Characterization of strong 241Am sources
Journal article, 2015

Gamma ray spectra of strong 241Am sources may reveal information about the source composition as there may be other radioactive nuclides such as progeny and radioactive impurities present. In this work the possibility to use gamma spectrometry to identify inherent signatures in 241Am sources in order to differentiate sources from each other, is investigated. The studied signatures are age, i.e. time passed since last chemical separation, and presence of impurities. The spectra of some sources show a number of Doppler broadened peaks in the spectrum which indicate the presence of nuclear reactions on light elements within the sources. The results show that the investigated sources can be differentiated between by age and/or presence of impurities. These spectral features would be useful information in a national nuclear forensics library (NNFL) in cases when the visual information on the source, e.g. the source number, is unavailable.

Nuclear forensics

Gamma spectrometry

Age

Impurities

Signatures

241Am

Author

Anna Vesterlund

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Energy and Material

Dina Chernikova

Chalmers, Applied Physics, Nuclear Engineering

Petty Bernitt Cartemo

Chalmers, Applied Physics, Nuclear Engineering

Kåre Axell

Chalmers, Applied Physics, Nuclear Engineering

Anders Nordlund

Chalmers, Applied Physics, Nuclear Engineering

Gunnar Skarnemark

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Energy and Material

Christian Ekberg

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Energy and Material

Henrik Ramebäck

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Energy and Material

Applied Radiation and Isotopes

0969-8043 (ISSN) 18729800 (eISSN)

Vol. 99 162-167

Subject Categories

Physical Chemistry

DOI

10.1016/j.apradiso.2015.03.002

More information

Latest update

5/24/2024