GEANT simulation of the $\gamma$ nuclear gauge

The gamma nuclear gauging technique used for monitoring the sediment load suspended in water, is based on the detection of gamma rays emitted by a radioactive source. The GEANT321 Monte Carlo simulation tool, originally developed at CERN for high energy physics experiments, is used for the evaluation and calibration of gamma nuclear gauges. A set of parameters, principally the source energy, the source-detector separation, the lead block thickness and the energy threshold below which the sediments elemental composition affects the measurement or the energy corresponding to the Compton and photoelectric windows separation, are discussed and evaluated in the case of the gamma scattering gauge. For the gamma transmission gauge, the GEANT321 code has been used to define the optimal source detector distance interval, particularly for the Moroccan sediment samplers, and to check the influence of the radionuclide existing in the suspension, on the gauge response accuracy. Experimental calibration was also carried out using a gamma transmission gauge and a good agreement was found between experimental and simulated results. (42 refs).