| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2025 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Seaborg Institutes: Emerging Topics in Actinide Sciences
|
| Presentation Title |
Synchrotron-based Plutonium X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy |
| Author(s) |
Rachel Lim, Alexander Baker, S. Olivia Gunther, Alexander Ditter, David Shuh, Scott Donald, Brandon Chung |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Rachel Lim |
| Abstract Scope |
Synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is a widely used characterization technique, yet comprehensive reports on the ~250 X-ray emission lines in plutonium, are lacking. Further, uncertainties in the transition probabilities and fluorescence yields lead to inaccuracies when calculating emission line intensity ratios. This leads to significant unknowns for compositional analysis of transuranic elements, as the limited body of literature that does exist is primarily theoretical. However, this information is extremely valuable for the nascent field of nuclear forensics at synchrotrons, as the ability to accurately measure ppm level impurities in interdicted particles is highly sought. Here, we report XRF measurements on several plutonium oxide samples from different processing routes. Spectrum fitting using baseline fundamental parameter values from commonly available software is poor enough that compositional ratios cannot be calculated, while adjustments based on the Electron Photon Interaction Cross Sections database yields significantly improved results. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |