Mass Measurements near N=Z

Abstract After an outline of the physics motivations, that illustrate why we think it is important to measure masses in the region N≈Z, we report on on experiments performed at Ganil. An experiment aimed at measuring the masses of proton-rich nuclei in the mass region A ≈ 60–80 has been performed, using a direct time-of-flight technique in conjunction with SISSI and the SPEG spectrometer at GANIL. The nuclei were produced via the fragmentation of a 78 Kr beam (73 meV/nucleon). A novel technique for the purification of the secondary beams, based on the stripping of the ions and using the α and the SPEG spectrometers, was succesfully checked. It allows for good selectivity without altering the beam quality. Secondary ions of 100 Ag, 100 Cd, 100 In and 100 Sn were produced via the fusion-evaporation reaction 50 Cr + 58 Ni at an energy of 5.1 MeV/nucleon, and were accelerated simultaneously in the second cyclotron of GANIL (CSS2). About 10 counts were observed from the production and acceleration of 100 Sn 22+ . The masses of 100 Cd, 100 In and 100 Sn were measured with respect to 100 Ag using the CSS2 cyclotron, with precisions of 2 × 10 −6 , 3 × 10 −6 and 10 −5 respectively

Actinides, accelerators and erosion

Fallout isotopes can be used as artificial tracers of soil erosion and sediment accumulation. The most commonly used isotope to date has been 137Cs. Concentrations of 137Cs are, however, significantly lower in the Southern Hemisphere, and furthermore have now declined to 35% of original values due to radioactive decay. As a consequence the future utility of 137Cs is limited in Australia, with many erosion applications becoming untenable within the next 20 years, and there is a need to replace it with another tracer. Plutonium could fill this role, and has the advantages that there were six times as many atoms of Pu as of 137Cs in fallout, and any loss to decay has been negligible due to the long half-lives of the plutonium isotopes. Uranium-236 is another long-lived fallout isotope with significant potential for exploitation as a tracer of soil and sediment movement. Uranium is expected to be more mobile in soils than plutonium (or caesium), and hence the 236U/Pu ratio will vary with soil depth, and so could provide an independent measure of the amount of soil loss. In this paper we discuss accelerator based ultra-sensitive measurements of plutonium and 236U isotopes and their advantages over 137Cs as tracers of soil erosion and sediment movement

Uranium comparison by means of AMS and ICP-MS and Pu and

Italy built and commissioned 4 nuclear power plants between 1958-1978, which delivered a total of 1500 MW. All four were closed down after the Chernobyl accident following a referendum in 1987. One of the plants was Garigliano, commissioned in 1959. This plant used a 160 MW BWR1 (SEU of 2.3 %) and was operational from 1964 to 1979, when it was switched off for maintenance. It was definitively stopped in 1982, and is presently being decommissioned. We report here details on the chemistry procedure and on the measurements for soil samples, collected up to 4.5 km from the Nuclear Plant. A comparison between uranium (238U) concentration as determined by means of AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) and by ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry) techniques respectively at the ANU (Australian National University) and at the Ecowise company in Canberra, Australia, is reported, as well as 236U and 239;240Pu concentration results detected by AMS. 236U/238U and 240Pu/239Pu isotopic ratios by means of AMS are also provided. A contamination from Chernobyl is visible in the 137Cs/239+240Pu activity ratio measurements

Uranium comparison by means of AMS and ICP-MS and Pu and 137Cs results around an Italian Nuclear Power Plant

Italy built and commissioned 4 nuclear power plants between 1958-1978, which delivered a total of 1500 MW. All four were closed down after the Chernobyl accident following a referendum in 1987. One of the plants was Garigliano, commissioned in 1959. This plant used a 160 MW BWR1 (SEU of 2.3 %) and was operational from 1964 to 1979, when it was switched off for maintenance. It was definitively stopped in 1982, and is presently being decommissioned. We report here details on the chemistry procedure and on the measurements for soil samples, collected up to 4.5 km from the Nuclear Plant. A comparison between uranium (238U) concentration as determined by means of AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) and by ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry) techniques respectively at the ANU (Australian National University) and at the Ecowise company in Canberra, Australia, is reported, as well as 236U and 239;240Pu concentration results detected by AMS. 236U/238U and 240Pu/239Pu isotopic ratios by means of AMS are also provided. A contamination from Chernobyl is visible in the 137Cs/239+240Pu activity ratio measurements

Using 239Pu as a tracer for fine sediment sources in the Daly River, Northern Australia

10.1051/epjconf/20159100006EPJ Web of Conferences91

Holocene evolution of the granite based Lizard Island and MacGillivray Reef systems, Northern Great Barrier Reef

Radiocarbon dating of seven drill cores from both the windward Lizard Island fringing reef and the windward and leeward margins of MacGillivray platform reef, Northern Great Barrier Reef Province, reveal the Holocene evolution of these two mid shelf coral reefs. The windward margin at Lizard Island started growing approximately 6,700 calendar years before present (cal yr BP) directly on an assumed granite basement and approached present day sea level approximately 4,000 cal yr BP. Growth of the windward margin at MacGillivray Reef was initiated by 7,600 cal yr BP and approached present day sea level by approximately 5,600 cal yr BP. The leeward margin at MacGillivray was initiated by 8,200 cal yr BP also directly on an assumed granite basement, but only approached sea level relatively recently, between 260 and 80 cal yr BP. None of the cores penetrated the Holocene-Pleistocene unconformity. The absence of Pleistocene reefal deposits, at 15 m depth in the cores from MacGillivray Reef, raises the possibility that the shelf in this region has subsided relative to modern day sea level by at least 15 m since the last interglacial [125,000 years ago (ka)]