GUILHERME SOARES ZAHN

GUILHERME SOARES ZAHN

(Fonte: Lattes)

Resumo

Has a bachelor's degree in Physics from Universidade de São Paulo (1991), master's at Nuclear Engineering from Universidade de São Paulo (1994) and doctorate at Nuclear Engineering from Universidade de São Paulo (2006). Has experience in nuclear ans applied physics, focusing on nuclear structure, acting on the following subjects: beta decay, neutron activation, gamma spectroscopy, nuclear structure, neutron flux determination and detection, and also on the development od instrumentation and sotware aimed at nuclear applications. (Text obtained from the Currículo Lattes on October 14th 2021)

Possui graduação em Física pela Universidade de São Paulo (1991), mestrado em Tecnologia Nuclear pela Universidade de São Paulo (1994) e doutorado em Tecnologia Nuclear pela Universidade de São Paulo (2006). Atualmente é pesquisador da Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear, lotado no Centro do Reator de Pesquisas do Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares. Tem experiência na área de Física Nuclear, com ênfase em Estrutura Nuclear, atuando principalmente nos seguintes temas: decaimento beta, detecção de nêutrons, irradiadores de nêutrons, ativação neutrônica, fluxo de nêutrons, desenvolvimento de instrumentação e de software para aplicações nucleares. (Texto extraído do Currículo Lattes em 14 out. 2021)

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Comparison of two methodologies for spectra analysis in coincidence neutron activation analysis
2021 - RIBEIRO JUNIOR, I.S.; GENEZINI, F.A.; ZAHN, G.S.
The Research Reactor Center (CERPq) of IPEN-CNEN/SP has been developing a facility for Coincidence Neutron Activation Analysis (CNAA), a variation of the Neutron Activation Analysis technique in which gamma-gamma coincidence is used to reduce spectral interferences and improve detection limits of some elements. As the acquisition results in 2D-coincidence spectra, the spectrum analysis has to be dealt with accordingly. There are two distinct ways to perform these analyses, either directly, by fitting bidimensional peaks in the coincidence matrix, or by gating the spectra in one detector around each peak of interest and fitting the resulting 1D-spectrum in the usual way. In this work, the concentrations of As, Co, Cs, Sb and Se were determined in geological and biological reference materials by CNAA using two different methodologies of analysis, using the BIDIM software, which provides 2D-peak-fitting; and a combination of the AnalisaCAEN suite, which gates the 2D-spectra, with Canberra’s Genie2000, which fits the resulting unidimensional spectra. The outcomes allow for a discussion of the advantages and shortcomings of each method, both in terms of usability and of the reliability of the results.
Application of a semi-empirical model for the evaluation of radium activity in phosphogypsum used as component of clinker
2021 - GERALDO, R.R.; PASCHUK, S.A.; BARRETO, R.C.; CORREA, J.N.; ZAHN, G.S.; SILVA, P.S.C. da; SILVA, A.M. da; NARLOCH, D.C.; ARAUJO, I.C.
Phosphogypsum is a residue that has been used by the cement industry as a substitute for the natural gypsum, used as a clinker additive during the production of Portland cement. There is a potential increase in this residue consumption since large amounts of phosphogypsum are generated as outcome of the phosphate fertilizer industries. However, phosphogypsum can be considered a source of radioactive contamination due to the presence of 226Ra in its composition. Depending on the concentration of 226Ra, from the radiological protection point of view, this may cause a problem because this radionuclide and its direct decay product 222Rn along with other decay products, represent the largest fraction of radiation internal dose received by people. In order to evaluate the level of radiological risk that may be associated with the use of phosphogypsum, it is necessary to identify the concentration of 226Ra in building materials. The aim of this research is to analyze samples of phosphogypsum in relation to the concentrations of 226Ra, determined indirectly through 222Rn activity measurements. This measurement process has the advantage of being fast, convenient and relatively inexpensive when compared to traditional methods of 226Ra concentration in samples measurements. The proposed physical-mathematical model was used to establish radium concentration from radon exhalation rate from cement mortar samples. The 222Rn activity measurements were performed with a portable detector with cubic phosphate samples with 50 mm edges each placed in a closed atmosphere of the sampling chamber until secular equilibrium is achieved. Obtained concentrations of radium activity in studied samples of phosphogypsum and cement mortars were found below the limits recommended by CNEN and international regulation.
Development of an environmental monitoring station for HPGe detectors
2021 - MELO, G.R.; ZAHN, G.S.; GENEZINI, F.A.; MOREIRA, E.G.
Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) is a well-established nondestructive analytic technique where the gamma radiation emitted by an irradiated sample is analyzed using an HPGe detector. The Neutron Activation Laboratory (LAN) of IPEN-CNEN/SP has been performing NAA analyses for over 30 years, and has plans of implementing quality control protocols to their analyses. In this sense, the environmental monitoring of the laboratories where the detectors are used has been performed for many years, in a manual way with no more than 2 measurements per day. In this work, an automated monitoring station based on a microcontroller ArduinoUNO board has been developed which comprises four thermo hygrometer sensors for monitoring different parts of the environment, plus a thermocouple for monitoring the inside of the liquid nitrogen dewar. The results obtained allow for a discussion on the performance and adequacy of the sensors.
On the feasibility of producing Lu-177 in the IEA-R1 reactor via the direct route
2021 - ZAHN, G.S.; GENEZINI, F.A.; SILVA, P.S.C.; NORY, R.M.; MOREIRA, E.G.; SANTIAGO, P.S.
Over the last years the 177Lu radioisotope has attracted great interest for the use in therapeutic and diagnostic procedures simultaneously, being what is now called a theranostic radioisotope, with outstanding results in prostate and neuroendocrine cancer. There are mainly two ways of producing this radioisotope, by direct neutron capture in a 176Lu target (the “direct route") or by irradiating a 176Yb sample, producing 177Yb that will then decay to 177Lu (also referred as the “indirect route”). In this work, the technical feasibility of producing 177Lu in the IEA-R1 nuclear research reactor via the direct route was assessed, and the specific activity that could be obtained was estimated both experimentally and theoretically.
Efficiency stability of HPGe detectors under distinct count rates
2021 - ZAHN, G.S.; GENEZINI, F.A.
In this work the reproducibility of the efficiency of different HPGe detectors was analyzed under a series of different conditions. The detectors studied were plugged either to a regular analogical amplifier or to a digital signal processing (DSP) device, to evaluate the possible differences between either setup. Detectors were inspected by performing a long series of sequential measurements with standard calibration sources and comparing the standard deviation of the number of counts per second in each series to the uncertainty of the individual measurements. Detectors were also subjected to distinct count rates, to verify the possible experimental issues associated with this parameter. The results allow a discussion on the stability of the detectors’ efficiencies over a few days, the possible dependence with the count rate, and the estimation of the uncertainty related to the efficiency variation.
CAX and Xsel
2019 - ZAHN, GUILHERME S.; JUNQUEIRA, LUCAS S.; GENEZINI, FREDERICO A.
In this work, the scripting capabilities of Genie-2000 were used to develop a software (CAX) that automatically anal-yses all spectrum files in either ORTEC's CHN or CANBERRA's MCA or CNF formats in a folder, generating two output files: a print-ready text file (.DAT) and a Comma-Separated Values (.CSV) file which can be easily imported in any major spreadsheet software. A second tool, named Xsel, consists in an EXCEL spreadsheet which automatically identifies the spectrum lines associated with the elements of interest, generating a clean output sheet which can be easily imported in a general spreadsheet that calculates the concentrations; an important addition to this spreadsheet is the ability to automatically recalibrate each spectrum, increasing the reliability of the peak identification procedure. These software tools are already used in daily routines at IPEN's Neutron Activation Laboratory, greatly reducing the time required for sample analyses, as well as reducing the possibility of transcription errors.
Pile-up correction for coincidence counting using a CAEN 1724 digitizer
2019 - ZAHN, GUILHERME S.; RIBEIRO JUNIOR, IBERE S.; GENEZINI, FREDERICO A.
In conventional gamma-ray spectrometry, the probability of pile-up effects is considered to be proportional to the dead-time, and is usually neglected for low dead-times (below 4-5%). In gamma-gamma coincidence spectrometry, though, while the dead time takes into account only events that are actually digitized, the pile-up effects are proportional to the actual gamma-ray detection rate in each detector, not only to the ones that trigger the coincidence gate. Thus, the pile-up corrections may not be so easy to assess as in single spectrometry systems. In this work, a system composed of two HPGe detectors coupled to a CAEN v1724 digitizer is studied. A 3kBq 60Co source was analyzed, both alone and in the presence of other radioactive sources (137Cs, 133Ba and 152Eu), and the resulting coincidence peak areas were compared to assess the effectiveness of two distinct corrections: a simple normalization by the live time of acquisition and the normalization by the count rate obtained using a pulse generator. The results obtained stress the need to use the pulse generator in this specific setup in order to get accurate results.
Natural and artificial nuclides in Salesópolis reservoir
2019 - SILVA, P.S.C.; SEMMLER, R.; ZAHN, G.S.; ROCHA, F.R.; DAMATTO, S.R.; FAVARO, D.I.T.
Natural radioactivity is ubiquitous in the environment mainly due to the presence of the nuclides from the ura-nium and thorium series and 40K. Although in the South Hemisphere nuclear tests have been fewer in number than that in the North, artificial radionuclides can also be found spread at ground level. In this study, the activity concentrations of natural nuclides from the uranium and thorium series, 40K and the artificial 137Cs were deter-mined in a sediment core with 42 cm depth collected in the middle of the Salesópolis reservoir, located in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo city (SPMR). The Usina Parque Rio Tietê reservoir belongs to the Alto do Tietê system for the capture, storage and treatment of water for SPMR. Therefore, the quality of the water and sediments of this dam is of great importance. The activity concentrations were measured by gamma spectrome-try. Samples were measured and saved at regular intervals at a maximum of 160 000 seconds. The gross area were determined for each peak and plotted against time and the counting rate was obtained by the slope of the curve. Background and reference materials were also counted and treated in the same way. Results showed that 226Ra varied from 45 to 116 Bq kg-1; 228Ra, from 80 to 165 Bq kg-1; 40K, from 155 to 1 187 Bq kg-1 and 137Cs varied from 0.3 to 7 Bq kg-1. The methodology applied for determining low levels of 137Cs in sediment proved to be effi-cient and reproducible.
Evaluation of the uncertainty associated with sample holders in NAA measurements in LAN/IPEN
2019 - ZAHN, G.S.; TICIANELLI, R.B.; SAIKI, M.; GENEZINI, F.A.
In IPEN’s Neutron Activation Laboratory (LAN/IPEN), thin stainless steel sample holders are used for gamma spec-trometry in NAA measurements. This material is very practical, but its chemical composition may be troublesome, as it presents large amounts of elements with intermediate atomic number, with attenuation factors for low-energy gamma-rays that must not be neglected. In this study, count rates obtained using different sample holders were compared. To accomplish that, an Am-241 source, with 59-keV gamma emission, was used so that low-energy gamma attenuation differences can be determined. Moreover, in order to study the energy dependence of these differences, a Ho-166m source was also used. From these results, it was possible to analyze the experimental error associated to the variations between sample holders, with the aim of introducing an addictive term to the uncertainty analysis of comparative Neu-tron Activation Analysis results.