Isotope- and Element-Resolved Analysis of (Trans)uranium Content of Curium Targets for Heavy-Actinide Production after Intense Neutron Irradiation in the High Flux Isotope Reactor.
4 affiliations
- 1Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz 55099 Mainz, Germany.
- 2GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH 64291 Darmstadt, Germany.
- 3Helmholtz-Institut Mainz 55099 Mainz, Germany.
- 4Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, United States.
Abstract
Curium is the heaviest element resulting from nuclear power generation and is present in spent nuclear fuel. Macroscopic amounts of transcurium elements are produced by high thermal-neutron flux irradiation of curium targets in a complex process involving many neutron captures and β⁻ decays. Competing neutron-induced fission decays enrich the resulting element mixture with lanthanides, necessitating a lanthanide-actinide separation before processing of the transcurium fraction. We report on the characterization of an aliquot of a solution from campaign 79 at the Radiochemical Engineering Development Center (REDC) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) taken before the chemical separation of the lanthanide fission products. The sample was characterized and quantified using α and γ spectrometry, as well as resonance ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS). The absolute content of 19 isotopes in the element range from Np to Cf was determined with typical uncertainties of 20% (1σ).
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BibTeX
@article{berndt2026isotope,
title = {{Isotope- and Element-Resolved Analysis of (Trans)uranium Content of Curium Targets for Heavy-Actinide Production after Intense Neutron Irradiation in the High Flux Isotope Reactor.}},
author = {Sebastian Berndt and Michael Block and Samantha K Cary and Cristian Celis-Barros and Christoph E Düllmann and Julie G Ezold and Raphael Hasse and Andrea T Loria Basto and Christoph Mokry and Thorben Niemeyer and Grace M Power and Sebastian Raeder and Dennis Renisch and Jörg Runke and Matou Stemmler and Klaus Wendt},
journal = {ACS measurement science au},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1021/acsmeasuresciau.6c00158},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42921433},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Isotope- and Element-Resolved Analysis of (Trans)uranium Content of Curium Targets for Heavy-Actinide Production after Intense Neutron Irradiation in the High Flux Isotope Reactor.
AU - Sebastian Berndt
AU - Michael Block
AU - Samantha K Cary
AU - Cristian Celis-Barros
AU - Christoph E Düllmann
AU - Julie G Ezold
AU - Raphael Hasse
AU - Andrea T Loria Basto
AU - Christoph Mokry
AU - Thorben Niemeyer
AU - Grace M Power
AU - Sebastian Raeder
AU - Dennis Renisch
AU - Jörg Runke
AU - Matou Stemmler
AU - Klaus Wendt
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/25
JO - ACS measurement science au
DO - 10.1021/acsmeasuresciau.6c00158
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42921433
AB - Curium is the heaviest element resulting from nuclear power generation and is present in spent nuclear fuel. Macroscopic amounts of transcurium elements are produced by high thermal-neutron flux irradiation of curium targets in a complex process involving many neutron captures and β⁻ decays. Competing neutron-induced fission decays enrich the resulting element mixture with lanthanides, necessitating a lanthanide-actinide separation before processing of the transcurium fraction. We report on the characterization of an aliquot of a solution from campaign 79 at the Radiochemical Engineering Development Center (REDC) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) taken before the chemical separation of the lanthanide fission products. The sample was characterized and quantified using α and γ spectrometry, as well as resonance ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS). The absolute content of 19 isotopes in the element range from Np to Cf was determined with typical uncertainties of 20% (1σ).
SN - 2694-250X
ER -