Determination of 239Pu and 240Pu isotope ratio for a nuclear bomb particle using X-ray spectrometry in conjunction with γ-ray spectrometry and non-destructive α-particle spectrometry
✍ Scribed by R. Pöllänen; K. Ruotsalainen; H. Toivonen
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 2009
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 334 KB
- Volume
- 610
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0168-9002
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✦ Synopsis
A nuclear bomb particle from Thule containing Pu and U was analyzed using X-ray spectrometry in combination with g-ray spectrometry and non-destructive a-spectrometry. The main objective was to investigate the possibility to determine the 239 Pu and 240 Pu isotope ratios. Previously, X-ray spectrometry together with the above-mentioned methods has been successfully applied for radiochemically processed samples, but not for individual particles. In the present paper we demonstrate the power of non-destructive analysis. The 239 Pu/( 239 Pu+ 240 Pu) atom ratio for the Thule particle was determined, using two different approaches, to be 0.93 70.07 and 0.917 0.05. These results are consistent with weapons-grade material and the results obtained by other investigators.