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241Am: A new nuclide for reference α-filter production and calibration
Grégoire Dougniaux1, Benoît Sabot2, Bernadette Dhieux Lestaevel1
1Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire et de Radioprotection (ASNR), PSN-RES/SCA/LPMA, Saclay, F-91400, France.
Summary
Americium-241 (241Am) offers a traceable and non-destructive method for calibrating alpha particle measurement instruments, improving nuclear safety and environmental monitoring. This nuclide avoids challenges associated with Plutonium-239 (239Pu) filter destruction and liquid scintillation counting.
Area of Science:
- Nuclear safety and environmental monitoring
- Radiochemistry and metrology
- Radiation detection and measurement
Background:
- Accurate radionuclide activity measurement on filters is crucial for nuclear safety and environmental monitoring.
- Current methods using Plutonium-239 (239Pu) for alpha particle calibration require filter destruction, leading to practical challenges and uncertainties.
- Americium-241 (241Am) is proposed as an alternative reference nuclide due to its suitable properties for alpha measurements and non-destructive analysis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate Americium-241 (241Am) as a viable alternative to Plutonium-239 (239Pu) for calibrating alpha particle measurement instruments.
- To demonstrate the production of traceable reference filters using 241Am with defined activity and aerodynamic particle size.
- To confirm the advantages of using 241Am for alpha reference filters through comparative calibration.
Main Methods:
- Production of reference filters with 241Am using the ASNR's ICARE test bench.
- Measurement of reference activity via gamma-ray spectrometry using a high-purity germanium (HPGe) spectrometer.
- Calibration comparison on a gas-proportional counter using PTFE membrane filters spiked with 241Am and 239Pu.
Main Results:
- Reference filters with defined 241Am activity and AMAD were successfully produced.
- Gamma-ray spectrometry provided accurate 241Am activity determination with minimal uncertainty.
- Calibration comparison confirmed the advantages of 241Am over 239Pu for alpha reference filters, showing high precision and non-destructive measurement.
Conclusions:
- Americium-241 (241Am) is a suitable reference nuclide for alpha-filter calibration, offering traceability and non-destructive measurement.
- Adopting 241Am enhances the reliability of radioactive contamination monitoring by overcoming practical challenges associated with 239Pu.
- The developed method using 241Am improves the accuracy and efficiency of nuclear safety and environmental monitoring processes.
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