Open AccessDevelopment of a photoionisation spectrometer for detection of atmospheric 85Kr
Author(s) -
H. A. Perrett,
B. S. Cooper,
Giles Edwards,
K.T. Flanagan,
C. M. Ricketts,
S. Alsufyani,
N. Dowd,
Aashaq Shah
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of physics. conference series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.21
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1742-6596
pISSN - 1742-6588
DOI - 10.1088/1742-6596/1643/1/012038
Subject(s) - plutonium , spectrometer , fission products , nuclear fission product , nuclear engineering , cladding (metalworking) , environmental science , nuclear physics , radioactive waste , gamma ray spectrometer , materials science , physics , optics , engineering , metallurgy
A higher than baseline atmospheric concentration of the radioactive fission product 85 Kr is considered to be the best indicator of clandestine plutonium separation. Additionally, its high volatility makes it suitable for detecting leaks in nuclear waste containers and damaged fuel cladding. A spectrometer for ultra-trace analysis is currently under development and will be optimised for atmospheric monitoring of 85 Kr. This device is based on an adapted form of collinear resonance ionisation spectroscopy, a technique developed at ISOLDE-CERN for performing precision measurements on exotic nuclei. The motivation for this device is explored, along with an overview of progress and future developments.