3. Physical foundations and methodology of radionuclide X-ray fluorescence analysis

The physical foundations are described of radionuclide X-ray fluorescence analysis (RXFA) and the table shows the values of K- and L-absorption thresholds and the K- and L-line energies of elements. The calculation of the intensity of characteristic radiation during RXFA proceeds from relations derived for conventional X-ray fluorescence analysis. The choice of the radionuclide source is ruled by the nature of the analysed substance and the used detection technique. The diagram shows the areas of radionuclide sources and the energy of the fluorescence radiation of elements. The table shows the spectra of radionuclide sources suitable for the purposes of RXFA measured by semiconductor Si(Li) and Ge(Li) detectors. (ES)