A new method for investigating uranium/radium disequilibrium

A relatively simple and cheap method for investigating uranium/radium disequilibrium by means of the centroid expansion of the composite 186 keV spectral line from 235U and 226Ra decay is considered. The method based on the application of a HPGe detector and spectrometer and allows to determine precisely the contents of uranium and radium and their disequilibrium simultaneously. The advantage of this method is that it substantially decreases systematic errors and is independent of detector volume, and the shape, dimensions and chemical composition of the samples. An application of the method to different geochemical studies is demonstrated. 3 figs. (B.Sh.)