PHAROS: A pluri-detector, high-resolution, analyser of radiometric properties of soil

PHAROS is a new type of core logger, designed to measure activity concentrations of 40K, 238U, 232Th and 137Cs in sediment and rock cores with a spatial resolution of a few centimetres along the core. PHAROS has been developed as a non-destructive alternative to the traditional slicing of cores into sub-samples and their analysis on an HPGe detector. The core is scanned at fixed increments by three BGO scintillation detectors and the spectra analysed by the full spectrum analysis method. The core logger is also equipped with a collimated lead castle and a 137Cs source for transmission measurements. In this paper, we report on the properties of the core logger and its detectors, and on the analysis techniques used for the determination of the radionuclides activity concentrations. Results from initial measurements are presented and discussed.