Several reindeer tissue samples were analysed for transuranium elements following the Chernobyl accident in 1986. Pu, Am and Cm were separated using coprecipitation and anion exchange steps, and measured with alpha spectrometry. The activity concentrations of Pu in reindeer liver found in this study (0.0094–0.062 Bq kg d.w. [= dry weight]) are low compared to the concentrations found in the 196...

Uncertainty in estimates of internal doses to can arise for a variety of reasons, which include a lack of knowledge about assumed model parameters, uncertainty in exposure conditions, paucity of measurement data, and variability between individuals. In some cases, for example, causation or epidemiological studies, it is essential to be able to quantify this uncertainty for each individual in th...

The announcement of the discovery of element 95 was made in 1946 by Seaborg and his associates (1). Like neptunium (element 93), plutonium (element 94), and curium (element 96) this new element, americium, is radioactive and has not been observed in nature in appreciable amounts. During the war an extensive study was made of the metabolic properties of plutonium (2) and several other heavy elem...

The objective of this project is to develop a method for the separation of Am from Cm based on electrochemical techniques. Electrochemical systems that allow the thermodynamics of actinide and lanthanide complexes to be systematically evaluated and tuned will be examined. The influence of complex formation on the ability to selectively isolate a given species electrochemically will be evaluated...

Monitoring of transuranic actinides (TRU–includes neptunium, plutonium, americium, and curium) during the separation of used nuclear fuel has been identified as a critical research area in the U.S. Advanced Fuel Cycle Research and Development program (AFC R&D). Recycling of used fuel by chemically separating it into uranium, fission products, and TRU would be the first step in this new fuel cyc...

Abstract We present the development of neutron-tagging techniques in Super-Kamiokande IV using a neural network analysis. The detection efficiency neutron capture on hydrogen is estimated to be 26%, with mis-tag rate 0.016 per neutrino event. uncertainty tagging 9.0%. Measurement data from an Americium-Beryllium calibration agrees this value within 10%. procedure was performed 3,244.4 days SK-I...

Recent concepts for nuclear fuel and targets for transmuting long-lived radionuclides (minor actinides) and for the development of innovative Gen-IV nuclear fuel cycles imply fabricating host phases for actinide or mixed actinide compounds. Cubic stabilized zirconia (Zr, Y, Am)O(2-x) is one of the mixed phases tested in transmutation experiments. Wet chemical routes as an alternative to the pow...

The first three ionization potentials of americium are calculated using ab initio spin-orbit configuration interaction techniques. These results are favorably compared with experimental and theoretical work. The lowest two ionization potentials are accurately determined using wavefunctions constructed as simple single and double substitutions from a self-consistent field reference configuration...

In this paper, a method is introduced which allows a quick and accurate evaluation of the overall transmutation rate of a nuclide in fast and thermal neutron spectra. The method is applied to Am, a main contributor to the waste toxicity in the nuclear fuel cycle. Results show good agreement with the detailed calculations using ORIGEN code. 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.