Technologies for pre-screening IAEA swipe samples
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
During the course of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections, many samples are taken for the purpose of verifying the declared facility activities and identifying any possible undeclared activities. One of these sampling techniques is the environmental swipe sample. Due to the large number of samples collected, and the amount of time that is required to analyze them, prioritizing these swipes in the field or upon receipt at the Network of Analytical Laboratories (NWAL) will allow sensitive or mission-critical analyses to be performed sooner. As a result of this study, technologies were placed into one of three categories: recommended, promising, or not recommended. Both neutron activation analysis (NAA) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) are recommended for further study and possible field deployment. These techniques performed the best in initial trials for pre-screening and prioritizing IAEA swipes. We learned that for NAA more characterization of cold elements (such as calcium and magnesium) would need to be emphasized, and for XRF it may be appropriate to move towards a benchtop XRF versus a handheld XRF due to the increased range of elements available on benchtop equipment. Promising techniques that will require additional research and development include confocal Raman microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, and infrared (IR) microscopy. These techniques showed substantive responses to uranium compounds, but expensive instrumentation upgrades (confocal Raman) or university engagement (fluorescence microscopy) may be necessary to investigate the utility of the techniques completely. Point-and-shoot (handheld) Raman and attenuated total reflectance–infrared (ATR-IR) measurements are not recommended, as they have not shown enough promise to continue investigations.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) - Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation - Nonproliferation and International Security (NA24)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-06CH11357
- OSTI ID:
- 1240259
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/NE-15/28; 121482; TRN: US1600583
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS
X-RAY FLUORESCENCE ANALYSIS
IAEA SAFEGUARDS
SAMPLING
FLUORESCENCE
OPTIMIZATION
RECOMENDATIONS
CALCIUM
MAGNESIUM
MICROSCOPY
INFRARED RADIATION
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
EQUIPMENT
INSPECTION
IAEA
Safeguards