Comparison between biokinetics of inhaled plutonium nitrate and gadolinium oxide in humans and animals

Due to the paucity of human data after inhalation of different chemical forms of radionuclides, the implications for human exposure are often based on animal studies. This paper describes biokinetic studies of plutonium nitrate and gadolinium oxide in human volunteers and rats. The results, together with information from other studies with radionuclides, suggests that animal studies can be used with advantage for assessing the biokinetic behavior in humans, and for providing guidance on the assessment of intake and optimal monitoring regimens.     

Measurement of 237Np in environmental water samples by accelerator mass spectrometry

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) was used to measure 237Np in environmental water samples extracted from Irish Sea sediments. The samples were of limited volume (approximately 700 ml) and of low activity (0.06-0.79 mBq l-1; 2.30-30.3 pg l-1). AMS proved to have the required sensitivity for measuring these samples, and was in principle capable of measuring much smaller amounts, as low as 0.4 microBq (3.9 x 10(7) atoms). However, the background level in the procedural blanks showed that there was a systematic low level 237Np contamination of each sample, arising from the 239Np yield monitor used in the separations procedure, which effectively increased the detection limit of these analyses.     

Spectroscopy of A = 16 from 13C(6Li,t)16O

The ¹³C(⁶Li, t)¹⁶O reaction has been studied at 34 MeV. Selective population of narrow states is observed up to 21 MeV excitation in ¹⁶O. This reaction populates strongly both unnatural-and natural-parity states that have little or no ¹²C + α₀ width. The measured angular distributions are compared with Hauser-Feshbach and finite-range DWBA calculations. Reasonable agreement with the DWBA calculations is found for most of the states strongly populated. The widths of the narrow states populated in the 16–20 MeV excitation region are presented. Comparison of the present data with that from medium-energy inelastic scattering and other multiparticle transfer reactions is made.     

Radiative decays of unbound levels in 20Ne

Nine levels in the range 8.7 to 12.5 MeV in ²⁰Ne have been investigated with the ¹⁶O(α, γ)²⁰Ne and ¹⁶O(α, α')¹⁶O¹(6.13 MeV) reactions using a differentially pumped windowless gas target. Three of the levels have not been observed previously in these reactions, and new information has been obtained for most of the others. In particular, the 11.27 MeV 1^? level is shown to have T = 1, a result of relevance to a proposed parity violation experiment, and the analogue of the 1.97 MeV (3^?T = 1) level in ²⁰F is shown to lie at 12.25 MeV in ²⁰Ne rather than at 12.39 MeV as proposed previously. In addition, the 12.25 MeV level has a width Γ < 1 keV, in contrast to the value Γ ～ 5 keV reported in other work. The electromagnetic transition rates for positive parity T = 1 states in ²⁰Ne are compared with shell-model calculations.     

New measurements of the masses of 15B and 19N

The neutron-rich nuclei ¹⁵B and ¹⁹N have been produced in reactions between ¹⁸O and ⁴⁸Ca. Mass excesses of 28.968 ± 0.025 MeV and 15.872 ± 0.020 MeV respectively were deduced from the reaction Q-values. These results are compared with previous measurements and theoretical predictions. Updated predictions using two different mass formulae are presented.     

Concerning high-spin negative parity states in 20Ne

Unambiguous spin and parity assignment have been made from angular correlation measurements to states in ²⁰Ne at 15.18 MeV (6⁺) and 17.40 MeV (9^?). Our results are in disagreement with an earlier 9^? assignment to the 15.18 MeV state. The 17.40 MeV state is assigned to the K = 2^? rotational band based on the 2^? state at 4.97 meV.     

Reference material for radionuclides in sediment IAEA-384 (Fangataufa Lagoon sediment)

A reference material designed for the determination of anthropogenic and natural radionuclides in sediment, IAEA-384 (Fangataufa Lagoon sediment), is described and the results of certification are presented. The material has been certified for 8 radionuclides (⁴⁰K, ⁶⁰Co, ¹⁵⁵Eu, ²³⁰Th, ²³⁸U, ²³⁸Pu, ^239+240Pu and ²⁴¹Am). Information values are given for 12 radionuclides (⁹⁰Sr, ¹³⁷Cs, ²¹⁰Pb (²¹⁰Po), ²²⁶Ra, ²²⁸Ra, ²³²Th, ²³⁴U, ²³⁵U, ²³⁹Pu, ²⁴⁰Pu and ²⁴¹Pu). Less reported radionuclides include ²²⁸Th, ²³⁶U, ²³⁹Np and ²⁴²Pu. The reference material may be used for quality management of radioanalytical laboratories engaged in the analysis of radionuclides in the environment, as well as for the development and validation of analytical methods and for training purposes. The material is available from IAEA in 100 g units. Retired from IAEA in 2003.     

The mass of 18C from a heavy ion double-charge-exchange reaction

The mass of ¹⁸C has been measured using the double-charge-exchange reaction ⁴⁸Ca(¹⁸O, ¹⁸C)⁴⁸Ti at an ¹⁸O energy of 112 MeV. The ¹⁸C ions were detected at the focal plane of a magnetic spectrometer. The mass excess of ¹⁸C was found to be 24.923 ± 0.030 MeV, and the first excited state was observed at an excitation energy of 1.62 ± 0.02 MeV. At the same time, an independent measurement of the mass excess of ¹⁷C was obtained from the ⁴⁸Ca(¹⁸O, ¹⁷C)⁴⁹Ti reaction, and the value 21.039 ± 0.020 MeV is in excellent agreement with an earlier measurement. The first excited state of ¹⁷C is at 295 ± 10 keV.     

The Mass Programme at GANIL Using the CSS2 and CIME Cyclotrons

The mass-measurement programme at GANIL aims to measure the masses of heavy nuclei close to the N=Z line which is the ideal region to study neutron-proton pairing. An original direct time-of-flight mass-measurement method was developed at GANIL which uses the CSS2 cyclotron as a high-resolution spectrometer. The masses of ions of A=68,76,80 and 100 have been measured with a precision of a few 10⁻⁶. Mass measurements will be performed with the new CIME cyclotron of SPIRAL using a similar method based on the measurement of the phase of the accelerated ions for different radio-frequencies. A recently approved experiment will help develop this new technique and aims to measure the mass of ³¹Ar radioactive nuclei with a precision of 10⁻⁶. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.