Paper 1

A new, computationally-efficient computer program for simulating spectral gamma-ray logs in two-dimensional cylindrical geometry

J. G. Conaway and B. C. Letellier
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos, New Mexico

Several techniques to improve the accuracy of radionuclide concentration estimates as a function of depth from gamma-ray logs have appeared in the literature. Much of that work was driven by interest in uranium as an economic mineral. More recently, the problem of mapping and monitoring artificial gamma-emitting contaminants in the ground has rekindled interest in improving the accuracy of radioelement concentration estimates from gamma-ray logs. We are looking at new approaches to accomplishing such improvements.

The first step in this effort has been to develop a new computational model of a Spectral Gamma Ray (SGR) logging sonde in a borehole environment. The model supports attenuation in any combination of materials arranged in 2-D cylindrical geometry, including any combination of attenuating materials in the borehole, formation, and logging sonde. The model can also handle any distribution of sources in the formation. The model considers unscattered radiation only, as represented by the background-corrected area under a given spectral photopeak as a function of depth. Benchmark calculations using the standard Monte Carlo model MCNP show excellent agreement with total gamma flux estimates with a computation time of about 0.01% of the time required for the MCNP calculations. This model lacks the flexibility of MCNP, although for this application that flexibility is frequently unnecessary.