Experimental and simulated studies for the calibration of a radioactive waste assay system

The assessment of a radioactive waste drum is generally difficult due to its high volume, the complex and usually unknown distribution of the waste in the drum and its high self-attenuation. To solve these problems, a complex calibration of the system is required. An experimental calibration using the shell-sources method was performed in order to determine the efficiency appropriate for a uniformly distributed source. For this purpose, a calibration drum filled with Portland cement and provided with seven tubes, placed at different distances from its center was used. Carlo calculations using the GESPECOR software were carried out in order to complement experimental calibration. Thus, efficiency values for different geometries were obtained and compared with the experimental values.