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Measurements of the emanation of 37Ar and 39Ar from irradiated rocks and powders

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Abstract

The emanation of radionuclides has been highlighted as a known source of uncertainty in the estimation of radionuclide source signatures from underground nuclear tests and other nuclear activities, particularly in the case of activation products. A system was developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to quantify the emanation of argon from two powders and five rock types ranging in particle size from powder to small rocks. Samples were neutron irradiated and the percent emanation of 37Ar was measured to range between 0.3 and 25%. Measurements were also made of the 39Ar emanation for four of these materials and was found to be consistently lower than that of 37Ar.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the National Nuclear Security Administration, Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development, and the Underground Nuclear Explosion Signatures Experiment, a multi-year research and development project sponsored by NNSA DNN R&D and collaboratively executed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Mission Support and Test Services, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories. The Nuclear Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) is supported by the DOE Nuclear Criticality Safety Program, funded and managed by the National Nuclear Security Administration for the Department of Energy. This work was performed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory under award number DE-AC05-76RL01830.

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  1. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA

    C. Johnson, J. D. Lowrey, T. Alexander, E. Mace & A. Prinke

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  1. C. Johnson
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  2. J. D. Lowrey
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  3. T. Alexander
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  4. E. Mace
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  5. A. Prinke
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Correspondence to C. Johnson.

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Johnson, C., Lowrey, J.D., Alexander, T. et al. Measurements of the emanation of 37Ar and 39Ar from irradiated rocks and powders. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 329, 969–974 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-021-07827-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-021-07827-4

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