  Barium fluoride (BaF$_2$) crystal scintillators are promising detectors to
search for double beta decay processes in $^{130}$Ba ($Q_{2{\beta}}$ = 2619(3)
keV) and $^{132}$Ba ($Q_{2{\beta}}$ = 844(1) keV). The $^{130}$Ba isotope is of
particular interest because of the indications on 2${\beta}$ decay found in two
geochemical experiments. The radioactive contamination of BaF$_2$ scintillation
crystal with mass of 1.714 kg was measured over 113.4 hours in a low-background
DAMA/R&D set-up deep underground (3600 m w.e.) at the Gran Sasso National
Laboratories of INFN (LNGS, Italy). The half-life of $^{212}$Po (present in the
crystal scintillator due to contamination by radium) was estimated as $T_{1/2}$
= 298.8 $\pm$ 0.8(stat.) $\pm$ 1.4(syst.) ns by analysis of the events pulse
profiles.
