Speaker
Keenan Thomas
(UC Berkeley- Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, LBNL - NSD)
Description
The Low Background Facility (LBF) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California operates in two unique facilities—locally within a carefully-constructed, low background cave; and remotely at an underground location (~500 m.w.e) nearby in Oroville, CA. These facilities provide a variety of gamma spectroscopy services to low background experiments primarily in the form of passive material screening for primordial radioisotopes (U, Th, K) or common cosmogenic/anthropogenic products, as well as active screening via Neutron Activation Analysis for specific applications. A general overview of the facilities, services, and sensitivities will be discussed. Recent activities and upgrades will also be presented, including the recent installation of a 3π muon veto at the surface station, addition of old Pb to counting shields, and environmental monitoring of Fukushima fallout.
Primary author
Keenan Thomas
(UC Berkeley- Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, LBNL - NSD)
Co-authors
Alan R. Smith
(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - NSD)
D.L. Hurley
(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - NSD)
Eric B. Norman
(UC Berkeley- Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, LBNL - NSD)
Yuen-Dat Chan
(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - NSD)
