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The accumulation of scales in the production pipe lines is a common problem in the oil industry, reducing fluid flow and leading to costly remediation and disposal programmes. Thus, an accurate determination of the activity of the radionuclides in scale samples is essential for environmental protection. The present study focuses on the characterization of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in scales generated from the petroleum industry to develop a suitable NORM waste management plan. The activity concentrations of 226Ra, 228Ra and 210Pb in 32 representative samples, collected from a number of drums at the NORM Decontamination Facility storage, were determined using gamma spectrometry. It was found that the highest concentrations were 2922, 254 and 1794 Bq g(-1) for 226Ra, 228Ra and 210Pb, respectively. A comparison to the reported worldwide values was made. Statistical approaches, namely Box plot, ANOVA and principal components analysis were applied on the total results. Maximal correlation was demonstrated by 226Ra activity concentration and count per second (cps) to density ratio. To obtain an accurate characterization of the radionuclides studied in the scale samples, method validation of gamma measurement procedure was carried out, in which minimum detectable activity, repeatability, intermediate precision and assessment of uncertainty were the parameters investigated. The work is a forefront for the proper and safe disposal of such radioactive wastes.

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A mathematical model describing the dynamic emission of intracavity polarized isotropic Cr 4+ :YAG solid--state saturable absorber was developed. This model considers double pumping laser pulses to simulate the actions of Cr 4+ :YAG as a dual Q-switched crystal (1.06 µm) and lasing medium (1.4 µm). The model describes the time evolution of interaction between the pumping laser pulse, partial polarizer and the polarized saturable absorber. The analysis of the polarization process is based on the assumption that at each moment of lasing evolution, the state of polarization represented by an eigenstate corresponds to the lowest radiation losses state. The model offers a simple mechanism for studying the kinetics of the pulsed lasers and the influence of the variations of the pumping laser power and nonlinear anisotropy parameter on the characteristics of the output laser pulses 1.06 µm and 1.4 µm. The angular rotation of the passive switch Cr 4+ :YAG reveals that the transmission of the polarized 1.06 µm laser radiation is strongly anisotropic in the saturation regime. The suggested model estimates the transmission of pumping laser density of the polarized light 1.06 µm radiation as a function of nonlinear anisotropy parameter, temporal behavior of the relative population inversion of Nd-laser, population inversion of the different polarized levels of Cr 4+ :YAG pulsed laser and the output laser pulse densities under impact of different values of the nonlinear anisotropy which is due to the self-induced anisotropy of its saturated absorption.