Characterization of radioactive particles from the Dounreay nuclear reprocessing facility

Byrnes, Ian; Lind, Ole Christian; Hansen, Elisabeth Lindbo; Janssens, Koen; Salbu, Brit

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138488

Cited by 15 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Scanning (tunneling) electron microscopy SEM (or STEM), combined with density information provided by back-scattered electrons (BSE), are the primary methods of imaging hot particles and characterizing their surface morphology [7,12,13]. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) can be combined with these techniques to identify major components of a particle.…”

Section: Hot Particle Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The sensitivity of EDS however is limited, which means minor elements such as Pu or even Cs can remain unidentified. For a more sensitive and quantitative element map, micro or nano X-ray flourescence (XRF) can be used [12,13]. Such methods are powerful tools for measuring very small or heterogenous particles, but lack essential isotopic information.…”

Section: Hot Particle Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mass spectrometry enables ultra-trace analysis for both active and inactive isotopes. Though highly sensitive, inductively coupled plasma (ICP-MS) requires the sacrifice (dissolution) of a hot particle for analysis [13], and may require extensive chemical preparation to remove environmental and isobaric interference [21]. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), allows spatially resolved measurement of a solid sample (less than EDS, but far more sensitive).…”

Section: Hot Particle Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following the categorization of Kashparov, the visual attributes of the particles could be indicative of their formation in the accident, and consequently relate to their rate of dissolution in the environment [7]. A full analysis of the reactivity with the environment would require a detailed analysis of the oxidation state, which requires X-ray spectroscopy techniques such as X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES), as studied for uranium in Dounreay particles [13] or extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), as [29,48,49]. For rL-SNMS two lasers were used.…”

Section: Semmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Multi-Element Isotopic Analysis of Hot Particles from Chornobyl

Eerten¹,

Raiwa²,

Hanemann³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Section: Hot Particle Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Hot Particle Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Hot Particle Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Semmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Multi-Element Isotopic Analysis of Hot Particles from Chornobyl

Eerten¹,

Raiwa²,

Hanemann³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…An entirely different source of hot particles, also referred to as discrete radioactive particles, is corrosion of neutron irradiated steel in normal nuclear reactor operation [22] as well as fuel reprocessing [23]. The presence of hot particles in potential dirty bomb explosions has been described [24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monte Carlo Simulation Study of Hot-Particle Detection in Voluminous Samples by Gamma Spectrometry

Chu¹,

Burn²,

Bradt³

et al. 2021

JAMP

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In this work, we addressed the inhomogeneity problem in gamma spectrometry caused by hot particles, which are dispersed into environment from large nuclear reactor accidents such as at Chernobyl and Fukushima. Using Monte Carlo simulation, we have determined the response of a gamma spectrometer to individual and grouped hot particles randomly distributed in a soil matrix of 1-L and 0.6-L sample containers. By exploring the fact that the peak-to-total ratio of efficiencies in gamma spectrometry is an empirical parameter, we derived and verified a power-law relationship between the peak efficiency and peak-to-total ratio. This enabled creation of a novel calibration model which was demonstrated to reduce the bias range and bias standard deviation, caused by measuring hot particles, by several times, as compared with the homogeneous calibration. The new model is independent of the number, location, and distribution of hot particles in the samples. In this work, we demonstrated successful performance of the model for a single-peak 137 Cs radionuclide. An extension to multi-peak radionuclide was also derived.

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An introduction to the significance of sample size in particle analyses for nuclear forensics and radiological investigations

Inglis

Samperton

Reinhard

et al. 2023

J Radioanal Nucl Chem

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Particulate isotopic analysis in nuclear forensics has developed rapidly during the past two decades due to technical advances in determining the isotopic composition of individual particles. This paper introduces basic statistical concepts that can be applied by analysts to understand the importance of statistical adequacy when interpretating particle data. While these basic statistical methods provide a useful point-of-entry to particle data analysis, more sophisticated statistical and modeling approaches are needed to extract maximal information from such datasets in the future.

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Characterization of radioactive particles from the Dounreay nuclear reprocessing facility

Cited by 15 publications

References 35 publications

Multi-Element Isotopic Analysis of Hot Particles from Chornobyl

Multi-Element Isotopic Analysis of Hot Particles from Chornobyl

Monte Carlo Simulation Study of Hot-Particle Detection in Voluminous Samples by Gamma Spectrometry

An introduction to the significance of sample size in particle analyses for nuclear forensics and radiological investigations

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