High resolution alpha-particle spectrometry for the determination of 240Pu/239Pu atom ratio in Pu samples from PHWR

Alpha-particle spectrometry for the determination of alpha emitting isotopes in nuclear, environmental and biological samples: past, present and future

“…240 Pu/ 239 Pu which is an important parameter indicating the source of Pu contamination. 82,[120][121][122][123] This is because the 240 Pu/ 239 Pu atom ratio depends on many factors including the burn-up of the irradiated fuel, type of reactor, etc., and its value in the atmospheric fall out has been experimentally determined at several laboratories. HRAS on electrodeposited sources was used to determine 240 Pu/ 239 Pu isotope amount ratios in Pu samples, and using WinALPHA for deconvolution of the a-spectrum.…”

“…The results obtained were compared with those from TIMS, and the data agreed within 1% by the two analytical techniques. 122,123 Uranium isotopes in irradiated thorium dioxide sample were also determined with the WinALPHA deconvolution algorithm. 124 Another soware package ADAM along with AASI was also used to resolve 240 Pu and 239 Pu peaks in a-spectrometry for a variety of samples with widely varying activity ratios.…”

A proposed numerical method for absolute efficiency calibration of α-spectrometers and its application for activity calculation

“…It covers almost all α -emitting nuclides with long half-lives relative to the sample preparation time [1] . Within the field of NSGs α -spectrometry may well be used for nuclear materials (U, Pu, and Th) characterization and verification including, the determination of uranium and plutonium isotopic ratios, and isotopic mass and activity [2] , [3] , [4] , [5] .…”

Measurement of the 240Pu/239Pu Mass Ratio Using a Transition-Edge-Sensor Microcalorimeter for Total Decay Energy Spectroscopy

“…α-Spectroscopy is simple and inexpensive, but sample preparation requires electrodeposition or other methods to achieve thin deposits with minimal energy absorption in the source, and the best silicon detector energy resolution [10 keV fwhm (full width at half-maximum) at 5.5 MeV 7 ] is insufficient to resolve closely spaced α-particle line energies, requiring considerable spectral deconvolution. 8,9 A new approach described here overcomes many of the drawbacks of conventional analysis methods. We use a superconducting transition-edge-sensor (TES) 10 with an attached gold foil to absorb the decay radiation.…”

“…Mass spectrometry is a highly capable method, but one must consider the instrument complexity, cost, and sample preparation requirements. α-Spectroscopy is simple and inexpensive, but sample preparation requires electrodeposition or other methods to achieve thin deposits with minimal energy absorption in the source, and the best silicon detector energy resolution [10 keV fwhm (full width at half-maximum) at 5.5 MeV] is insufficient to resolve closely spaced α-particle line energies, requiring considerable spectral deconvolution. , …”