[ RadSafe ] RE: Measurement of U-236 (was re: Martin Tondel´s thesis - Sweden and Chernobyl) [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

[Peter Thomas]

And what if they just do ICP-MS?

As to the source of any U-236, I think Mike Brennan has slightly missed the point Mike McNaughton was making, i.e. there was some DU produced from reprocessed "spent" reactor fuel, hence it had other stuff in it.

Peter Thomas
Medical Physics Section
ARPANSA
 


-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On Behalf Of John R Johnson
Sent: Tuesday, 12 June 2007 10:47 AM
To: Brennan, Mike (DOH); radsafe at radlab.nl
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Martin Tondel´s thesis - Sweden and Chernobyl


Radsafers

This is an interesting "thread".

Having managed bioassay labs, I don't think U-236 would be easy to identify. 
Its alpha emission is 4.57 MeV (below the alpha energy of  most natural 
radionuclides, and therefore likely high "background" counts) and the 
photons from the ~ 50 keV excited state of Th-232 would be very difficult to 
measure unless a special low energy detector was being used.

Hence I agree with Mike that they have "misidentified  something"

John
***************
John R Johnson, PhD
CEO, IDIAS, Inc.
Vancouver, B. C.
Canada
(604) 222-9840
idias at interchange.ubc.ca


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brennan, Mike (DOH)" <Mike.Brennan at DOH.WA.GOV>
To: <radsafe at radlab.nl>
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2007 5:05 PM
Subject: RE: [ RadSafe ] Martin Tondel´s thesis - Sweden and Chernobyl


How would the U-236 get into the DU?  DU is produced when U-235 is 
concentrated.  Are you saying that the uranium from the reactor was mixed 
with natural uranium, and then U-235 was concentrated to the desired 
enrichment level?  Do you have any references on this?

I think a more likely explanation for a lab finding U-236 in a sample is 
that they don't know what they are doing, and misidentified something.  I've 
seen that a number of times, particularly when activists are involved.

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On Behalf 
Of Michael McNaughton
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2007 2:21 PM
To: edmond0033; radsafe at radlab.nl
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Martin Tondel´s thesis - Sweden and Chernobyl

At 07:14 PM 06/10/2007, edmond0033 wrote:
>I have a question which has puzzled me of late.  There is a feeling 
>that the DU contains Uranium-236

Long ago, some enriched uranium was reprocessed. Enriched uranium that has 
been in a reactor contains U-236, and during the re-enrichment some of this U-236 ended up in DU.

mike
Mike McNaughton
Los Alamos National Lab.
email: mcnaught at LANL.gov or mcnaughton at LANL.gov
phone: 505-667-6130; page: 505-664-7733


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