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Assay methods for 238U, 232Th, and 210Pb in lead and calibration of 210Bi bremsstrahlung emission from lead

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Abstract

Methods for measuring 238U, 232Th, and 210Pb in refined lead are presented. The 238U and 232Th concentrations are determined using isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry after anion exchange column separation of dissolved lead samples. The 210Pb concentration is inferred through α-spectroscopy of a daughter isotope, 210Po, after precipitation separation of dissolved lead samples. Subsequent to the 210Po α-spectroscopy measurement, a method for evaluating 210Pb concentrations was developed via measurement of bremsstrahlung radiation from β-decay of a daughter isotope, 210Bi, using a 14-crystal array of high purity germanium detectors. Ten sources of refined lead were assayed and results are presented.

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Notes

  1. Thank you to K. Rielage (Los Alamos National Laboratory) for the description of the sample provided.

  2. The acknowledgements in Mouchel and Wordel [17], state an old lead sample—presumably the “(d) English monument” of Table 3—is “from the roof of Hampton Court”.

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Acknowledgments

The three radiochemical assay measurements for 238U, 232Th, and 210Po described in this article were supported by the Ultra Sensitive Nuclear Measurements Initiative, conducted under the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, a multiprogram national laboratory operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy. In particular, the LDRD project supporting this assay development effort is presented in Ref. [16], which describes the shielding design of a low-background liquid scintillation counting (LSC) system. In that LSC system the projected background from bremsstrahlung from the lead was the second largest background contributor, assuming a 2-inch thick, inner layer of 3 Bq kg−1 lead surrounded by 60 Bq kg−1 outer lead. From the survey of the ten lots of lead provided by this assay development effort, it was decided to employ a lead shield for the LSC system using three layers of lead having ~2 Bq kg−1 (purchased separately), ~30 Bq kg−1 (lots for samples #2 and #4), and ~70 Bq kg−1 (lot for sample #1), from the inner most layer to the outer most layer, respectively.

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  1. National Security Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, MSIN J4-65, Richland, WA, 99352, USA

    John L. Orrell, Craig E. Aalseth, Isaac J. Arnquist, Tere A. Eggemeyer, Brian D. Glasgow, Eric W. Hoppe, Martin E. Keillor, Shannon M. Morley, Allan W. Myers, Cory T. Overman, Sarah M. Shaff & Kimbrelle S. Thommasson

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  1. John L. Orrell
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Correspondence to John L. Orrell.

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Orrell, J.L., Aalseth, C.E., Arnquist, I.J. et al. Assay methods for 238U, 232Th, and 210Pb in lead and calibration of 210Bi bremsstrahlung emission from lead. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 309, 1271–1281 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-016-4732-6

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