
Victor V. GolovkoCanadian Nuclear Laboratories | AECL
Victor V. Golovko
Nuclear Physics, PhD, PMP
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4605-7937
About
126
Publications
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Introduction
My recent research focuses on developing efficient methods for nuclear cleanup, measuring ultra-low environmental radiation, and analyzing sensor data to enhance environmental sustainability and scientific experimentation accuracy.
Additional affiliations
August 2017 - July 2022
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, Chalk River, Canada
Position
- Health Physicist, External Dosimetry Service Supervisor
Education
January 2001 - August 2005
September 1992 - February 1996
Obninsk Institute for Nuclear Power Engineering
Field of study
- Nuclear Engineering and Nuclear Physics
Publications
Publications (126)
The half-life of $^{39}$Ar is measured using the DEAP-3600 detector located 2 km underground at SNOLAB. In 2016-2020, DEAP-3600 used a target mass of (3269 $\pm$ 24) kg of liquid argon distilled from the atmosphere in a direct-detection dark matter search. Such an argon mass also enables direct measurements of argon isotope properties. The decay of...
A new and robust statistics was applied to previous measurements of the 97Ru half-life. This process incorporates the most frequent value (MFV) technique along with hybrid parametric bootstrap (HPB) method to deliver a more precise estimate of the 97Ru half-life. The derived value is T1/2,MFV(HPB) = 2.8385+0.0022-0.0075 days. This estimate correspo...
Our study introduces innovative methods to address waste reduction and enhance resource efficiency in nuclear cleanup processes. We focus on sustainable nuclear technology, aligning with goals for cleaner production and environmental protection. We developed two novel methods, termed "oversimplified" and "simplified," for easily determining the pho...
Our study introduces innovative methods to address waste reduction and enhance resource efficiency in nuclear cleanup processes. We focus on sustainable nuclear technology, aligning with goals for cleaner production and environmental protection. We developed two novel methods, termed “oversimplified” and “simplified,” for easily determining the pho...
We have found a discrepancy in the reported exposure time for passive sensors, specifically TLDs, in the original manuscript entitled “Ambient Dose and Dose Rate Measurement in SNOLAB Underground Laboratory at Sudbury, Ontario, Canada” [...]
The paper explores the application of Steiner’s most-frequent-value (MFV) statistical method in sensor data analysis. The MFV is introduced as a powerful tool to identify the most-common value in a dataset, even when data points are scattered, unlike traditional mode calculations. Furthermore, the paper underscores the MFV method’s versatility in e...
An evaluation method supported by robust statistical analysis was applied to historical measurements of $$^{39}$$ 39 Ar half-life. The method, based on the most frequent value (MFV) approach combined with bootstrap analysis, provides a more robust way to estimate $$^{39}$$ 39 Ar half-life, and results in $$T_{1/2}($$ T 1 / 2 ( MFV $$) = 268.2^{+3.1...
The specific activity of the $$\beta $$ β decay of $$^{39}$$ 39 Ar in atmospheric argon is measured using the DEAP-3600 detector. DEAP-3600, located 2 km underground at SNOLAB, uses a total of (3269 ± 24) kg of liquid argon distilled from the atmosphere to search for dark matter. This detector is well-suited to measure the decay of $$^{39}$$ 39 Ar...
The specific activity of the beta decay of $^{39}$Ar in atmospheric argon is measured using the DEAP-3600 detector. DEAP-3600, located 2 km underground at SNOLAB, uses a total of (3269 $\pm$ 24) kg of liquid argon distilled from the atmosphere to search for dark matter. This detector with very low background uses pulseshape discrimination to differ...
Citation: Golovko, V.V.; Kamaev, O.; Sun, J.; Jillings, C.J.; Gorel, P.; Eric, V.-J. Ambient Dose and Dose Rate Measurement in SNOLAB Abstract: The paper describes a system and experimental procedure that use integrating passive detectors, such as thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs), for the measurement of ultra-low-level ambient dose equivalent ra...
The paper describes a system and experimental procedure that use integrating passive detectors, such as thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs), for the measurement of ultra-low-level ambient dose equivalent rate values at the underground SNOLAB facility located in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Because these detectors are passive and can be exposed for rel...
Oversimplified'' and ``simplified'' methods based on true coincidence summing effect used in uncomplicated determination of the photo-peak efficiency of the semiconductor High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector system are suggested and verified. The methods and calibrated $^{60}$Co radioactive source may be used to commission any HPGe detector to use...
An “Oversimplified” and “simplified” methods based on true coincidence summing effect used in uncomplicated determination of the photo-peak efficiency of the semiconductor High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector system are suggested and verified. The methods and calibrated ⁶⁰Co radioactive source may be used to commission any HPGe detector to use dur...
"Oversimplified" and "simplified" methods based on true coincidence summing effect used in uncomplicated determination of the photo-peak efficiency of the semiconductor High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector system are suggested and verified. The methods and calibrated 60Co radioactive source may be used to commission any HPGe detector to use during...
For occupational exposures in planned exposure situations International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) publication 118 recommends an equivalent dose limit for the lens of the eye of 20 mSv/year averaged over 5 years with no single year exceeding 50 mSv. This constitutes a reduction from the previous limit of 150 mSv/year. The Canadian...
The DEAP-3600 detector searches for the scintillation signal from dark matter particles scattering on a 3.3 tonne liquid argon target. The largest background comes from $$^{39}\text{ Ar }$$ 39 Ar beta decays and is suppressed using pulse-shape discrimination (PSD). We use two types of PSD estimator: the prompt-fraction, which considers the fraction...
The DEAP-3600 detector searches for the scintillation signal from dark matter particles scattering on a 3.3 tonne liquid argon target. The largest background comes from $^{39}$Ar beta decays and is suppressed using pulseshape discrimination (PSD). We use two types of PSD algorithm: the prompt-fraction, which considers the fraction of the scintillat...
DEAP-3600 is a liquid-argon scintillation detector looking for dark matter. Scintillation events in the liquid argon (LAr) are registered by 255 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), and pulseshape discrimination (PSD) is used to suppress electromagnetic background events. The excellent PSD performance of LAr makes it a viable target for dark matter search...
DEAP-3600 is a liquid-argon scintillation detector looking for dark matter. Scintillation events in the liquid argon (LAr) are registered by 255 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), and pulseshape discrimination (PSD) is used to suppress electromagnetic background events. The excellent PSD performance of LAr makes it a viable target for dark matter search...
The DEAP-3600 experiment is searching for weakly interacting massive particles dark matter with a 3.3 ×103kg single phase liquid argon (LAr) target, located 2.1 km underground at SNOLAB. The experimental signature of dark matter interactions is kilo electron volt–scale Ar40 nuclear recoils producing 128 nm LAr scintillation photons observed by phot...
Experimental demonstrations are reported of the complementarity of passive gamma-ray spectroscopy, passive neutron counting, and passive muon scattering tomography, in the simultaneous detection of shielded nuclear material. The demonstrations were applied to a number of experimental configurations that emulate various scenarios that may be encount...
DEAP-3600 is a single-phase liquid argon (LAr) direct-detection dark matter experiment, operating 2 km underground at SNOLAB (Sudbury, Canada). The detector consists of 3279 kg of LAr contained in a spherical acrylic vessel. This paper reports on the analysis of a 758 tonne·day exposure taken over a period of 231 live-days during the first year of...
The DEAP-3600 experiment is searching for WIMP dark matter with a 3.3 tonne single phase liquid argon (LAr) target, located 2.1 km underground at SNOLAB. The experimental signature of dark matter interactions is keV-scale $^{40}$Ar nuclear recoils (NR) producing 128 nm LAr scintillation photons observed by PMTs. The largest backgrounds in DEAP-3600...
DEAP-3600 is a single-phase liquid argon (LAr) direct-detection dark matter experiment, operating 2 km underground at SNOLAB (Sudbury, Canada). The detector consists of 3279 kg of LAr contained in a spherical acrylic vessel. This paper reports on the analysis of a 758 tonne\cdot day exposure taken over a period of 231 live-days during the first yea...
The Hamamatsu R5912-HQE photomultiplier-tube (PMT) is a novel high-quantum efficiency PMT. It is currently used in the DEAP-3600 dark matter detector and is of significant interest for future dark matter and neutrino experiments where high signal yields are needed. We report on the methods developed for in-situ characterization and monitoring of DE...
This Letter reports the first results of a direct dark matter search with the DEAP-3600 single-phase liquid argon (LAr) detector. The experiment was performed 2 km underground at SNOLAB (Sudbury, Canada) utilizing a large target mass, with the LAr target contained in a spherical acrylic vessel of 3600 kg capacity. The LAr is viewed by an array of P...
The Dark matter Experiment using Argon Pulse-shape discrimination (DEAP) has been designed for a direct detection search for particle dark matter using a single-phase liquid argon target. The projected cross section sensitivity for DEAP-3600 to the spin-independent scattering of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) on nucleons is $10^{-46}~...
The Dark matter Experiment using Argon Pulse-shape discrimination (DEAP) has been designed for a direct detection search for particle dark matter using a single-phase liquid argon target. The projected cross section sensitivity for DEAP-3600 to the spin-independent scattering of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) on nucleons is $10^{-46}~...
This paper reports the first results of a direct dark matter search with the DEAP-3600 single-phase liquid argon (LAr) detector. The experiment was performed 2 km underground at SNOLAB (Sudbury, Canada) utilizing a large target mass, with the LAr target contained in a spherical acrylic vessel of 3600 kg capacity. The LAr is viewed by an array of PM...
The DEAP-1 low-background liquid argon detector was used to measure scintillation pulse shapes of electron and nuclear recoil events and to demonstrate the feasibility of pulse-shape discrimination down to an electron-equivalent energy of 20 keVee. In the surface dataset using a triple-coincidence tag we found the fraction of β events that are misi...
A muon scattering tomography system which uses extruded plastic scintillator bars for muon tracking and a dedicated muon spectrometer that measures scattering through steel slabs has been constructed and successfully tested. The atmospheric muon detection efficiency is measured to be 97% per plane on average and the average intrinsic hit resolution...
Many current and future dark matter and neutrino detectors are designed to measure scintillation light with a large array of photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). The energy resolution and particle identification capabilities of these detectors depend in part on the ability to accurately identify individual photoelectrons in PMT waveforms despite large var...
Many current and future dark matter and neutrino detectors are designed to
measure scintillation light with a large array of photomultiplier tubes (PMTs).
The energy resolution and particle identification capabilities of these
detectors depend in part on the ability to accurately identify individual
photoelectrons in PMT waveforms despite large var...
The CRIPT Cosmic Ray Imaging and Passive Tomography system began data taking in September 2012. CRIPT is a “proof of principle” muon tomography system originally proposed to inspect cargo in shipping containers and to determine the presence of special nuclear materials. CRIPT uses 4 layers of 2 m x 2 m scintillation counter trackers, each layer mea...
The nuclear magnetic moment of the nucleus 59Cu with one proton and two neutrons outside the closed N = Z = 28 shells, was measured in an on-line experiment combining beta-NMR with low temperature nuclear orientation and with particle detectors operating at a temperature of about 10K. From the data the center frequency \nu(B_ext = 0) = 209.51(22) M...
The DEAP-1 \SI{7}{kg} single phase liquid argon scintillation detector was
operated underground at SNOLAB in order to test the techniques and measure the
backgrounds inherent to single phase detection, in support of the
\mbox{DEAP-3600} Dark Matter detector. Backgrounds in DEAP are controlled
through material selection, construction techniques, pul...
The Cosmic Ray Inspection and Passive Tomography (CRIPT) project is investigating muon scattering tomography (MST) for applications in border security, nuclear non-proliferation, and nuclear waste characterization. The construction of the full-scale prototype MST system began in the Summer of 2011 and was completed in September 2012. The CRIPT dete...
Muons, which are produced naturally in the upper atmosphere, can be used to scan cargo for special nuclear materials (SNM). Preliminary simulated results show that detecting the presence of these materials can be accomplished by measuring the scattering of cosmic ray muons. Machine learning tools have been used on these data to classify it as SNM o...
A new value for the hyperfine magnetic field of copper impurities in iron is obtained by combining resonance frequencies from experiments involving {\beta}-NMR on oriented nuclei on 59-Cu, 69-Cu, and 71-Cu with magnetic moment values from collinear laser spectroscopy measurements on these isotopes. The resulting value, i.e., Bhf(CuFe) = -21.794(10)...
A new value for the hyperfine magnetic field of copper impurities in iron is obtained by combining resonance frequencies from experiments involving β-NMR on oriented nuclei on 59Cu, 69Cu, and 71Cu with magnetic moment values from collinear laser spectroscopy measurements on these isotopes. The resulting value, i.e., Bhf(CuFe) = -21.794(10) T, is in...
We measured the half-life of the superallowed 0{sup +â}0{sup +} β{sup +} emitter ²â¶Si to be 2245.3(7) ms. We used pure sources of ²â¶Si and employed a high-efficiency gas counter, which was sensitive to positrons from both this nuclide and its daughter ²â¶Al{sup m}. The data were analyzed as a linked parent-daughter decay. To contribute mea...
When radioactive isotopes that decay by alpha, beta(-), beta(+) and electron-capture transitions are placed in a conducting host material, it has recently been claimed that their half-lives show a significant dependence on temperature-up to a 6% difference between room temperature and 12K. We have refuted two of these claims by measuring: (1) the b...
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR/ON) measurements with beta- and gamma-ray detection have been performed on oriented Ag-104(g,m) nuclei with the NICOLE He-3-He-4 dilution refrigerator setup at ISOLDE/CERN. For Ag-104(g) (I-pi = 5(+)) the gamma-NMR/ON resonance signal was found at nu = 266.70(5) MHz. Combining this result with the known magnetic mome...
The $\beta$-asymmetry parameter $\widetilde{A}$ for the Gamow-Teller decay of $^{60}$Co was measured by polarizing the radioactive nuclei with the brute force low-temperature nuclear-orientation method. The $^{60}$Co activity was cooled down to milliKelvin temperatures in a $^3$He-$^4$He dilution refrigerator in an external 13 T magnetic field. The...
A status report is given on the measurements of the asymmetry parameter and the development and validation of a dedicated simulation code, performed in the framework of experiment IS431 to search for possible tensor type contributions to the weak interaction. The measurements have provided the most precise results for the asymmetry parameter in...
In recent articles [1-4], Jenkins et al. claim to have evidence that radioactive half-lives vary as a function of the earth-to-sun distance. They base their claims on data obtained by others over the space of several years -- the decay of ^32Si as measured at Brookhaven National Laboratory [5] from 1982-85 and that of ^226Ra as measured at the Phys...
The measurement of the β asymmetry parameter in nuclear β decay is a potentially very sensitive tool to search for non V–A components in the charge-changing weak interaction. To reach the required precision (percent level) all effects that modify the emission pattern of the β radiation, i.e. the geometry of the setup, the effect of the magnetic fie...
We have measured the half-life of the electron-capture (ec) decay of Ru in a metallic environment, both at low temperature (19 K), and also at room temperature. We find the half-lives at both temperatures to be the same within 0.1%. This demonstrates that a recent claim that the ec decay half-life for Be changes by 0.9%{+-}0.2% under similar circum...
The angular distributions of gamma rays and alpha particles from oriented Bk-250, Es-253,Es-254, and Fm-255 nuclei were investigated to extract hyperfine interaction information for these actinide impurities in an iron host lattice. The hyperfine field of einsteinium in iron was found to be |B-hf(EsFe_|)=396(32) T. With this value the magnetic mome...
The DEAP-1 low-background liquid argon detector has been used to measure scintillation pulse shapes of beta decays and nuclear recoil events and to demonstrate the feasibility of pulse-shape discrimination down to an electron-equivalent energy of 20 keVee. The relative intensities of singlet/triplet states in liquid argon have been measured as a fu...
Precise β-branching-ratio measurements are required in order to determine ft-values as part of our program to test the Electroweak Standard Model via unitarity of the Cabibbo–Kobayashi–Maskawa matrix. For the measurements to be useful in this test, their precision must be close to 0.1%. In a branching-ratio measurement, we position the radioactive...
Precise beta-branching-ratio measurements are required in order to determine ft-values as a part of our program to test the Electroweak Standard Model via unitarity of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Moskawa matrix. For the measurements to be useful in this test, their precision must be close to 0.1 %. In a branching-ratio measurement, we position the radioa...
The half-life of ¹°C has been measured to be 19.310(4) s, a result with 0.02% precision, which is a factor of three improvement over the best previous result. Since ¹°C is the lightest superallowed 0{sup +}0{sup +} {sup +} emitter, its ft value has the greatest weight in setting an upper limit on the possible presence of scalar currents.
The work we report here aims at increasing the precision possible in the
measurement of branching ratios for superallowed β^+decays. Such
highly accurate values are essential in generating precise ft-values for
0^+->0^+decays, which can then be used to test the Standard Model via
the unitarity of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix [1]. The requir...
In recent publications it has been pointed out that the α decay of transuranic elements in nuclear waste can be considerably
speeded up by putting them into metals. The proposed mechanism is based on the effect of electron screening of radioactive
nuclei (according to the Debye electron plasma model), which grows enhanced as temperature decreases....
We previously reported Monte Carlo (MC) studies of the efficiency of a 1-mm-thick plastic detector to few-MeV electrons with various programs: Geant4, EGSnrc and Penelope. The simulated results were also compared with measured data from standard conversion-electron sources: ^133Ba, ^137Cs and ^207Bi. [1] These studies were part of our program to te...
We have measured the half-life of the β -decay of 198Au in a metallic environment, both at low temperature (19K), and also at room temperature. We find the half-lives at both
temperatures to be the same within 0.04%, a finding that contradicts a recent report of a 3.6±1.0 % difference in the 198Au half-life when measured at essentially the same two...
The beta-decay of ^23Al (See [1]) was re-measured with higher statistics
and better accuracy at Texas A&M University. Using MARS we produced
and separated pure ^23Al at 4000 pps, with a 48 MeV/u ^24Mg beam via the
^24Mg (p, 2n)^ 23Al reaction on a H2 cryogenic target. New
β and β-γ coincidence measurements were made with a
scintillator, an HPGe det...
It has been claimed recently that half-lives of radioactive nuclei embedded in metals would be significantly affected by electron screening provided by the metal. The effect would further be strengthened at low temperatures. We have determined the half-life-of $^{253}\mathrm{Es}$ nuclei embedded in iron at temperatures between 4 K and 50 mK. Our re...
In order to determine the vector coupling constant and to test the unitarity of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix one has to make precise measurements of nuclear masses, beta-branching ratios and halflives [1]. The measurements of halflives and branching ratios are performed in a simple, but very precise counting station at our institute. A typi...
The experiment reported here aims to extract a precise ft-value for the
superallowed 0^+->0^+ β^+-decay of ^^34Ar. Such measurements are
essential in testing the Standard Model via the unitarity of the
Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix. One ingredient in the ft-value is the
branching ratio and, to be useful, it must be determined with a
precision of...
There is interest in the structure of ^23Al due to the contribution of
the ^22Mg(p, γ)^23Al and ^22Na(p, γ)^23Mg reactions in the
depletion of ^22Na from ONe novae. Using MARS we produced and separated
pure ^23Al samples with a 48 MeV/u ^24Mg beam from the K500 cyclotron at
Texas A&M University. New β and β-γ coincidence
measurements were made with...
To capture radioactive ion beams of tens of keV in an ion trap, the use of a pulsed drift cavity allows one to avoid placing the complete setup on a high voltage (HV) platform. By pulsing down the voltage on a long electrode while the ion bunch is inside it, the electric potential zero level can be shifted down over a range equal to the initial bea...
To capture radioactive ion beams of tens of keV in an ion trap, the use of a pulsed drift cavity allows one to avoid placing the complete setup on a high voltage (HV) platform. By pulsing down the voltage on a long electrode while the ion bunch is inside it, the electric potential zero level can be shifted down over a range equal to the initial bea...
In order to test the Conserved Vector Current hypothesis of the Standard Model, precise determination of the branching ratios for superallowed beta transitions is needed [1]. For this purpose, we are using an experimental setup in which one of the main components is a plastic scintillator, and a knowledge of the Response Function (RF) of this scint...
The beta-decay of ^23Al (See [1]) was re-measured with higher statistics and better accuracy at Texas A&M University. Using MARS we produced and separated pure ^23Al at 4000 pps, with a 48 MeV/u ^24Mg beam via the ^24Mg (p, 2n)^ 23Al reaction on a H2 cryogenic target. New beta and beta-gamma coincidence measurements were made with a scintillator, a...