Accelerator mass spectrometry of actinides and other heavy elements
- Univ. of Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
It has been demonstrated that for measuring rare isotopes such as {sup 14}C and {sup 129}I, accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) has ultra-high isotope ratio sensitivity. This feature of AMS can in principle be extended to include the much heavier isotopes, such as {sup 236}U. The detection of some heavy isotopes, such as {sup 244}Pu, does not requires ultra-high isotope ratio sensitivity, but does require extremely low background, which is achieved in AMS by means of molecular destruction in the Tandem accelerator. Our tests with the IsoTrace heavy-element AMS system have shown promising results. Using the small amount of the following isotopes contained in Cigar Lake uranium ore, {sup 210}Po/{sup 210}Pb, {sup 226}Ra, {sup 230}Th, {sup 231}Pa, {sup 234}U and {sup 236}U were all detected at natural abundances. Similarly, {sup 244}Pu was detected from a charcoal sample with 10{sup 13} {sup 244}Pu atoms attached. This provided clear evidence for the existence of {sup 236}U as a naturally-occurring uranium isotope ({sup 236}U/{sup 238}U = (5.6 {plus_minus} 1.5) x 10{sup -10}), which had not been observed convincingly before.
- OSTI ID:
- 126707
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950402--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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