An enhanced characterization process for the elimination of very low level radioactive waste in particle accelerators

Frosio, Thomas; Bertreix, Philippe; Magistris, M. de; Menaa, N.; Michaud, Régis; Rimlinger, Maeva; Theis, Chris; Ulrici, L.; Zaffora, Biagio

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109312

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…This is very surprising because it is the only isotope across the chart of nuclei produced by neutron activation of a stable isotope, where the decay properties are so vaguely known. The main source of 93 Mo is the neutron capture of 92 Mo in molybdenum rich materials, typically steel, Iconel alloys or cables used for constructions within nuclear power plants 10 – 12 . Molybdenum is also a potential material for nuclear fusion devices where high neutron fluxes unavoidably lead to the production of 93 Mo as one of the main long-lived radioactive products 13 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First direct determination of the 93Mo half-life

Kajan

Heinitz

Kossert

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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This work presents the first direct measurement of the 93Mo half-life. The measurement is a combination of high-resolution mass spectrometry for the determination of the 93Mo concentration and liquid scintillation counting for determining the specific activity. A 93Mo sample of high purity was obtained from proton irradiated niobium by chemical separation of molybdenum with a decontamination factor larger than 1.6 × 1014 with respect to Nb. The half-life of 93Mo was deduced to be 4839(63) years, which is more than 20% longer than the currently adopted value, whereas the relative uncertainty could be reduced by a factor of 15. The probability that the 93Mo decays to the metastable state 93mNb was determined to be 95.7(16)%. This value is a factor of 8 more precise than previous estimations. Due to the man-made production of 93Mo in nuclear facilities, the result leads to significantly increased precision for modelling the low-level nuclear waste composition. The presented work demonstrates the importance of chemical separations in combination with state-of-the-art analysis techniques, which are inevitable for precise and accurate determinations of nuclear decay data.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%