Treatise on the measurement of radioactive argon in the atmosphere. Master's thesis
A study was carried out to determine the feasibility of using 37Ar and/or 39Ar activity measurements from remote atmospheric samples for monitoring the possible venting of radionuclides from underground nuclear explosions. The study was broken into two parts; 1) a study of the processes for extracting and purifying argon from the remote air samples, and 2) an investigation of the use of mass spectrometry and low-level counting techniques for measuring 37Ar and 39Ar in the purified argon samples. Argon can be extracted from air using a combination of gas-solid chemical reactions and low-temperature gas chromatography. It was found that mass spectrometry cannot be used to measure 39Ar in the atmosphere. At present, low-level internal gas proportional counting is the only feasible means for measuring atmospheric levels of 37Ar and 39Ar. It is concluded that it is not currently feasible to use 37Ar or 39Ar measurements for monitoring purposes. Further studies are needed on radioargon production sources and release rates into the atmosphere.
- Research Organization:
- Air Force Inst. of Tech., Wright-Patterson AFB, OH (USA). School of Engineering
- OSTI ID:
- 7058759
- Report Number(s):
- AD-A-172525/8/XAB; AFIT/GNE/PH-84M-13
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ARGON 37
ARGON 39
NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS
RADIOACTIVITY
ARGON
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
GASES
LOW TEMPERATURE
MONITORING
PRODUCTION
PURIFICATION
SAMPLING
SOLIDS
UNDERGROUND EXPLOSIONS
ARGON ISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHROMATOGRAPHY
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
ELEMENTS
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
EXPLOSIONS
FLUIDS
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
NONMETALS
NUCLEI
RADIOISOTOPES
RARE GASES
SEPARATION PROCESSES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
450202* - Explosions & Explosives- Nuclear- Weaponry- (-1989)
500300 - Environment
Atmospheric- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)