Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Speciation and Bioavailability Measurements of Environmental Plutonium Using Diffusion in Thin Films
Published on: November 9, 2015
Isotope correlations for determining the isotopic composition of plutonium in high burnup pressurized water reactor
Kihsoo Joe1, Young-Shin Jeon, Byung-Chul Song
1Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Yusung, Daejeon, Republic of Korea. ksjoe@kaeri.re.kr
Abstract:
Correlations among the alpha activity ratios of (238)Pu/((239)Pu+(240)Pu), the alpha specific activities of Pu and the atom % abundances of Pu isotopes were derived for the plutonium samples obtained from high burnup fuel samples from pressurized water reactors. Using the alpha activity ratios of (238)Pu/((239)Pu+(240)Pu) determined by alpha spectrometry, the alpha specific activities of Pu as well as the atom % abundances of the plutonium isotopes in the unknown samples were calculated without depending on mass spectrometry. The calculated alpha specific activities of Pu agreed with those determined by experiment within 2%, and the atom % abundances of the Pu isotopes agreed within 4% for (238)Pu, 5% for (239)Pu, 7% for (240)Pu and 5% for (242)Pu, respectively. In addition, an attempt was made to elucidate a correlation between the fuel burnup and the alpha activity ratio of (238)Pu/((239)Pu+(240)Pu) at a range of the burnup from 35.5 to 62.9 GWd/MtU.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Nuclear Transmutation
Mass Spectrometry: Isotope Effect
Nuclear Stability
To hold positively charged protons together in the...
Radioactive Decay and Radiometric Dating
Isotopes and Radioisotopes
An isotope containing more...
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Fuels
Nuclear fuel consists of a fissile isotope, such as uranium-235, which must be present in sufficient quantity to provide a...

