Optimizing routine multielement activation analysis

The authors examine existing and proposed criteria for optimizing gamma spectrometry which have been used in optimal methods for routine multielement analysis of soils and plants by means of 14 MeV neutrons. Optimizing an activation-analysis method amounts to examining a function (optimization criterion) dependent on controlled parameters. The authors considered a mixture of three radionuclides with different half-lives as regards the behavior of the given optimization criteria for one-element analysis in relation to the cooling time.