QSA-SENTINEL IRIDIUM IR-192 SOURCES FOR GAMMA RADIOGRAPHY
Description
SENTINEL™ Natural and Enriched Iridium-192. Iridium-192 (Ir-192) is a radioisotope created from the element, Iridium, that emits gamma rays from 0.26 MeV to 0.612 MeV. This energy range of gamma rays emitted makes Ir-192 ideal for industrial radiography, which has become a major element of nondestructive testing.
SENTINEL™ Natural and Enriched Iridium-192 sources are used in conjunction with the SENTINEL™ 880 series exposure devices to inspect materials and structures in the density range of approximately 2.71 g/cm3 to 8.53 g/cm3. During a radiographic exposure using Ir-192, an image of the material being inspected is captured on a digital panel, phosphor plate, or film. Ir-192 can be used to inspect pipeline welds, castings, forgings and many other industrial subjects.
The double-encapsulated, natural and enriched sealed Ir-192 sources are constructed by stacking iridium metal discs of uniform size in a source capsule to form a right-circular cylinder. The Ir-192 source capsule components are constructed of stainless steel, hermetically sealed by laser welding and finished to exacting standards. Each Ir-192 source is swaged to one end of a source holder consisting of a short flexible steel cable which has a connector at the other end for coupling to a control cable. A stainless steel stop-ball is also incorporated into the Ir-192 source wire assembly. The stop-ball provides mechanical positioning of the Ir-192 source assembly within the Model 880 exposure device’s shielding. It also provides a means of securing the Ir-192 source assembly in the Model 880 exposure device’s automatic securing mechanism.
Every capsule is subjected to a series of quality inspection tests to ensure weld integrity and uniform wall thickness. The sealed Ir-192 sources are designed and tested to achieve an ISO/ANSI minimum classification of 97C64515 and to comply with the IAEA and USDOT requirements for ‘Special Form’ radioactive material. The ISO/ANSI classification 97C64515 refers to the complete Ir-192 source capsule which is attached to the source assembly.
