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Comparison of techniques to localise U-bearing particles in environmental samples

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Abstract

This publication shows results of a comparison of three techniques for localising radioactive, and U-bearing particles in contrasted samples. Particles are localised by the means of three methods: (1) Fission Tracks (FT), (2) Imaging Plate (IP), and (3) real time autoradiography (BeaQuant®). These techniques were applied to various samples, including a sediment sampled in the vicinity of the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) and a sample made of pure U oxide particles. In addition, the efficiency of the combination of two methods (FT and IP) to localise specifically anthropogenic U-bearing particles was tested.

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Acknowledgements

Aurélie Diacre received a PhD fellowship from CEA (Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, France). Sample collection was supported by MITATE Lab (CNRS International Research Project) and AMORAD projects (Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir en Radioprotection et Sûreté Nucléaire, grant no. ANR-11-RSNR-0002). The Ai4R company staff is also acknowledged for the time invested in the current project, including that for optimising acquisitions in α mode and data post-processing. The authors are also grateful to Gabriel Lambrot for the theoretical analysis and Hugues Haedrich for his help to select the different experimental methods.

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Direction des applications militaires.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Commissariat À L’Energie Atomique Et aux Énergies Alternatives (CEA, DAM, DIF), 91297, Arpajon, France

    Aurélie Diacre, Anne-Laure Fauré, Olivier Marie, Michaël Susset & Fabien Pointurier

  2. Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (LSCE/IPSL), Unité Mixte de Recherche 8212 (CEA/CNRS/UVSQ), Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    Aurélie Diacre & Olivier Evrard

  3. Des-Service d’Etudes Analytiques et de Réactivité des Surfaces (SEARS), CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    Pascal Fichet

  4. UMR CNRS 7285 IC2MP / HYDRASA, Université de Poitiers, rue Michel Brunet, 86022, Poitiers Cedex, France

    Paul Sardini

  5. Ai4r, 2 Rue Alfred Kastler, 44307, Nantes, France

    Jérôme Donnard

  6. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 153-8902, Japan

    Katsumi Shozugawa, Mayumi Hori & Takizawa Tsutomu

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  1. Aurélie Diacre
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  2. Pascal Fichet
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  3. Paul Sardini
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Correspondence to Aurélie Diacre.

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Diacre, A., Fichet, P., Sardini, P. et al. Comparison of techniques to localise U-bearing particles in environmental samples. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 331, 1701–1714 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08229-w

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