Systems and methods for assaying a liquid sample or alumina column for molybdenum content

1. A system for assaying a sample for Molybdenum-99 content, the system comprising:

an inner ionization chamber including a well configured to receive the sample;

an outer ionization chamber concentric with the inner ionization chamber;

attenuating material positioned in the well;

a computing device configured to:

determine a first Molybdenum-99 content value of the sample based on a first current measured in the inner ionization chamber;

determine a second Molybdenum-99 content value of the sample based on a second current measured in the outer ionization chamber; and

determine a final Molybdenum-99 content value based on the first and second Molybdenum-99 content values.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein to determine a final Molybdenum-99 content value, the computing device is configured to average the first and second Molybdenum-99 content values.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:

compare the first and second Molybdenum-99 content values to determine whether they are in agreement with one another; and

generate an alert if the first and second Molybdenum-99 content values are not in agreement with one another.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein to compare the first and second Molybdenum-99 content values, the computing device is configured to determine whether a difference between first and second Molybdenum-99 content values is less than or equal to a predetermined percentage of one of the first and second Molybdenum-99 content values.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the inner and outer ionization chambers are high pressure Xenon gas chambers.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system is configured to determine the first and second Molybdenum-99 content values simultaneously.

7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a first current measurement device communicatively coupled to the computing device and configured to measure the first current in the inner ionization chamber; and

a second current measurement device coupled to the computing device and configured to measure the second current in the outer ionization chamber.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the inner ionization chamber is separate from the outer ionization chamber.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the inner and outer ionization chambers are annular.

10. A method for assaying a sample for Molybdenum-99 content, the method comprising:

placing the sample in a well of an inner ionization chamber, wherein the well includes attenuating material;

measuring a first current in the inner ionization chamber;

measuring a second current in an outer ionization chamber, wherein the outer ionization chamber is concentric with the inner ionization chamber;

determining, using a computing device, a first Molybdenum-99 content value of the sample from the first measured current;

determining, using the computing device, a second Molybdenum-99 content value of the sample from the second measured current; and

determining, using the computing device, a final Molybdenum-99 content value based on the first and second Molybdenum-99 content values.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein determining a final Molybdenum-99 content value comprises averaging the first and second Molybdenum-99 content values.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

comparing the first and second Molybdenum-99 content values to determine whether they are in agreement with one another; and

generating an alert if the first and second Molybdenum-99 content values are not in agreement with one another.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein comparing the first and second Molybdenum-99 content values comprises determining whether a difference between first and second Molybdenum-99 content values is less than or equal to a predetermined percentage of one of the first and second Molybdenum-99 content values.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein measuring a first current in an inner ionization chamber comprises measuring a first current in a first high pressure Xenon gas chamber, and wherein measuring a second current in an outer ionization chamber comprises measuring a second current in a second high pressure Xenon gas chamber.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first and second Molybdenum-99 content values of the sample are determined simultaneously.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein measuring a first current comprises measuring the first current using a first source measurement unit, and wherein measuring a second current comprises measuring the second current using a second source measurement unit.

17. A radiation detection device for assaying a sample for Molybdenum-99 content, the radiation detection device comprising:

an inner ionization chamber including a well that receives the sample, wherein a first current is generated in the inner ionization chamber in response to an amount of Molybdenum-99 present in the sample;

an outer ionization chamber concentric with the inner ionization chamber, wherein a second current is generated in the outer ionization chamber in response to the amount of Molybdenum-99 present in the sample; and

attenuating material positioned in the well of the inner ionization chamber.

18. The radiation detection device of claim 17 , wherein the inner and outer ionization chambers are high pressure Xenon gas chambers.

19. The radiation detection device of claim 17 , wherein the attenuating material includes at least one of tungsten and lead.

20. The radiation detection device of claim 17 , wherein the inner and outer ionization chambers are annular.