39] have measured Se in toenails using the very short-lived Se-77m, half-life 17.5 s. This required the development of fast pneumatic sample transfer systems with accurate control of irradiation and decay times as well as accurate correction of counting losses when the count-rate is changing during the counting period. The results of studies [37–39] using thousands of samples sometimes revealed an association between lower Se levels and increased cancer risk, while in others, no significant difference in Se level was observed between the controls and subjects who developed certain forms of cancer. A knowledge of the levels of trace elements in plastics may be useful from several points of view, as it may reveal the presence of toxic elements such as Cd [36], or information on the production process through the presence of catalyst residues, it may permit differentiating new plastics from those containing recycled material with flame retardants Br and Sb, and it may help decide the suitability of plastics for insulation of high-voltage electrical cables [37] or cables used in the nuclear industry [38]. Plastic samples of 100 mg mass are appropriate for some applications but several NAA laboratories have innovated to be able to analyze routinely and quickly samples up to 4 g mass which, for certain trace elements, are more representative of the original material,

and in special cases, even larger samples may be analyzed using large-sample NAA.

for wood samples cut from the surface of the board and 60 cm<sup>2</sup>

The problem of the growth of fungus or mold on wood or paper products used in humid environments, wood for windows, cardboard on wallboard used in basements, and wrappers for bars of soap stored in bathrooms, has been remediated by the application of fungicides containing heavy elements like copper and iodine. Regular quality control measurements are needed to ensure that the right amount of fungicide has been applied. NAA is ideally suited for this as there is no sample preparation and methods have been developed [39] for large representative samples, at least 6 cm<sup>2</sup>

independent of penetration depth. To successfully provide a fast and reliable service for industry, the reactor and staff must be available when needed; the service must be given high priority.

Pure selenium used for photographic film must be very low in chlorine; an upper limit of 2 μg/g is tolerable. Achieving this sensitivity by INAA is difficult because Cl is detected by 37 min half-life Cl-38 with gamma rays at 1642 and 2167 keV which suffer interference from

for paper, and the NAA results are

ited organism such WEPAL [32].

8 Advanced Technologies and Applications of Neutron Activation Analysis

by these innovations are listed here.

To satisfy the increasing demand for rare-earth elements used in the electronics industry, new rare-earth mines are opening along with their associated refineries and the development of refining techniques. This development requires the measurement of rare-earth concentrations in the ore and products at all stages of refinement. The great sensitivity of NAA for most rare-earth elements has made it an excellent method for measuring rare-earths at low concentrations in rocks, sediments, soils, and plants. However, at the high concentrations found in ores and refinery products, the high neutron absorption cross-sections cause a severe neutron self-shielding problem even with small samples. This problem has recently been solved [42] with the development of an accurate neutron self-shielding model coupled with accurate gamma attenuation calculations for the low energy gamma rays of Ce, Nd, Sm, Dy, Ho, and Tm. The correction calculation is iterative, using the raw NAA-measured rare-earth concentrations in each sample as input and then simultaneously adjusting the neutron self-shielding factors and the gamma attenuation coefficients according to the models. For 100 mg samples with very high rare-earth concentrations, NAA results accurate to better than 5% were achieved for 13 rare-earth elements [43].

The use of nuclear analytical techniques is most practical to analyze a variety of samples in different fields related to life sciences in particular food product for humans. The objective of this research is to point out the research results of content and nutritional importance of individual essential elements that are present in various milks and dairy products. Recently, an extensively studied on nutrients and heavy metals concentration in food overall the world. In the last years, several brands of milk powder for categories child and adult have been studied by using the k<sup>0</sup> -INAA technique [44]. As complementary work for dairy products, it is very important to evaluate the consumption of the commercial baby formula milk for the first and the second age in Algeria. The chemical element Ca, K, Na, Br, Rb, and Zn have been determined in six kinds of baby formula milk using k0-NAA technique. Results obtained in this work show a good agreement with concentration values given by producers [9].

Relevance of activation analysis is driven by its stakeholders. As an example of the existing stakeholder's needs are mainly to evaluate the whole blood and hair correlation factor of Na and K, Fe, and Zn of patients suffering from Alzheimer and psoriasis pathologies and normal controls using INAA and k<sup>0</sup> -NAA techniques. According to the gender and age consideration, the results obtained in these studies have been discussed [45, 46]. For quality control and quality assurance, the biological matrix NIST1566b Ouster Tissue), IAEA A13 (animal blood) were analyzed simultaneously with the samples. Three statistical parameters Z-score, U-score, and bias were determined and discussed.

For more details about the basic theory of NAA, recent developments and technologies and potential applications of neutron activation analysis performed at the author's laboratory and nuclear facilities, the interested reader should refer to the works discussed in Chapters 2–6.

intechopen.com/books/imaging-and-radioanalytical-techniques-in-interdisciplinaryresearch-fundamentals-and-cutting-edge-applications/concepts-instrumentation-

[3] Alghem L, Ramdhane M, Khaled S, Akhal T. The development and application of

[4] Hamidatou LA, Ramdhane M.Characterization of neutron spectrum at Es-Salam research

vation analysis. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry. 2008;**278**(3):627-630 [5] Hamidatou L, Benkharfia H. Experimental and MCNP calculations of neutron flux parameters in irradiation channel at Es-Salam reactor. Journal of Radioanalytical and

tory by analysis of SMELS and four IAEA reference materials using Es-Salam research

[7] Khaled S, Belaid S, Mouzai M, Alghem L, Ararem A, Zouranen B. Development and application of the cyclic delayed neutron counting technique at Es-Salam research reac-

[8] Hamidatou L, Slamene H, Akhal T, Begaa S, Messaoudi M, Boussaad Z. NAA Algerian laboratory evaluation processed by WEPAL and IAEA during 2011-2012. Journal of

[9] Hamidatou L, Slamene H, Akhal T, Boulegane A. Trace and essential elements determina-

[10] International Committee on Activation Analysis. Available from: http://www.icaa-mtaa.

[11] De Corte F. The k Standardization Method—A Move to the Optimization of NAA.

high thermalized neutrons. Journal of Radioanalytical Chemistry. 2003;**257**:509-512

[17] Rizo OD, Peraza EH, Reyes MCL, Pellon IA, Guevara MVM, Cabrera MI. Journal of

of neutron activation analysis at Dalat research reactor. Journal of Radioanalytical

reactor using Høgdahl convention and Westcott formalism for the k<sup>0</sup>



Overview of Neutron Activation Analysis http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85461 11





and-techniques-of-neutron-activation-analysis

Nuclear Chemistry. 2011;**287**(3):971-975

[6] Hamidatou LA, Dakar S, Boukari S. k<sup>0</sup>

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reactor. Nuclear Instruments and Methods. 2012;**682**:75-78

Analytical Sciences, Methods and Instrumentation. 2013;**3**:184-192

tor. Physical and Chemical News. 2009;**45**:39-43

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University of Gent; 1987

Chemistry. 2003;**257**:643-647

and Nuclear Chemistry. 2014;**301**(3):659-666

[12] Dung HM, Hien PD. The application and development of k<sup>0</sup>

[13] Jacimovic R. Aggregate [thesis]. University of Ljubljana; 2003

[15] Dung HM, Cho SY. Journal of Radioanalytical Chemistry. 2003;**257**:573

[16] Lin X, Baumgartner F, Li X. Journal of Radioanalytical Chemistry. 1997;**215**:179

[14] Dung HM, Sasajima F. Determination of alpha and f for k<sup>0</sup>

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Chapter 2: Neutron Activation Analysis: Application in Geology Application in Geology and Medicine (*Maitreyee Nandy*).

Chapter 3: Colombian Neutron Activation Analysis Laboratory – CNAAL. Applications and Development using the Nuclear Research Reactor IAN-R1 (*Guillermo Parrado et al.*).

Chapter 4: Monte Carlo simulation of Correction Factors for Neutron Activation Foils (*Pham Ngoc Son*).

Chapter 5: Neutron Activation System for ITER Tokamak (*Vitaly Krasilnikov et al.*).

Chapter 6: An Overview of the Establishment of Methodology to Analyze up to 5 g-Sample by k0 -Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis, at CDTN, Brazil (*Maria Menezes et al.*).
