Analysis of tritium and /sup 3/He tracks using a mass spectrometer and proportional counter
Tritium (T) is incorporated in materials stored in the presence of a background tritium source, and the same is true for /sup 3/He, which is produced from tritium by ..beta.. decay. The processes responsible for sample contamination are elucidated. Measurements of /sup 3/He and /sup 4/He using a magnetic resonance mass spectrometer and a T-proportional counter revealed that dust particles carrying tritium (T) and /sup 3/He are the cause of the contamination. When tritium is presented in the laboratory as a component of gaseous molecules, almost all of the tritium adheres to the large, exposed surface of the dust particles and remains there for extended periods. The concentration of T and /sup 3/He in dust particles is measured, and it is established that the rate of helium-3 evolution during dynamic annealing is a maximum at 250 /sup 0/C, which is much less than the temperatures at which /sup 3/He is evolved for other typical naturally occurring samples. The /sup 3/He evolution curve thus gives information regarding the level of contamination by T/sup -/ and /sup 3/He-bearing dust particles. It is also established that /sup 3/He is retained longer in dust particles than T, so that tritium leakage into the laboratory over extended periods of time can be detected by measuring the /sup 3/He concentration or the ratio /sup 3/He//sup 4/He.
- Research Organization:
- A. F. Ioffe Physicotechnical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad
- OSTI ID:
- 5335325
- Journal Information:
- Sov. Phys. - Tech. Phys. (Engl. Transl.); (United States), Vol. 28:6
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
DUSTS
CONTAMINATION
SORPTIVE PROPERTIES
HELIUM 3
ADSORPTION
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
QUANTITY RATIO
TRITIUM
ANNEALING
LEAKS
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
HEAT TREATMENTS
HELIUM ISOTOPES
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
RADIOISOTOPES
SORPTION
SPECTROSCOPY
STABLE ISOTOPES
SURFACE PROPERTIES
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