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Photon yield of radioluminescense produced by 241Am in weak nitric acid solution

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Abstract

Remote detection of alpha radiation by optical means is a widely accepted alternative to the more traditional detection methods that typically rely on direct contact with the radiation itself. Optical detection operates by collecting the light, the radioluminescence that is produced when alpha particles are being stopped in a medium. Each medium creates radioluminescence with a distinct spectral pattern and intensity. To properly design the detection optics, the radioluminescence’s spectral shape and the number of photons generated per alpha event have to be known. Those properties are well known for some stopping media like air, and remote detection has been successfully implemented. However, the radioluminescence properties for the stopping media nitric acid and water are not well known, which prevents the application of the technique in relevant areas like spent nuclear fuel processing. In this contribution, we determine the light yield of alpha particles emitted by 241Am dissolved in a well characterized weak nitric acid solution. It was found to be 0.31 ± 0.007 photons per alpha event.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to especially thank Adrian Nicholl (JRC-Karlsruhe) for his constant support before, during and after the experiments. This work has partially received funding from the EMPIR programme MetroDECOM II (Grant No. 16ENV09) co-financed by the Participating States and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The work is part of the Academy of Finland Flagship Programme, Photonics Research and Innovation (PREIN), decision 320165. The experimental data used in this research were generated through access to the ActUsLab/PAMEC under the Framework of access to the Joint Research Centre Physical Research Infrastructures of the European Commission (" Remote detection of radioluminescence from alpha activity”, AUL-2017-20-207).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), 76125, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Rikard Malmbeck, Nidhu lal Banik & Zsolt Sóti

  2. Photonics Laboratory, Physics Unit, Tampere University, P.O. Box 692, 33101, Tampere, Finland

    Thomas Kerst

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  1. Rikard Malmbeck
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  2. Nidhu lal Banik
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  3. Thomas Kerst
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  4. Zsolt Sóti
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Correspondence to Nidhu lal Banik.

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Malmbeck, R., Banik, N.l., Kerst, T. et al. Photon yield of radioluminescense produced by 241Am in weak nitric acid solution. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 328, 869–878 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-021-07703-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-021-07703-1

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