A SHORT OVERVIEW OF METHODS FOR ANALYSIS OF GROSS ALPHA / BETA ACTIVITY IN WATER SAMPLES

The measurement of gross alpha / beta radiation is one of the most important radioanalytical procedures that are widely used as a screening method in radioecology, environmental monitoring and industrial applications. The purpose of this work is to gather information on recently used standard methods for determining gross alpha / beta activity in drinking water, to provide an overview of the current situation and to assess their capabilities. Sample preparation methods - e. c. evaporation, co-precipitation - and detection systems - such as gas flow proportional counting, liquid scintillation counting and scintillation counting - were compared on the basis of the literature. During the work, the following parameters were analyzed and discussed: background, counting efficiency, impedance, sample capacity, minimum detectable activity, typical counting time, sample preparation time.

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