Search results for "Plutonium"
showing 10 items of 38 documents
Uran aus deutschen Nuklearprojekten der 1940er Jahre – eine nuklearforensische Untersuchung
2015
Wir berichten hier uber eine nuklearforensische Analyse verschiedener Uranmaterialien aus deutschen Nuklearprojekten der 1940er Jahre, bei denen Uranmetall in verschiedenen Geometrien verwendet wurde. Mithilfe des 230Th/234U-Isotopenverhaltnisses konnte fur das Metall ein Produktionszeitraum von 1940 bis 1943 bestimmt werden. Die geographische Herkunft des Urans wurde anhand des Spurengehalts an Seltenerdelementen und der Strontium-Isotopenverhaltnisse bestimmt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass das bei den deutschen Nuklearprojekten verwendete Uran aus Minen in der Tschechischen Republik stammt. 236U und 239Pu wurden in Spuren nachgewiesen. Diese entsprechen in etwa der Haufigkeit dieser Isotope…
Trace detection of plutonium by three-step photoionization with a laser system pumped by a copper vapor laser
1985
Laser photoionization has been used to detect trace amounts of plutonium. A high sensitivity and selectivity has been achieved by applying three-step excitation and ionization of the plutonium atoms with high pulse-repetition rates and additional mass determination by time-of-flight measurements. A laser system was developed which consists of a copper vapor laser pumping three dye lasers simultaneously. Samples containing between 1010 and 1012 atoms of239Pu on Re filaments were measured yielding strong resonance signals with maximum ion count rates of several kHz at a vanishingly low background. A detection efficiency of 10−7 was determined allowing the detection of about 108 plutonium atom…
Separation of plutonium and neptunium species by capillary electrophoresis-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and application to natural gr…
2003
Capillary electrophoresis (CE) was coupled to ICPMS in order to combine the good performance of this separation technique with the high sensitivity of the ICPMS for the analysis of plutonium and neptunium oxidation states. The combination of a fused-silica capillary with a MicroMist AR 30-I-FM02 nebulizer and a Cinnabar small-volume cyclonic spray chamber yielded the best separation results. With this setup, it was possible to separate a model element mixture containing neptunium (NpO2(+)), uranium (UO2(2+)), lanthanum (La3+), and thorium (Th4+) in 1 M acetic acid. The same conditions were also suitable for the separation of various oxidation states of plutonium and neptunium in different a…
Trace analysis of plutonium in environmental samples by resonance ionization mass spectroscopy (RIMS)
1998
Resonance ionization mass spectroscopy (RIMS) is well suited for trace analysis of long-lived radioisotopes in environmental, biological and technical samples. By multiple resonant laser excitation and ionization of the elemental atoms under investigation, an extremely high element selectivity can be achieved. In addition, isotope selectivity is obtained by subsequent mass analysis. The excellent sensitivity results from the large atomic cross-sections in the excitation–ionization process and the good detection efficiency for ions. The element selectivity of RIMS allows a simplified procedure for the chemical preparation of the samples compared to the requirements of thin sources for α-spec…
Ultratrace analysis and isotope ratio measurements of long-lived radioisotopes by resonance ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS).
2003
Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry (RIMS) is a sensitive and selective method for ultratrace analysis of long-lived radioisotopes and isotope ratio measurements. It provides extremely high isobaric suppression and good overall efficiency. The experimental limits of detection are as low as 10(6) atoms per sample and isotopic selectivities of 5x10(12) have been obtained. The widespread potential of RIMS, using different experimental arrangements, is demonstrated for the determination of the radiotoxic isotopes Pu-238 to Pu-244 and Sr-89/Sr-90 in various environmental samples as well as for Ca-41 in nuclear reactor components and biomedical samples.
Resonance ionization mass spectrometry for ultratrace analysis of plutonium with a new solid state laser system
2004
Abstract Resonance ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS) is well-suited for isotope selective ultratrace analysis of long-lived radioactive isotopes due to its high element and isotope selectivity and good sensitivity. For the analysis of plutonium with a pulsed RIMS apparatus, a powerful, reliable and easy to handle Nd:YAG pumped titanium–sapphire laser system has been developed and combined with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Spectroscopic measurements led to an efficient three step excitation and ionization scheme for plutonium with λ1 = 420.76 nm, λ2 = 847.28 nm, and λ3 = 767.53 nm. The isotope shifts in this scheme for the plutonium isotopes 238 Pu through 244 Pu have been determine…
Isotope selective ultratrace analysis of plutonium by resonance ionisation mass spectrometry
2006
Abstract Resonance ionisation mass spectrometry (RIMS) is a sensitive and selective method for isotopically resolved ultratrace analysis of long-lived radionuclides. For the routine analysis of plutonium three titanium–sapphire lasers pumped by a pulsed Nd:YAG laser in combination with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer are used. The detection limit of this system is as low as 106–107 atoms for the plutonium isotopes 238Pu to 244Pu. The RIMS technique was applied to investigate the isotopic composition and the content of plutonium in a depleted uranium penetrator as used during the Balkan conflict delivering important information on the origin of the depleted uranium in this type of ammunit…
Laser resonant ionization of plutonium
1985
Resonance ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS) has been tested for the isotope-selective determination of trace amounts of plutonium. An atomic beam is formed by evaporating plutonium atoms from a rhenium-filament heated to 1800 °C. The radiation of a pulsed dye laser excites the atoms in a two-photon process (λ=595.2 nm) followed by photoionization of the excited atoms. Mass selectivity is obtained by use of a time-of-flight spectrometer. A resonant signal of239Pu was measured with 1013 atoms deposited on the filament.
New measurement of the 242Pu(n,γ) cross section at n_TOF
2016
The use of MOX fuel (mixed-oxide fuel made of UO2 and PuO2 ) in nuclear reactors allows substituting a large fraction of the enriched Uranium by Plutonium reprocessed from spent fuel. With the use of such new fuel composition rich in Pu, a better knowledge of the capture and fission cross sections of the Pu isotopes becomes very important. In particular, a new series of cross section evaluations have been recently carried out jointly by the European (JEFF) and United States (ENDF) nuclear data agencies. For the case of 242 Pu, the two only neutron capture time-of-flight measurements available, from 1973 and 1976, are not consistent with each other, which calls for a new time-of flight captu…
Modeling plutonium sorption to kaolinite: Accounting for redox equilibria and the stability of surface species
2015
Abstract Plutonium with its particularly complex redox chemistry may be thermodynamically stable in the states + III to + VI depending on the redox conditions in the environment. Mineral surfaces can also affect Pu redox speciation. Therefore, the interpretation of Pu sorption data becomes particularly challenging, even for simplified laboratory experiments. The present study focuses on Pu sorption to kaolinite. Am(III), Th(IV), Np(V) and U(VI) literature sorption data are used as analogues for the corresponding Pu redox states to calibrate a simple surface complexation model, and the Nernst formalism is applied. Two independent pH–pe diagrams, one for the kaolinite surface and another for …