RE: [ RadSafe ] Martin Tondel´s thesis - Sweden a nd Chernobyl

[Cindy Bloom]

Beginning in the 1950s, uranium used in enrichment plants was derived from 
irradiated uranium (aka recycled uranium), as well as from uranium 
ore.  The U-236 is a component of the irradiated uranium.  During U-235 
enrichment of recycled uranium, some of the U-236 ends up in the enriched 
material, but some also remains in the depleted uranium.

The following is one of many references (you can do a search on recycled 
uranium or U-236) that mentions U-236 in recycled (and depleted) uranium.
http://www.wise-uranium.org/pdf/duinve.pdf

To this novice, a review of the decay scheme for U-236 indicates that U-236 
might be challenging to detect by radiological methods in low levels in the 
presence of other uranium isotopes.  By mass, U-236 is likely to be a very 
small percentage of a depleted uranium source term.

At 05:05 PM 6/11/2007 -0700, Brennan, Mike  \(DOH\) wrote:
>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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