Characterization of an orphan Ra–Be neutron source

Eyal Elish; Michal Brandis; Gustavo Haquin; Itzhak Hershko; Zohar Yungrais; Ofer Aviv; Amiram Moyal; Maor Assulin; Yehuda Nawi; Oren Solomon; Yevgeni Zakon; Arnon Rubinshtein; Boaz Astrachan

doi:10.1007/s10967-021-07798-6

Characterization of an orphan Ra–Be neutron source

Eyal Elish, Michal Brandis, Gustavo Haquin, Itzhak Hershko, Zohar Yungrais, Ofer Aviv, Amiram Moyal, Maor Assulin, Yehuda Nawi, Oren Solomon, Yevgeni Zakon, Arnon Rubinshtein, Boaz Astrachan

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

An orphan radium-beryllium (Ra–Be) neutron source (Nuclear Chicago Corporation) detected inside a scrap metal shipping container, was seized and subjected to nuclear forensic analysis. Physical and chemical characterization methods were used before and after source dismantling. Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) proved to be most useful for initial analysis of the source. Dissolution of the Ra-Be capsule was followed with elemental analysis by Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (AES) and Mass Spectrometry (MS). Model age determination by ICP-MS (81.6 y ± 4.08) was found to be sensitive to insufficient accuracy in measuring daughters present in the parent solution.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	51-60
Number of pages	10
Journal	Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry
Volume	329
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-021-07798-6
State	Published - 1 Jul 2021
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Neutron radiography
Nuclear forensics
Ra-Be neutron source
Radio-chronometry
X-ray radiography

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Analytical Chemistry
Nuclear Energy and Engineering
Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging
Pollution
Spectroscopy
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

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10.1007/s10967-021-07798-6

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title = "Characterization of an orphan Ra–Be neutron source",

abstract = "An orphan radium-beryllium (Ra–Be) neutron source (Nuclear Chicago Corporation) detected inside a scrap metal shipping container, was seized and subjected to nuclear forensic analysis. Physical and chemical characterization methods were used before and after source dismantling. Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) proved to be most useful for initial analysis of the source. Dissolution of the Ra-Be capsule was followed with elemental analysis by Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (AES) and Mass Spectrometry (MS). Model age determination by ICP-MS (81.6 y ± 4.08) was found to be sensitive to insufficient accuracy in measuring daughters present in the parent solution.",

keywords = "Neutron radiography, Nuclear forensics, Ra-Be neutron source, Radio-chronometry, X-ray radiography",

author = "Eyal Elish and Michal Brandis and Gustavo Haquin and Itzhak Hershko and Zohar Yungrais and Ofer Aviv and Amiram Moyal and Maor Assulin and Yehuda Nawi and Oren Solomon and Yevgeni Zakon and Arnon Rubinshtein and Boaz Astrachan",

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doi = "10.1007/s10967-021-07798-6",

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T1 - Characterization of an orphan Ra–Be neutron source

AU - Elish, Eyal

AU - Brandis, Michal

AU - Haquin, Gustavo

AU - Hershko, Itzhak

AU - Yungrais, Zohar

AU - Aviv, Ofer

AU - Moyal, Amiram

AU - Assulin, Maor

AU - Nawi, Yehuda

AU - Solomon, Oren

AU - Zakon, Yevgeni

AU - Rubinshtein, Arnon

AU - Astrachan, Boaz

PY - 2021/7/1

Y1 - 2021/7/1

N2 - An orphan radium-beryllium (Ra–Be) neutron source (Nuclear Chicago Corporation) detected inside a scrap metal shipping container, was seized and subjected to nuclear forensic analysis. Physical and chemical characterization methods were used before and after source dismantling. Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) proved to be most useful for initial analysis of the source. Dissolution of the Ra-Be capsule was followed with elemental analysis by Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (AES) and Mass Spectrometry (MS). Model age determination by ICP-MS (81.6 y ± 4.08) was found to be sensitive to insufficient accuracy in measuring daughters present in the parent solution.

AB - An orphan radium-beryllium (Ra–Be) neutron source (Nuclear Chicago Corporation) detected inside a scrap metal shipping container, was seized and subjected to nuclear forensic analysis. Physical and chemical characterization methods were used before and after source dismantling. Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) proved to be most useful for initial analysis of the source. Dissolution of the Ra-Be capsule was followed with elemental analysis by Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (AES) and Mass Spectrometry (MS). Model age determination by ICP-MS (81.6 y ± 4.08) was found to be sensitive to insufficient accuracy in measuring daughters present in the parent solution.

KW - Neutron radiography

KW - Nuclear forensics

KW - Ra-Be neutron source

KW - Radio-chronometry

KW - X-ray radiography

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VL - 329

SP - 51

EP - 60

JO - Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry

JF - Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry

IS - 1

ER -

Characterization of an orphan Ra–Be neutron source

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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