DETECTION OF TRACE AMOUNTS OF TRANSURANICS BY RESONANCE IONIZATION SPECTROSCOPY OF NOBLE GASES.

L. A. Franks, H. M. Borella, M. R. Cates, G. S. Hurst, M. G. Payne

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

An application of resonance ionization spectroscopy to transuranic waste assay is described that provides detection limits at or below the 10 nCi g** minus **1 level. The technique involves the resonance ionization of noble gas isotopes produced by either photon or neutron-induced fission. Using moderate photon or thermal neutron fluxes, it is shown that 10 nCi g** minus **1 concentrations of **2**3**9Pu and **2**3**3U can be detected in a single pulse of a commercially available Nd:YAG laser by detecting Xe atoms among the fission products. Using a novel counting scheme wherein the total xenon population is utilized, even a low fission cross-section transuranic such as **2**4**1Am can be detected at the 10 nCi g** minus **1 level. Interferences associated with the multiphoton, off-resonance ionization of impurities are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)317-322
Number of pages6
JournalNuclear instruments and methods
Volume173
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1980

Scopus Subject Areas

  • General Medicine

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