Preparing dry specimens from liquid samples for XRF analysis avoids introducing caustic or hazardous liquids into the instrument. Several modifications were made to a dried residue specimen preparation method for quantifying gallium in plutonium metal in order to improve the method accuracy and precision. Ion exchange chromatography was utilized to remove the plutonium prior to casting the drie...

Levels of radioactive contaminants in various Greenland environments have been assessed during 1999-2001. The source of 137Cs, 90Sr and (239,240)Pu in terrestrial and fresh water environments is mainly global fallout. In addition, the Chernobyl accident gave a small contribution of 137Cs. Reindeer and lamb contain the largest observed 137Cs concentrations in the terrestrial environment--up to 8...

Previous studies have indicated that ENDF/B-VII preliminary releases β-2 and β-3, predecessors to the recent initial release of ENDF/B-VII.0, produce significantly better overall agreement with criticality benchmarks than does ENDF/B-VI. However, one of those studies also suggests that improvements still may be needed for thermal plutonium cross sections. The current study substantiates that co...

Two XRF specimen preparation methods were investigated for quantifying gallium in plutonium metal. Gallium in plutonium was chosen here as an example for demonstrating the efficacy of wavelength dispersive XRF for quantifying radioactive materials. The steps necessary to handle such materials safely will also be discussed. Quantification of plutonium samples by a wellestablished aqueous specime...

This paper formulates and solves the problem of model identification and parameter uncertainty in plutonium storage systems. A systematic procedure helps to choose among alternative mathematical models with different properties and degrees of freedom. Rigorous metrics for measuring the statistical alignment between five different physical models and given experimental data are discussed. On the...

Field sampling has provided C. Elder, and Manuel Gonzales general criteria defining plutonium aerosol size characteristics and activity concentrations from typical plutonium operations. Two fabrication facilities have aerosols with activity median aerodynamic diameter’s (amad) ranging from 2 to 5 pm; the two research and development facilities indicate amad’s ranging from 1 to 4 ~; and a recove...

**滝 沢行雄:秋 田大学医学部 公衆 衛生学数室 秋 田市本道1丁 目1-1 〒010 Plutonium/Human organs/Inhalation This report presents the results on the measurements of plutonium in samples of various human organs of Japanese collected in Niigata prefecture since 1963 to 1973. The results showed that the averaged concentrations of Pu-239+240 in cerebrum, lung, heart, liver, spleen, kidney, testicle, uterus, ovary and bone were ...

The mass flow of Plutonium and minor actinides is calculated for a future LWR-FBR fuel cycle model, in which a certain scale of power generation by LWRs is continued for a long period before the replacement by FBRs begins. The burnup of the LWR spent fuel is considered to be higher than the current standard. It is assumed that all the Plutonium and minor actinides recovered from LWRs are kept a...

The Plutonium Immobilization Project (PIP) is a program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to develop technology for dispositioning excess weapons grade plutonium. This program introduces the “Can-in-Canister” (CIC) technology that immobilizes the plutonium by encapsulating it in ceramic forms (or pucks) and ultimately surrounding it with high-level waste glass to provide a deterrent to re...

Estimating the size of India’s inventory of separated weapon-grade plutonium has become more difficult following its nuclear tests in May 1998. India treats this number as highly classified, partly because such estimates provide a direct indication of the number of nuclear weapons it may possess. The purpose of this report is to summarize estimates of its stock of weapon-grade plutonium. A comp...