Classification of hot particles from the Chernobyl accident and nuclear weapons detonations by non-destructive methods

Keywords: Hot particles; Chernobyl; Weapons tests; Fallout; Characterisation; Analysis

Abstract: Both after the Chernobyl accident and nuclear weapon detonations, agglomerates of radioactive material, so-called hot particles, were released or formed which show a behaviour in the environment quite different from the activity released in gaseous or aerosol form. The differences in their characteristic properties, in the radionuclide composition and the uranium and actinide contents are described in detail for these particles. While nuclear bomb hot particles (both from fission and fusion bombs) incorporate well detectable trace amounts of ⁶⁰Co and ¹⁵²Eu, these radionuclides are absent in Chernobyl hot particles. In contrast, Chernobyl hot particles contain ¹²⁵Sb and ¹⁴⁴Ce which are absent in atomic bomb HPs. Obvious differences are also observable between fusion and fission bombs’ hot particles (significant differences in ¹⁵²Eu/¹⁵⁵Eu, ¹⁵⁴Eu/¹⁵⁵Eu and ²³⁸Pu/²³⁹Pu ratios) which facilitate the identification of HPs of unknown provensence. The ratio of ²³⁹Pu/²⁴⁰Pu in Chernobyl hot particles could be determined by a non-destructive method at 1 : 1.5. A non-destructive method to determine the content of non-radioactive elements by Kα-emission measurements was developed by which inactive Zr, Nb, Fe and Ni could be verified in the particles.

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0265931X01000133

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