Liquid Scintillation Counting in the London Underground

Abstract

At the 12th International Radiocarbon Conference held in Trondheim, the potential of the London Underground as a site for liquid scintillation counting was considered (Bowman, 1986). This was discussed in light of a survey of three possible locations using a portable gamma-ray spectrometer. Two liquid scintillation counters, a Packard 3255 and an LKB “Kangaroo”, have now been successfully installed in a vault which is some 30m below ground. The reduction in background count rates achieved is discussed, together with other improvements made to the counting system.

A Beta Test Comparison Between the New Packard 2260 XL and the LKB Quantulus and 1219 SM: Low-Level Radiocarbon and Tritium Determinations

“…These special teflon vials must be meticulously cleaned to ensure sample integrity. Other studies (Bowman, 1989;Kahn & Long, 1989;Devine & Haas, 1987) suggest that for routine counting, the use of teflon vials may not be desirable. The performance of the teflon or polyethylene vials in the LKB Quantulus, LKB 1219 SM or Packard 2260 XL was not tested.…”

EXPERIMENTS AT MODANE UNDERGROUND LABORATORY OR THE SWAN SONG OF RADIOCARBON SS-Counting BY GAS PROPORTIONAL COUNTER

“…Its main aim, however, was to study background noise components rather than to develop an underground laboratory. The use of massive physical shielding to reduce the cosmic-ray component of background in underground counting labs has been reported by many authors (Vogel and Marais 1971;Grootes and Stuiver 1979;Stuiver et al 1979;Schotterer and Oeschger 1980;Loosli et al 1980;Calf and Airey 1982;Bowman 1989). Nevertheless, these laboratories operated a few meters to a few tens of meters below the surface of the ground and only offered an intermediate solution since the influence of cosmic radiation was merely attenuated, which we knew how to do in the laboratory thanks to increasingly sophisticated counting systems.…”

Radiocarbon Dating With the Quantulus in an Underground Counting Laboratory: Performance and Background Sources

“…The use of massive physical shielding to reduce the cosmic-ray component of background in underground counting labs has been reported by many authors (Schotterer & Oeschger, 1980; Loosli et al, 1980;Calf & Airey, 1982; Bowman, 1989). The underground counting chamber at the University of Arizona was built as part of the new Gould -Simpson Science Building on campus.…”