Operation of a high purity germanium crystal in liquid argon as a Compton suppressed radiation spectrometer

A high purity germanium crystal was operated in liquid argon as a Compton suppressed radiation spectrometer. Spectroscopic quality resolution of less than 1% of the full-width half maximum of full energy deposition peaks was demonstrated. The construction of the small apparatus used to obtain these results is reported. The design concept is to use the liquid argon bath to both cool the germanium crystal to operating temperatures and act as a scintillating veto. The scintillation light from the liquid argon can veto cosmic-rays, external primordial radiation, and gamma radiation that does not fully deposit within the germanium crystal. This technique was investigated for its potential impact on ultra-low background gamma-ray spectroscopy. This work is based on a concept initially developed for future germanium-based neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments.Comment: Paper presented at the SORMA XI Conference, Ann Arbor, MI, May 200

Construction and Testing of a Low-power Cryostat for MARS

A low-power cryostat was designed and built for the Multi-sensor Airborne Radiation Survey (MARS) project for the purpose of housing a close-packed high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector array of 14 HPGe detectors. The power consumption of the cold mass in the cryostat was measured to be 4.07(11) watts, sufficient for 5.5 days of continuous operation using only 8 liters of liquid nitrogen. Temperatures throughout the cryostat were measured by platinum resistance temperature detectors. These measurements were used to determine the emissivity of the copper used in the floating radiation shield and outer cryostat wall, which was constructed using chemically cleaned and passivated copper metal. Using a PNNL-developed passivation process, an emissivity of 2.5(3)% was achieved for copper

Groundwater residence time estimates obscured by anthropogenic carbonate

© The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Seltzer, A. M., Bekaert, D. V., Barry, P. H., Durkin, K. E., Mace, E. K., Aalseth, C. E., Zappala, J. C., Mueller, P., Jurgens, B., & Kulongoski, J. T. Groundwater residence time estimates obscured by anthropogenic carbonate. Science Advances, 7(17), (2021): eabf3503, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abf3503.Groundwater is an important source of drinking and irrigation water. Dating groundwater informs its vulnerability to contamination and aids in calibrating flow models. Here, we report measurements of multiple age tracers (14C, 3H, 39Ar, and 85Kr) and parameters relevant to dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) from 17 wells in California’s San Joaquin Valley (SJV), an agricultural region that is heavily reliant on groundwater. We find evidence for a major mid-20th century shift in groundwater DIC input from mostly closed- to mostly open-system carbonate dissolution, which we suggest is driven by input of anthropogenic carbonate soil amendments. Crucially, enhanced open-system dissolution, in which DIC equilibrates with soil CO2, fundamentally affects the initial 14C activity of recently recharged groundwater. Conventional 14C dating of deeper SJV groundwater, assuming an open system, substantially overestimates residence time and thereby underestimates susceptibility to modern contamination. Because carbonate soil amendments are ubiquitous, other groundwater-reliant agricultural regions may be similarly affected.his work was conducted as a part of the USGS National Water Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) Enhanced Trends Project (https://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/studies/gwtrends/). Measurements at Argonne National Laboratory were supported by Department of Energy, Office of Science under contract DE-AC02-06CH11357. Measurements at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory were part of the Ultra-Sensitive Nuclear Measurements Initiative conducted under the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program. PNNL is operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC05-76RL01830. This work was also partially supported by NSF award OCE-1923915 (to A.M.S. and P.H.B. at WHOI)

Opportunities for Decay Counting of Environmental Radioisotopes Using Ultra-low-background Detection Systems

Executive Summary We present results from a scoping study whose intent was to define challenge measurements to be pursued on the Ultra-Sensitive Nuclear Measurements Initiative. Potential challenge measurements using new radiation detection technology in the shallow underground laboratory that would have substantial impact in environmental science were the focus of this study

Initial Component Testing for a Germanium Array Cryostat

This report describes progress on the construction of two ultra-low-background cryostats that are part of the NA-22 funded “Radionuclide Laboratories” (RN Labs) project. Each cryostat will house seven high-purity germanium crystals (HPGe). These cryostats are being built from a limited set of materials that are known to have very low levels of radioactive impurities. The RN Labs instrument is designed to take advantage of low background performance, high detection efficiency, and - coincidence signatures to provide unprecedented gamma spectroscopy sensitivity. The project is focused on improving gamma analysis capabilities for nuclear detonation detection (NDD) applications. The instrument also has the potential for basic nuclear physics research. Section 1 provides the background for the project. Section 2 discusses germanium crystal acceptance testing. Design problems were found after the first delivery of new detectors from the vendor, Canberra Semiconductors. The first four crystals were returned for repair, resulting in a delay in crystal procurement. Section 3 provides an update on copper electroforming. In general, electroforming parts for RN Labs has proceeded smoothly, but there have been recent problems in electroforming three large copper parts necessary for the project. Section 4 describes the first round of testing for the instrument: anti-cosmic scintillator testing, electronics testing, and initial vacuum testing. Section 5 concludes with an overall description of the state of the project and challenges that remain

Opportunities for Decay Counting of Environmental Radioisotopes Using Ultra-low-background Detection Systems

Executive Summary We present results from a scoping study whose intent was to define challenge measurements to be pursued on the Ultra-Sensitive Nuclear Measurements Initiative. Potential challenge measurements using new radiation detection technology in the shallow underground laboratory that would have substantial impact in environmental science were the focus of this study