Durable Self-Glowing Crystals as Advanced Materials for Actinide Immobilization

Abstract

AbstractSome crystals doped with radionuclides glow in the dark. Such materials are prospective for certain industrial scale applications. Durable self-glowing crystalline solids, which were initially suggested for development of actinide waste forms, are considered as advanced materials. Well-known durable actinide host phases, such as zircon, xenotime, and monazite are main focus of current research. Single crystal samples of these host phases doped with 239Pu, 238Pu, 241Am and 237Np have been grown by flux methods. It is demonstrated that incorporation of small amounts of non-radioactive elements such as Eu, In and Tb increases the self-glowing intensity. The optimal content of such luminescence ions supporting intensive glowing of 238Pu-doped zircon and xenotime has, at first, been identified by cathodoluminescence study of non-radioactive samples. Subsequently, the results of this study were used to grow intensively glowing crystals of zircon and xenotime doped with 0.01 wt. % and 0.1 wt.% 238Pu, respectively.