Measurements of radioactive gamma emitters in trinitities

Abstract

Trynitite is a material in form of a glass created as a result of a nuclear explosion close to ground. The mechanism of its formation is similar to the formation of impact glasses and tektites, although the material usually contains trapped bubble voids, much more water and it is radioactive. High resolution non-destructive gamma spectrometry technique was used to measure rdionuclides in the chips of trinitities. The signals were detected for 137Cs, 152Eu, 226Ra, 241Am and 133Ba. The most extreme concentration was found for cesium 137Cs which the specific activity reached the level of 2317 mBq/g. Much lower values were obtained for 241Am – 722 mBq/g, 152Eu – 211 mBq/g, 226Ra – 451 mBq/g and 133Ba – 94 mBq/g