AMS of the Minor Plutonium Isotopes

Steier, Peter; Hrnecek, E.; Priller, Alfred; Quinto, F.; Srncik, M.; Wallner, A.; Wallner, Gabriele; Winkler, Stephan

doi:10.1016/j.nimb.2012.06.017

Cited by 29 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Similar values were found for other heavy ions [25] and also for a series of U and Pu runs for neutron capture cross section measurements of U and Th [26].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Stable platinum isotope measurements in presolar nanodiamonds by TEAMS

Wallner

Melber

Merchel

et al. 2013

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B:

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Nanodiamonds are stardust grains commonly found in primitive meteorites. They survived the formation of the solar system and kept their own individuality. Measurements of trace-element isotopic signatures in these grains will help understanding heavy element nucleosynthesis in massive stars and dust formation from their ejecta. We have continued previous attempts to search for stable Pt isotope anomalies in nanodiamonds via trace element accelerator mass spectrometry (TEAMS). The installation of a new injector beam line at the VERA facility allowed studying low traces of stable elements in different materials. Moreover, recent experiments showed that VERA provides the required measurement precision together with a low Pt machine background. Here, we observed for the first time an indication for enhancements of 198Pt/195Pt isotope ratios in two diamond residues prepared by different chemical separation techniques from the Allende meteorite. Variations in other isotopic ratios were within analytical uncertainty, and no anomaly was identified in a third diamond fraction.

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“…Similar values were found for other heavy ions [25] and also for a series of U and Pu runs for neutron capture cross section measurements of U and Th [26].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Stable platinum isotope measurements in presolar nanodiamonds by TEAMS

Wallner

Melber

Merchel

et al. 2013

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B:

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“…The 233 U/ 236 U atom ratio was determined in seven samples from different depths of a sediment core (3-47 cm) from the Irish Sea which was collected by the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency, Germany. Previous work suggests that the core showed no good stratigraphy 14,56 but was probably mixed by environmental reworking. The 236 U/ 238 U ratios determined in the sediment samples ranged from 1.35Á10 À5 to 4.36Á10 À5 and thus, were considerably elevated compared with natural background (10 À14 -10 À1012 ) or global fallout (% 5Á10 À811 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Later emissions originated from the reprocessing of spent fuel from thermal Nuclear Power Plants showed 240 Pu/ 239 Pu ratios higher than 0.20 21 . Dating of the sediment core using its 241 Pu content resulted in a maximum age of 34.0 ± 0.4 years before 2010 56 and, therefore, an isotopic signature of high burn-up fuel from NPPs was expected. This has been confirmed by the high 240 Pu/ 239 Pu ratios ranging from 0.20 to 0.33 detected in the sediment core 14 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

233U/236U signature allows to distinguish environmental emissions of civil nuclear industry from weapons fallout

et al. 2020

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Isotopic ratios of radioactive releases into the environment are useful signatures for contamination source assessment. Uranium is known to behave conservatively in sea water so that a ratio of uranium trace isotopes may serve as a superior oceanographic tracer. Here we present data on the atomic 233 U/ 236 U ratio analyzed in representative environmental samples finding ratios of (0.1-3.7)Á10 À2 . The ratios detected in compartments of the environment affected by releases of nuclear power production or by weapons fallout differ by one order of magnitude. Significant amounts of 233 U were only released in nuclear weapons fallout, either produced by fast neutron reactions or directly by 233 U-fueled devices. This makes the 233 U/ 236 U ratio a promising new fingerprint for radioactive emissions. Our findings indicate a higher release of 233 U by nuclear weapons tests before the maximum of global fallout in 1963, setting constraints on the design of the nuclear weapons employed.

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“…For this reason, the amount of Fe was limited to a maximum of 1.5 or 2 mg per sample, due to restrictions of the available accelerator beam time that is finally related to the detection efficiency. 27 In our method, therefore, a compromise had to be found between the minimum concentration of Fe which would allow an efficient coprecipitation of the actinides and the maximum amount of Fe that would not cause a too long measuring time.…”

Section: ■ Experimental Sectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry of Actinides in Ground- and Seawater: An Innovative Method Allowing for the Simultaneous Analysis of U, Np, Pu, Am, and Cm Isotopes below ppq Levels

et al. 2015

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(236)U, (237)Np, and Pu isotopes and (243)Am were determined in ground- and seawater samples at levels below ppq (fg/g) with a maximum sample size of 250 g. Such high sensitivity was possible by using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) at the Vienna Environmental Research Accelerator (VERA) with extreme selectivity and recently improved efficiency and a significantly simplified separation chemistry. The use of nonisotopic tracers was investigated in order to allow for the determination of (237)Np and (243)Am, for which isotopic tracers either are rarely available or suffer from various isobaric mass interferences. In the present study, actinides were concentrated from the sample matrix via iron hydroxide coprecipitation and measured sequentially without previous chemical separation from each other. The analytical method was validated by the analysis of the Reference Material IAEA 443 and was applied to groundwater samples from the Colloid Formation and Migration (CFM) project at the deep underground rock laboratory of the Grimsel Test Site (GTS) and to natural water samples affected solely by global fallout. While the precision of the presented analytical method is somewhat limited by the use of nonisotopic spikes, the sensitivity allows for the determination of ∼10(5) atoms in a sample. This provides, e.g., the capability to study the long-term release and retention of actinide tracers in field experiments as well as the transport of actinides in a variety of environmental systems by tracing contamination from global fallout.

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AMS of the Minor Plutonium Isotopes

Cited by 29 publications

References 20 publications

Stable platinum isotope measurements in presolar nanodiamonds by TEAMS

Stable platinum isotope measurements in presolar nanodiamonds by TEAMS

233U/236U signature allows to distinguish environmental emissions of civil nuclear industry from weapons fallout

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry of Actinides in Ground- and Seawater: An Innovative Method Allowing for the Simultaneous Analysis of U, Np, Pu, Am, and Cm Isotopes below ppq Levels

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