Detection limits for actinides in a monochromatic, wavelength-dispersive x-ray fluorescence instrument
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
Recent developments in x-ray optics have made it possible to examine the L x-rays of actinides using doubly-curved crystals in a bench-top device. A doubly-curved crystal (DCC) acts as a focusing monochromatic filter for polychromatic x-rays. A Monochromatic, Wavelength-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (MWDXRF) instrument that uses DCCs to measure Cm and Pu in reprocessing plant liquors was proposed in 2007 by the authors at Los Alamos National Laboratory. A prototype design of this MWDXRF instrument was developed in collaboration with X-ray Optical Systems Inc. (XOS), of East Greenbush, New York. In the MWDXRF instrument, x-rays from a Rhodium-anode x-ray tube are passed through a primary DCC to produce a monochromatic beam of 20.2-keV photons. This beam is focused on a specimen that may contain actinides. The 20.2-keV interrogating beam is just above the L3 edge of Californium; each actinide (with Z = 90 to 98) present in the specimen emits characteristic L x-rays as the result of L3-shell vacancies. In the LANL-XOS prototype MWDXRf, these x-rays enter a secondary DCC optic that preferentially passes 14.961-keV photons, corresponding to the L-alpha-1 x-ray peak of Curium. In the present stage of experimentation, Curium-bearing specimens have not been analyzed with the prototype MWDXRF instrument. Surrogate materials for Curium include Rubidium, which has a K-beta-l x-ray at 14.961 keV, and Yttrium, which has a K-alpha-1 x-ray at 14.958 keV. In this paper, the lower limit of detection for Curium in the LANL-XOS prototype MWDXRF instrument is estimated. The basis for this estimate is described, including a description of computational models and benchmarking techniques used. Detection limits for other actinides are considered, as well as future safeguards applications for MWDXRF instrumentation.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396
- OSTI ID:
- 990778
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-09-04391; LA-UR-09-4391; TRN: US1007391
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Institute of Nuclear Materials Management 50th Annual Meeting ; July 12, 2009 ; Tucson, AZ
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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