Unique challenges with recent gamma spectroscopy measurements at Los Alamos National Laboratory

A variety of unique radioactive samples have been measured recently at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) using an electrically-cooled high-purity germanium detector. In each case the purpose of the measurements included one or more of the following objectives: (1) an accurate determination of the isotopic weight fractions of different plutonium or uranium materials; (2) an accurate determination of the isotopic quantity in the absence of relevant calibration standards; and (3) a qualitative determination of various sample impurities for additional forensic information. This paper discusses how simple modifications to the PC-FRAM parameter sets enabled a better determination of the isotopic content of the following samples: (1) high-purity plutonium metal, (2) plutonium-beryllium (PuBe) neutron sources, (3) neutron-irradiated natural uranium, and (4) re-processed HEU fuel with elevated ²³⁶U content. The isotopic quantity in a variety of samples was determined using a combination of the Spectral Nondestructive Assay Platform (SNAP™) routine from Eberline Services and the Monte Carlo Neutral Particle (MCNP) code developed at LANL. The non-traditional sources that were quantified with these gamma ray modeling codes included dozens of neutron-irradiated targets of natural uranium, several plutonium-beryllium neutron sources, and three high-purity samples of plutonium metal.