Engineering topics

Delmore, James E

Publications and source records attributed to Delmore, James E.

4 records

DOE OSTI2012

Radioactive Cesium Isotope Ratios as a Tool for determining Dispersal and Re-dispersal Mechanisms Downwind from the Nevada Nuclear Security Site

Fractionation of the two longer lived radioactive cesium isotopes (135 and 137) produced by above ground nuclear tests have been measured and used to clarify the dispersal mechanisms of cesium deposited in the area between the Nevada Nuclear Security Site (NNSS) and Lake Mead in the southwestern United States. Fractionation of these isotopes is due to the 135 decay chain requiring several days to completely decay to Cs and the 137 decay chain less than one hour. Since the Cs precursors are gases, iodine and xenon, the 135Cs plume was deposited farther downwind than the 137Cs plume. Samples were obtained from the Las Vegas arm of Lake Mead, separated into segments, gamma counted to identify layers of activity and analyzed for 135Cs/137Cs ratios. The layers proved to have nearly identical highly fractionated isotope ratios. This information is consistent with a model where the cesium was initially deposited onto the land area draining into Lake Mead and the composite from all the above ground shots subsequently washed onto the Lake by high intensity rain and windstorms producing a layering of Cs activity where each layer is a portion of the composite.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2011

Measurement of Trace Uranium Isotopes

The extent to which thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) can measure trace quantities of 233U and 236U in the presence of a huge excess of natural uranium is evaluated. This is an important nuclear non-proliferation measurement. Four ion production methods were evaluated with three mass spectrometer combinations. The most favorable combinations are not limited by abundance sensitivity; rather, the limitations are the ability to generate a uranium ion beam of sufficient intensity to obtain the required number of counts on the minor isotopes in relationship to detector background. The most favorable situations can measure isotope ratios in the range of E10 if sufficient sample intensity is available. These are the triple sector mass spectrometer with porous ion emitters (PIE) and the single sector mass spectrometer with energy filtering.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2010

Porous Ion Emitters: A New Type of Thermal Ion Emitter

A new type of porous refractory material has been developed as a thermal ionization emitter that is an improvement over both direct filament and resin bead loading. The porous ion emitter is sintered onto the center of a conventional thermal ionization filament and an aqueous solution containing the sample wicked into this emitter. Application of the porous ion emitter to uranium is demonstrated to provide a utilization efficiency ranging between 1% to 2% across a sample size range of 0.2 – 10 pg, better than that achieved from resin beads and much better than that achieved with direct loading onto a filament. The technique improves sensitivity and reduces the chance of losing a high value sample by eliminating microscopic manipulation of a single resin bead containing an entire sample.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2010

Micro Ion Source Program NA22 Plutonium Detection Portfolio Final Report

The purpose of the micro ion source program was to enhance the performance of thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) for various actinides and fission products. The proposal hypothesized that when ions are created at the ion optic center of the mass spectrometer, ion transmission is significantly increased and the resulting ion beam is more sharply focused. Computer modeling demonstrated this logic. In order to prove this hypothesis it was first necessary to understand the chemistry and physics governing the particular ion production process that concentrates the emission of ions into a small area. This has been achieved for uranium and technetium, as was shown in the original proposal and the improvement of both the beam transmission and sharpness of focus were proven. Significantly improved analytical methods have been developed for these two elements based upon this research. The iodine portion of the proposal turned out to be impractical due to volatility of iodine and its compounds. We knew this was a possibility prior to research and we proceeded anyway but did not succeed. Plutonium is a potential option, but is not quite up to the performance level of resin beads. Now, we more clearly understand the chemical and physical issues for plutonium, but have not yet translated this knowledge into improved analytical processes. The problems are that plutonium is considerably more difficult to convert to the required intermediate species, plutonium carbide, and the chemical method we developed that works with uranium functions only moderately well with plutonium. We are of the opinion that, with this knowledge, similar progress can be made with plutonium.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗