Isobar suppression in accelerator mass spectrometry by the detection of characteristic X-rays

Abstract

In nuclear waste management there is a need to know the activity concentration of the different radionuclides. 59Ni is one of the nuclides that are produced by neutron activation in the stainless steel shielding adjacent to the fuel in nuclear reactors. Because 59Ni decays only via electron capture and has a very long half-life ordinary radiation detection measurements are difficult to perform. A new detection technique, using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) combined with the detection of the characteristic X-rays emitted by the accelerated beam when stopped in a target, has recently been presented. In AMS, instead of measuring the radioactive decay, the number of radionuclides are counted. We have performed preliminary measurements in order to optimise the AMS and the detection system for future 59Ni measurements. Derived detection limits, showing the potential of the technique, are presented.