Radionuclide methods of sorting materials on conveyors

Radionuclide methods suitable for sorting multi-component lump materials transported on conveyors are discussed. The methods considered use the different interaction of gamma- and X-radiations with materials of different atomic numbers. A comparison is made between a simple absorption method, a method using simultaneous absorption of photons of two different energies and a combination of the absorption and back-scattering methods. The fields of application of these methods serving to obtain output signals for the control of mechanical or pneumatic sorting devices are outlined. (author)