Zr/Nb isobar separation experiment for future 93Zr AMS measurement

Lu, Wenting; Anderson, T.; Bowers, Matthew T.; Bauder, W.; Collon, P.; Kutschera, W.; Kashiv, Y.; Lachner, Johannes; Martschini, Martin; Ostdiek, Karen; Robertson, Daniel; Schmitt, C.; Skulski, Michael; Steier, Peter

doi:10.1016/j.nimb.2015.01.071

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Various sample materials were investigated for 93 Nb background event rates and to test the chemical Nb reduction based on procedures described in [26,31,32]. An overview of the sample materials and the metallic binders employed is given in Table 1.…”

Section: Experimental Methods At the Anumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some ZrO2 material (α-blank and ATI-Zr-nat-C) was chemically pretreated according to the procedure described in section 2.1.1. In addition we also investigated ZrO2 samples provided by the AMS group of the University of Notre Dame which underwent chemical pretreatment as described in [26] at their laboratory.…”

Section: Sample Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first approach is based on [26,31]. Briefly, the samples were dissolved in 1-2 drops of 48% HF and then taken up in HCl in order to obtain a 9M HCl-0.05M HF solution.…”

Section: Chemical Sample Preparationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the 11 MV FN Tandem accelerator of the Nuclear Science Laboratory in Notre Dame a GFM in combination with a parallel grid avalanche counter and a multi-anodeionization chamber were used for 93 Zr measurements. Under optimal conditions this facility estimates a 93 Zr/Zr sensitivity limit of ~10 -10 at ion energies of ~155 MeV [24][25][26]. In contrast to the 11-14 MeV facilities and based on test measurements performed with the stable isotopes 94 Mo (Z = 42), 93 Nb (Z = 41) and 92,94 Zr (Z = 40) with energies of 28 MeV, Martschini et al…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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93Zr developments at the Heavy Ion Accelerator Facility at ANU

Pavetich

Carey

Fifield

et al. 2019

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B:

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The long-lived radionuclide 93 Zr t1/2 = (1.61±0.05) Ma plays an important role in nuclear astrophysics and nuclear technology. In stellar environments, it is mainly produced by neutron capture on the stable nuclide 92 Zr. On Earth high amounts of radioactive 93 Zr are produced in nuclear power plants directly from 235 U fission, but also by neutron capture on 92 Zr, as Zr-alloys are commonly used as cladding for nuclear fuel rods.Despite its importance, the neutron capture cross section of 92 Zr at thermal and stellar energies (keV) is not well known. Neutron irradiation of 92 Zr and subsequent determination of produced 93 Zr via AMS is a promising approach to resolve this issue. The main challenge in AMS measurements of 93 Zr is the interference from the stable isobar 93 Nb. The high particle energies available with the 14UD tandem accelerator at the Australian National University are ideal to tackle this challenge. Different sample materials, molecular ion species and sample holder materials were tested for their 93 Nb background. Commercial ZrO2 powder irradiated with thermal neutrons from the reactor at the Atominstitut in Vienna (ATI) was used as reference material for AMS measurements. In contrast to literature reports and γ-activity measurements of 95 Nb, which suggest that chemical Nb reduction works, elevated 93 Nb contents were measured in chemically pre-treated samples. The reasons are under investigation. At the ANU we developed AMS for ~210 MeV 93 Zr ions using an 8 anode ionisation chamber. We achieved background levels of 93 A/Zr~10 -12 with acceptance of 2 to 8% of the 93 Zr ions at the high-energy side. This is more than an order of magnitude better than previously reported. The 93 Nb isobar was suppressed by a factor between 13,000 and 90,000 in the detector.This performance allows measurements of the thermal and stellar neutron-capture cross section of 92 Zr for samples irradiated at the ATI and the Soreq Applied Research Accelerator Facility, respectively, using AMS.

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Section: Experimental Methods At the Anumentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sample Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first approach is based on [26,31]. Briefly, the samples were dissolved in 1-2 drops of 48% HF and then taken up in HCl in order to obtain a 9M HCl-0.05M HF solution.…”

Section: Chemical Sample Preparationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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93Zr developments at the Heavy Ion Accelerator Facility at ANU

Pavetich

Carey

Fifield

et al. 2019

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B:

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“…In this example only 58.5% of the counts at m/z = 93 can be interpreted as 93 Zr. Assuming the Nb/Zr "reduction factor" being 1000 [24], the ratio is 14.1, and 93.4% of the counts correspond to 93 Table 3.…”

Section: Separation Of 93 Zr From Nb Dfs Of Nbmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determination of 93Zr in nuclear power plant wastes

Osváth

Vajda²,

Molnár³

et al. 2017

J Radioanal Nucl Chem

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