Determination of neptunium in plutonium and mixed uranium-plutonium samples by isotope dilution gamma-spectrometry with243Am as a spike

A method was developed for isolating neptunium from Pu, U or mixed oxide (MOX) samples and its determination by isotope dilution -spectrometry (IDGS) using²³⁹Np (²⁴³Am) as a spike. Extraction chromatography with trilaurylamine fixed on a SGX-C18 support was used for the isolation of Np. The decontamination factors for U, Pu, Am and Pa vary between 1000–2000 and 100, respectively. The average separation yield of Np is (95±3)%. The amount of²⁴³Am required for spiking is about 0.2–0.3 g. It is recommended to use the pair of -rays 86.53 keV (²³⁷Np)-106.13 keV (²³⁹Np) for the assay of neptunium. A relative uncertainty of 4% or better is achievable in the analysis of plutonium samples, containing 0.4–80 g neptunium. The detection limit, under the proposed experimental conditions, is about 0.05 g Np. The results were compared with the results obtained by using high resolution -spectrometry (HRGS).     

Energy resolution of liquid scintillator for α-particles and internal conversion electrons at lower temperatures

The energy resolution of -particles from²⁴¹Am,²²²Rn,²¹⁸Po and²¹⁴Po and internal conversion electrons from^131mXe with a liquid scintillation system has been studied at temperatures from 13 °C to –65 °C. At lower temperatures the liquid scintillation system has shown to give better energy resolutions both for -particles and internal conversion electrons compared with the values obtained at ordinary temperature. The phenomena were explained by the increase in light output of liquid scintillator at lower temperatures.     

Signal-to-background in EPMA: Measurement and Monte Carlo calculation

By the method of Monte Carlo calculation, the dependence of the signal-to-background ratio of detected X-rays on the energy of electrons as well as on the thickness of the sample was calculated. The range of energy was 40 ÷ 120 keV, the range of thickness was approximately 8 ÷ 80 g/cm² (40 ÷ 400 nm at density = 2 g/cm³). The results were compared with measurements in electron microscope on thin resin standard for biological microanalysis. The measured dependence of signal-to-background ratio on the energy of electrons has the maximum at 80 keV, the calculated one changes at increased thickness from a monotonic form to one with a maximum at a particular thickness. The absolute values (Hall correction procedure was used for measured values) differs mainly at the highest energy used (120 keV); the difference is probably caused by unproper correction of measured value of background at this energy. Simultaneously, the source distribution of emitted X-ray photons is calculated. Its knowledge gives the possibility to estimate simply the interaction volume diameter and, by this way, to determine the spatial resolution of electron probe X-ray microanalysis.     

Scanning work function microscopy

When a sample is locally excited with a highly focused raster-scanned beam of keV electrons, the variations of the work function across the surface can be monitored from the shift of the onset energy for secondary electron emission along a fixed energy scale. The performance of that onset technique of work function microscopy and its incorporation into scanning Auger microprobes is described. The potentialities of this extremely surface sensitive technique for structural and chemical microanalysis are demonstrated by different experimental examples comprising work function analysis of surface reactions, and sputter depth profiling with in-situ Auger and work function spectroscopy. Scanning work function microscopy for surface microanalysis is shown to supply a lateral resolution down to the 10 nm range with a detection limit below 10^–2 of a monolayer.     

Applications of work function microscopy in the onset mode

Work function spectroscopy (WFS) in a microprobe mode (scanning work function microscopy SWFM), or in conjunction with sputter depth profiling constitutes a useful supplementary method to other surface analytical techniques. The so-called onset technique of WFS utilizes the influence of the electronic work function of the sample on the onset of the energy distribution of the true secondary electrons. This technique can readily be incorporated into existing surface analytical instruments like Scanning Auger microprobes. WFS and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) have been applied in-situ during sputter depth profiling of sulphur layers segregated on top of Cu(111), and of implantation profiles of Cs⁺ bombarded Si(111) with Ar⁺ ions of 1 keV. Because the onset technique for WFS takes advantage of the high intensity of the true secondary electrons, it is possible to use very low primary electron currents I_p. Employing a commercial instrument (PHI SAM 660) with a minimum spot size of 20 nm a lateral resolution of about 25 nm is achieved in the SWFM mode.     

Tetramethyl(2-methoxyethyl)cyclopentadienyl complexes of zirconium(iv). Crystal structure of [η5:η1−C5(CH3)4(CH2CH2OCH3)]ZrCl3

Several novel zirconium(iv) complexes with the chelating oxygen-containing cyclopentadienyl ligand, tetramethyl(2-methoxyethyl)cyclopentadiene, have been synthesized. [⁵:¹-Tetra-methyl(2-methyl)cyclopentadienyl]trichlorozirconium (2), bis[⁵-tetramethyl(2-methoxyethyl)cyclopentadienyl]dichlorozirconium (3), [⁵-pentamethylcyclopentadienyl][⁵-tetra-methyl(2-methoxyethyl)cyclopentadienyl]dichlorozirconium (4), and [⁵-tetra-methyl(2-methylthioethyl)cyclopentadienyl][⁵-tetramethyl(2-methoxyethyl)-cyclopentadienyl]dichlorozirconium (5) have been prepared from the corresponding lithium cyclopentadienide (l). The crystal structure of cyclopentadienyl complex2 has been established by X-ray analysis. The coordination OZr bond in compound2 exists both in the crystalline state and in solutions. No coordination of this type was observed in complexes3–5. Synthesized complexes2–5 are discussed in comparison with their sulfur-containing analogs.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 7, pp. 1828–1832, July, 1996.     

Assessment of the essential element and heavy metal content of edible fish muscle

The aim of this work was to determine the concentrations of some essential and toxic elements in the muscle of ten species of commercial fish consumed in Portugal. We combined two different techniques for determination of the elements—energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) was used to quantify K, Ca, Fe, Zn, Se, Rb, and Sr and flame atomic-absorption spectrometry for analysis of Cr, Ni, Cu, Cd, Hg, and Pb. The latter technique was used because of its higher sensitivity, because these elements were not detected by EDXRF. The results obtained show a similar pattern for the trace elements. K and Ca are present at the highest concentrations in all the samples studied, from 0.6–1.3% and from 0.04–0.08%, respectively, followed by Zn, Fe, Sr, Se, and Rb. Sr is present at higher concentrations than Rb in all the species studied except meagre. Concentrations of the elements in octopus do not follow this pattern—Fe is present at a higher concentration than Zn. Low concentrations of Cr (0.66–1.5 g g^–1), Ni (0.11–0.24 g g^–1), Cd (0.01–0.08 g g^–1), Hg (0.49–2.74 g g^–1), and Pb (0.02–0.06 g g^–1) were observed in all the samples analysed. The concentration of Hg was highest in Helicolenus dactylopterus—5.4 g g^–1 in one sample.     

Non-destructive determination of239Pu in wastes by application of γ-ray measurement

Amounts of²³⁹Pu in alpha-bearing wastes were determined by -ray measurement using a NaI/Tl/ scintillation detector. The deviations of measurement caused by the nonuniform distribution of²³⁹Pu in the wastes and by a volume factor were corrected by rotating and scanning the objects. Contribution from²⁴¹Am coexisting with²³⁹Pu was also corrected by taking into account the difference of the counts between A /356–470 keV/ and B /475–620 keV/ intervals. Attenuation of -ray of²³⁹Pu was estimated from the matrix density. Thus the content of²³⁹Pu could be determined within an accuracy of about 25% at the 1 mg level in a cardboard carton of 17 1.     

Multiple valence electron detachment following Auger decay of inner-shell vacancies in gas-phase DNA

We have studied soft X-ray photoabsorption in the doubly deprotonated gas-phase oligonucleotide [dTGGGGT–2H]²⁻. The dominating decay mechanism of the X-ray induced inner shell vacancy was found to be Auger decay with detachment of at least three electrons, leading to charge reversal of the anionic precursor and the formation of positively charged photofragment ions. The same process is observed in heavy ion (12 MeV C⁴⁺) collisions with [dTGGGGT–2H]²⁻ where inner shell vacancies are generated as well, but with smaller probability. Auger decay of a single K-vacancy in DNA, followed by detachment of three or more low energy electrons instead of a single high energy electron has profound implications for DNA damage and damage modelling. The production of three low kinetic energy electrons with short mean free path instead of one high kinetic energy electron with long mean free path implies that electron-induced DNA damage will be much more localized around the initial K-shell vacancy. The fragmentation channels, triggered by triple electron detachment Auger decay are predominantly related to protonated guanine base loss and even loss of protonated guanine dimers is tentatively observed. The fragmentation is not a consequence of the initial K-shell vacancy but purely due to multiple detachment of valence electrons, as a very similar positive ion fragmentation pattern is observed in femtosecond laser-induced dissociation experiments.

A K-shell vacancy in DNA that is induced by a (therapeutically relevant) soft X-ray of MeV carbon ion, decays by Auger processes accompanied by emission of at least 3 low energy electrons.     

Protonation of Os3(μ-H)(CO)9(μ3-σ,η2-C≡C-R) clusters (R=CMe2OH,C(Me)=CH2)

Protonation of triosmium clusters Os₃(-H)(CO)₉(₃-,²-CC-R) (R=CMe₂OH, C(Me)=CH₂) affords a cationic complex containing a six-electron propargyl ligand which has been detected for the first time.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 6, pp. 1144–1145, June, 1993.     

Use of liquid chromatography for separation and determination of carrier species associated with the synthesis of no carrier-added11C-labelled compounds determination of the specific activity of {11C} urea

An analytical technique using reversed-phase liquid chromatography has been developed for the determination of urea at quantities as low as 1 ng to quantitate the amount of non-labelled urea produced during the synthesis of no-carrier-added {¹¹C}urea starting from¹¹CN^–. As a result, the specific activity of the {¹¹C} urea thus prepared was calculated to be as high as 3.5±0.8 Ci/mol.Research supported in part by PHS Grant NINCDS 1 PO1 NS 15639.     

Can super-excited molecules survive fragmentation?

An Auger event triggered by electron-capture (EC) decay of ⁵⁷ Co incorporated in a chelate molecule results in the loss of an average of 5 electrons. During subsequent charge neutralization, the molecule acquires >50 eV of excitation energy. Only molecules having a large -electron system were found to escape fragmentation. The fate of the molecule was followed by the 14.4 keV Mössbauer emission which occurs 10^-7 second after the EC event. For a conjugated molecule to survive fragmentation, it should be able to disperse its energy in a time interval shorter than the period of atomic vibrations. We had proposed earlier that p-electrons undergo collective excitation and that the plasmon decays in <10^-14 second accompanied by ejection of an electron leaving the molecule unscathed. Intermolecular energy transfer is not important and even an isolated molecule of ⁵⁷ Co(II) phthalocyanine encapsulated in a zeolite supercage escapes fragmentation following an Auger event. Our model for rapid disposal of large excitation energy receives additional support from recent reports of single or mulitphoton plasmon excitation (20 eV) in an isolated C₆₀ and C₇₀ fullerene molecule followed by ejection of a single energetic electron leaving the molecule intact.     

Measurement of103mRh produced by the103Rh/γ, γ′ /103mRh reaction with liquid scintillation counting

A liquid scintillation counting technique was applied to measure the isotope^103mRh /half life = 56.12 min/ which is difficult to detect because its -ray is of low energy and low emission probability. Tris-/2,4-pentanedionato/ rhodium /III/ /Rh/ acac/₃/ was irradiated with bremsstrahlung of accelerated 3.2 MeV electrons by LINAC. The method has given a reliable calibration curve for the determination of^103mRh radioactivity below Rh/acac/₃ concentrations of 2 mM. The integrated cross section of¹⁰³Rh/,/^103mRh determined by this method was found to be 6.8±3.4 b MeV at 3.2 MeV.     

Trends in instrumentation for activation analysis of short-lived nuclides

This paper reports on the last year's two major activities of our nuclear instrumentation group it the field of high rate and high resolution gamma spectrometry which were mainly devoted to the needs of activation analysis of short-lived nuclides. The first of the projects was the completion of a state-of-the-art spectrometry system for very high counting rates which has been installed at the fast inrradiation and transport facility of the TRIGA reactor and now is the main instrument for the short-lived work of our radiochemistry group. Based on a laboratory-designed gated integrator pulse processing system and equipped with an Ortec Gamma-X detector of 20% relative efficiency with cooled FET and transistor reset preamplifier, it exhibits a basic resolution of 2.3 keV at 1332 keV which at a counting rate of 1.1 million cps of⁶⁰Co degrades to 3.4 keV. An essential feature of the system is a novel quantitative pileup rejector of the pulse counting type which has been specially designed for high rejection efficiency and at the same time, for the reliable exemption of valid events, and thus is a necessary prerequisite for quantitative real-time correction of counting losses by means of the Virtual Pulse Generator method. The second project included the successful implementation of the novel Preloaded Filter Technique (applied for patent), a new method for high resolution and high throughput processing of nuclear detector signals which, in contrast to conventional techniques, does not rely on a fixed pulse processing time per event which up to now was the main reason for pulse pileup and limited throughput, but, at the latest, terminates the filtering process of an individual event at the instant of arrival of the next event which results in optimized throughput and, at the same time, in a self-adapting, counting rate dependent shaping time. To that aim, the delta-noise filter of the system must be preloaded with the best estimate of the final result of the filtering process which is simply the unfiltered signal amplitude, to make sure that at the instant of termination of the filtering process the output of the filter deviates from the final value not more than by the decaying noise amplitude. Complemented by counting rate dependent step-noise filtering, this technique made possible the creation of a spectrometry system for all purposes which at low to medium counting rates is comparable to the best of the semi-Gaussian amplifiers and at high counting rates to the gated integrator. An experimental implementation of the Preloaded Filter combined with an Ortec Gamma-X detector of 15% relative efficiency resulted in a basic resolution of 1.9 keV at 1332 keV at a counting rate of 5000 cps slowly degrading to 3.2 keV at a counting rate of 650 000 cps of⁶⁰Co.     

Spectrophotometric determination of mercury with 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(3-chloro-4-sulfophenyl)porphine by flow injection analysis

5,10,15,20-tetrakis(3-chloro-4-sulfophenyl)porphine (m-Cl-TPPS₄) was synthesized and used for the Spectrophotometric determination of mercury by flow injection analysis. A pseudo-first-order reaction kinetic mechanism was proposed with a rate constant of 0.8 min^–1 for Hg(II) withm-Cl-TPPS₄ in the presence of 8-hydroxyquinoline in a medium of 1.0M acetic acid and sodium acetate buffer solution (pH 6.22). In the optimum conditions of reaction temperature (85 ° C), stopped-flow time (60 s) and sampling volume (100 l), the method's relative standard deviation was 0.82% (n = 12) at 5.0 g ml^–1 mercury, with a linear range of 0–12.0 g ml^–1 and an analytical frequency of 60h^–1. The detection limit (3) was 0.025 g ml^–1. Interference studies showed that most metal ions co-existing with Hg²⁺ could be tolerated at 100-fold excess levels, but Zn²⁺, Cu²⁺ and Mn²⁺ needed to be masked. The method has been applied to the analysis of water samples with satisfactory results.     

Thorium in man and environment uptake and clearance

The intake and tissue distribution of thorium (^{2 3 2}Th) was studied in an urban (Bombay) population in India. From the analysis of 16 whole diet samples, the average daily intake through food was found to be 2 g (range 0.8–4.3 g·d^–1). The estimated intake through drinking water and inhalation comes out to be 0.03 and 0.02 g per day. From the analysis of human autopsy tissue samples it is observed that the concentration ranges in lungs and bone are 1.5–16 g/kg and 0.2–9.0 g/kg fresh weight respectively. The average urinary concentration is 12 ng/1 (range 7–22 ng/l for 10 samples). Among the different body tissues, pulmonary lymph nodes were found to contain the highest concentration (geometric mean 53.4 g/kg, range 31.4–85.5 g/kg for 6 samples). Analysis of the samples was done by the neutron activation technique. 311.8 keV gamma photons of^{2 3 3}Pa which is the activation product of^{2 3 2}Th, were counted after chemical separation. A 54 cm³ intrinsic Ge detector coupled to 1024-channel analyser was used. Using the average lung content and the daily average intake values of thorium through inhalation, the clearance half-time from lung was estimated.     

Determination of chromium by radiochemical displacement

A rapid and sensitive method has been developed for the determination of microgram amounts of chromium based on the radiochemical displacement of⁶⁵Zn from labeled Zn-[1-(2-pyridylazo-2-naphthol]₂ complex by chromium. The effect of pH on the displacement of⁶⁵Zn was studied. 5–65 g of chromium could be determined with great accuracy. The effect of various ions on the displacement of⁶⁵Zn by chromium was investigated and the method developed was utilized for the determination of chromium content present in geological water samples. The results were compared with values obtained by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry.     

Improvement for α-energy resolution in determination of low level plutonium by liquid scintillation counting

An improvement of -energy resolution for determining low level plutonium has been investigated using combined solvent extraction-low level liquid scintillation counter. In the present work, -energy resolution of 270–290 keV for liquid scintillation spectra of²³⁶Pu and²³⁹Pu is attained. Thus the simultaneous determination of low level plutonium with -liquid scintillation spectrometry may be practized.     

Preparation of asymmetric polymer film by emulsion blend technique

Two kinds of anionic polymer emulsions, of which particle sizes were greatly different, were blended and then cast on a release-paper at 30 °C. One was poly(butyl acrylate) emulsion, 0.46n in diameter, produced by emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization, and the other was ethyl acrylate-methyl methacrylate (1/1, mole ratio) copolymer emulsion, 0.02m in diameter, produced by emulsifier-containing emulsion polymerization. The film produced had asymmetric surface properties: the air-side surface was nontacky and the bottom-side surface was tacky. The forming mechanism is discussed.