Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy of Plutonium Particles in Hanford Tanks 241-TX-118 and 241-SY-102
This is a report on the effort to characterize discrete plutonium (Pu) particles from Hanford wastes, 241-SY-102 and 241-TX-118. Excess plutonium-bearing materials were added to tanks SY-102 and TX-118 from the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP). These have been previously characterized with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) by Reynolds and co-workers. Their SEM observations were confirmed in this study with SEM where the particles in 241-SY-102 and 241-TX-118 were 5 to 20 µm in length with a variable composition containing plutonium, bismuth, and phosphorus. In this investigation, the plutonium particles were extracted from surface mounts using the SEM-Focused Ion Beam (FIB) and prepared for Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) and Atom Probe Tomography (APT). This was the first time that high resolution STEM methods and APT have been applied to plutonium wastes from the Hanford tanks. The STEM analysis of 241-SY-102 indicated a complex co-precipitation of plutonium oxide with bismuth and phosphate. Diffraction and imaging partially matched with a plutonium oxide phase. There were both crystalline and amorphous plutonium oxide (PuO2) associated with bismuth, phosphate, and iron. Nano-precipitates of iron, chromium, and bismuth were observed within the plutonium oxide in some particles, suggesting that these phases formed at the same time. The STEM analysis of 241-TX-118 indicated that the plutonium particles were a mixed bismuth-phosphate phase and plutonium oxide.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1646991
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-29553; TRN: US2202108
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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