Preparation of Radio-Sm by Neutron Activation for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry
Abstract
Field measurement of isotopic ratios may be used to fingerprint an element's origin, be it from commercial power, industrial, medical or historical weapons fallout. Samples of samarium radionuclides were prepared by neutron activation for subsequent analysis using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). High purity samarium (III) oxide powder was irradiated in the University of Texas at Austin TRIGA reactor to a total neutron fluence of 5 x 1015 cm-2. An initial determination of the isotopic ratios was made using activation calculations with a BURN card in an MCNPX-based model of the TRIGA core. Experimental validation of the MCNP results was achieved by analyzing gamma spectra of the irradiated oxide powers after irradiation. Subsequent measurement of 151Sm will be conducted at the CAMS facility at LLNL demonstrating the first measurement of this isotope at this facility.
Recommended Citation
J. T. Graham et al., "Preparation of Radio-Sm by Neutron Activation for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry," Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, vol. 296, no. 1, pp. 233 - 236, Springer Verlag, Apr 2013.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-012-1953-1
Department(s)
Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science
Keywords and Phrases
Isotope; Nuclear fuel; Radioisotope; Samarium; Chemical reaction; Conference paper; Electron accelerator; Gamma Spectrometry; Irradiation; Limit of detection; Mass spectrometry; Neutron activation analysis; United States; Validation process; AMS; BURN; Neutron activation; Nuclear forensics; Sm
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
0236-5731; 1588-2780
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2012 Akademiai Kiado, Budapest, Hungary, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Apr 2013
Comments
The authors would like to thank Department of Defense Threat Reduction Agency Grant #HDTRA1-08-1-0032 for support of this work. In addition, the authors appreciate the staff at the Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin for operational and experimental support. This work was performed in part under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.