Radiochemical measurement of 237Np in a solution of mixed radionuclides: Experiences in chemical separation and alpha-spectrometry

  • J. La Rosa
  • I. Outola
  • E. Crawford
  • S. Nour
  • H. Kurosaki
  • K. Inn
Application of Nuclear Techniques to Nuclear Waste Management
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Abstract

A radiochemical procedure is described for the measurement of 0.1 Bq 237Np in a solution containing similar activity concentrations of Th, U, Pu and Am as well as activity concentrations of 60Co, 90Sr and 137Cs one hundred times higher. A tracer of 239Np (milked from 243Am) was used as an isotopic spike for chemical yield determination. The relationship between gamma-counting geometries for ampoule (liquid) and NdF3 (solid) 239Np sources was established so that Np chemical yields could be measured by a comparative method. Efficiencies of alpha-spectrometers for 237Np in NdF3 sources were measured by a bootstrap technique. Two sets of experiments were designed and used to test out the procedure.

Keywords

237Np Efficiency Calibration Radiochemical Separation Procedure Radiochemical Measurement Gravimetric Dilution 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. 2008

Authors and Affiliations

  • J. La Rosa
    • 1
  • I. Outola
    • 1
  • E. Crawford
    • 2
  • S. Nour
    • 1
  • H. Kurosaki
    • 1
  • K. Inn
    • 1
  1. 1.National Institute of Standards and TechnologyGaithersburgUSA
  2. 2.Colorado State UniversityFort CollinsUSA

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