Description:

The course introduces students to the metrology, including its legislative framework. Fundamental and general concepts of the field (calibration, verification, legally controlled measuring instruments, measuring standards, measurement accuracy) are explained. Further, the methods of atomic and nuclear physics quantities determination (activity, source emission, radiation exposure, absorbed dose) are discussed in detail.

Contents:

1. Fundamentals of metrology
2. Introduction to legal metrology, act and decrees, measurement standards, legally controlled measuring instruments, metrological traceability chain
3. International System of Units, quantities and units of atomic and nuclear physics
4. Data evaluation, measurement accuracy, measurement errors and uncertainties
5. Applications of proportional counter in radionuclide metrology, sample preparation for absolute measurement
6. Coincidence method for determination of activity
7. Internal counting, liquid scintillators, TDCR
8. Electrostatic and calorimetric method of activity measurement
9. Secondary standardization of activity, gamma spectrometry, ionization chambers in current mode
10. Neutron metrology, manganese bath method
11. Radiation exposure standardization, free-air ionization chamber
12. Dose and kerma standardization, calorimetric method, cavity ionization chamber
13. Small current measurement, electrometers, compensation method of measurement

Seminar contents:

1. Data processing, uncertainty of type A, B, notions sample mean, sample standard deviation, activity determination.
2. Absolute method of measuring dose kerma and exposure, air-free chamber.
3. Books for secondary metrology, X-ray, gamma ray spectra description, implementation, organization of work.
4. Measurement of small currents.

Recommended literature:

Key references:
[1] L'Annunziata , M. F. (ed.). Handbook of radioactivity analysis. 3rd ed. Oxford: Elsevier, 2012. ISBN 978-0-12-384873-4.
[2] Act No. 505/1990 Coll. on Metrology as later amended and related MPO decrees.

Recommended references:
[3] Howarth P. (ed.). Metrology ? in short. Online. 3rd ed. EURAMET, 2008. Available from https://www.euramet.org/publications-media-centre/documents/metrology-in-short.

Keywords:

metrology, measurement standard, measuring instrument, gray, becquerel, sievert, proportional counter, liquid scintillator, manganese bath, free-air ionization chamber, cavity ionization chamber

Abbreviations used:

Semester:

• W ... winter semester (usually October - February)
• S ... spring semester (usually March - June)
• W,S ... both semesters

Mode of completion of the course:

• A ... Assessment (no grade is given to this course but credits are awarded. You will receive only P (Passed) of F (Failed) and number of credits)
• GA ... Graded Assessment (a grade is awarded for this course)
• EX ... Examination (a grade is awarded for this course)
• A, EX ... Examination (the award of Assessment is a precondition for taking the Examination in the given subject, a grade is awarded for this course)

Weekly load (hours per week):

• P ... lecture
• C ... seminar
• L ... laboratory
• R ... proseminar
• S ... seminar