Estimation of Plutonium-240 Mass in Waste Tanks Using Ultra-Sensitive Detection of Radioactive Xenon Isotopes from Spontaneous Fission

Technical Report · Wed May 24 00:00:00 EDT 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1413393· OSTI ID:1413393

Bowyer, Theodore W. ^[1]; Gesh, Christopher J. ^[1]; Haas, Daniel A. ^[1]; Hayes, James C. ^[1]; Johns, Jesse M. ^[1]; Lukins, Craig D. ^[1]; Mahoney, Lenna A. ^[1]; Meacham, Joseph E. ^[1]; Mendoza, Donaldo P. ^[1]; Olsen, Khris B. ^[1]; Prinke, Amanda M. ^[1]; Reid, Bruce D. ^[1]; Sevigny, Gary J. ^[1]; Sinkov, Sergey I. ^[1]; Woods, Vincent T. ^[1]

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1. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

This report details efforts to develop a technique which is able to detect and quantify the mass of ²⁴⁰Pu in waste storage tanks and other enclosed spaces. If the isotopic ratios of the plutonium contained in the enclosed space is also known, then this technique is capable of estimating the total mass of the plutonium without physical sample retrieval and radiochemical analysis of hazardous material. Results utilizing this technique are reported for a Hanford Site waste tank (TX-118) and a well-characterized plutonium sample in a laboratory environment.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1413393
• Report Number(s): PNNL-26495; DN4003020
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES