Tuesday, 6 September 2005 - 9:10 AM

This presentation is part of: Nuclear Chemistry, Isotope Forensics and Nonproliferation

Actinide measurements on a compact accelerator mass spectrometry system

Lukas Wacker1, Elena Chamizo2, Susanne Olivier3, Martin Stocker1, Hans-Arno Synal1, and Martin Suter1. (1) Institute of Particle Physics, ETH Zurich, Hoenggerberg, HPK H25 ETH Hönggerberg, Schafmattstrasse 20, Zurich, 8093, Switzerland, (2) Departamento de Física Atómica Molecular y Nuclear, Universidad de Sevilla, Apdo. 1065, Seville, Spain, (3) Department for Chemistry und Biochemistry, University of Berne, Freiestrasse 3, Berne, Switzerland

For the last 4 years we have systematically investigated our compact AMS system working at 300 kV for its potential to measure heavy radioisotopes. It is now possible to measure actinides routinely with an automated system.

The instrument shows an excellent detection limit of less than 1 fg for 239Pu and for 240Pu isotopes and a higher efficiency than other mass spectrometers. Even the measurement of 236U/238U seems feasible at the level present in natural uranium ore.

We have measured a record of Pu isotopes in a dated alpine ice core to demonstrate the performance of our instrument. We will discuss the results and its consequences for a compact AMS system optimised for actinides. Improvements are still possible making this instrument an affordable tool for the future to measure nuclides of actinides without molecular interferences.


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See more of The 10th International Conference on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (September 5-10, 2005)