Radiochemical determination of 129I and 36Cl in MEGAPIE, a proton irradiated lead-bismuth eutectic spallation target

Hammer-Rotzler, Bernadette; Neuhausen, Jörg; Vockenhuber, Christof; Boutellier, Viktor; Wohlmuther, Michael; Türler, Andreas; Schumann, Dorothea (2015). Radiochemical determination of 129I and 36Cl in MEGAPIE, a proton irradiated lead-bismuth eutectic spallation target. Radiochimica acta, 103(11), pp. 745-758. Oldenbourg 10.1515/ract-2015-2420

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The concentrations of the long-lived nuclear reaction products 129I and 36Cl have been measured in samples from the MEGAPIE liquid metal spallation target. Samples from the bulk target material (lead-bismuth eutectic, LBE), from the interface of the metal free surface with the cover gas, from LBE/steel interfaces and from noble metal absorber foils installed in the cover gas system were analysed using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry at the Laboratory of Ion beam Physics at ETH Zürich. The major part of 129I and 36Cl was found accumulated on the interfaces, particularly at the interface of LBE and the steel walls of the target container, while bulk LBE samples contain only a minor fraction of these nuclides. Both nuclides were also detected on the absorber foils to a certain extent (≪ 1% of the total amount). The latter number is negligible concerning the radio-hazard of the irradiated target material; however it indicates a certain affinity of the absorber foils for halogens, thus proving the principle of using noble metal foils for catching these volatile radionuclides. The total amounts of 129I and 36Cl in the target were estimated from the analytical data by averaging within the different groups of samples and summing up these averages over the total target. This estimation could account for about half of the amount of 129I and 36Cl predicted to be produced using nuclear physics modelling codes for both nuclides. The significance of the results and the associated uncertainties are discussed.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences (DCBP)

UniBE Contributor:

Türler, Andreas

Subjects:

500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology
500 Science > 540 Chemistry

ISSN:

0033-8230

Publisher:

Oldenbourg

Language:

English

Submitter:

Franziska Bornhauser-Rufer

Date Deposited:

02 Feb 2016 14:39

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:51

Publisher DOI:

10.1515/ract-2015-2420

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.75652

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/75652

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