Projectile X-ray identification tests for 63Ni and 90Sr accelerator mass spectrometry

Abstract

In the field of nuclear waste management is the determination of difficult to measure isotopes important for the isotopic nuclide inventory in disposal material. Accelerator mass spectrometry propose a new precise and reliable way for the quantification of the radioactive material by the means of direct atom counting. For the radiological characterization of radioactive material, the reference nuclides 60Co or 152Eu are normally used, because they are relatively easy to measure by gamma ray spectroscopy. The disadvantages are the relatively short half-lives and in the case of reactor concrete they are produced at trace elements. In addition, the technique of projectile X-ray AMS (PXAMS) offers the opportunity to measure medium mass isotopes like 63Ni and 90Sr, by the measurement of characteristic X-rays. We investigated the X-ray production yields for different target materials in a projectile ion energy range of 0.35 MeV/u to 1.80 MeV/u for the determination of attainable sensitivities.