Comparison of niobium-93m results obtained by two independent destructive analytical procedures and measured by low energy gamma spectrometry and liquid scintillation counting

This article presents two newly developed radiochemical procedures for the destructive analysis of niobium plates irradiated in the core of water-water energetic nuclear reactor (WWER), as well as determination of the specific activity of the generated during the irradiation metastable isotope 93mNb. The procedures were developed and tested using standard samples containing 93mNb and 94Nb. Measurements were made by low energy gamma spectrometry (LEGS) and liquid scintillation counting (LSC) and the obtained data were verified by interlaboratory comparison. All the results were compared with the calculated ones to confirm and evaluate the accuracy and superiority of the two measurement methods.