Characterization Of Plutonium Oxides By Alpha-Induced Prompt Gamma-Ray Analysis

Excess plutonium oxide is currently being packaged throughout the DOE complex for long-term storage. Information on the contents in each item is often limited to process knowledge and is sometimes completely unknown. An alpha-particle induced, selfinterrogation method is being used to aid in the characterization of these plutonium oxide materials. Prompt gamma-rays produced in alpha-induced reactions can provide information on contaminants within the plutonium oxide matrix. This non-intrusive technique provides some elemental information that is impractical and prohibitively expensive to obtain by standard destructive analysis methods. In particular, chlorine and fluorine contamination that could contribute to container corrosion may be readily identified by this technique. The information provided by the prompt-gamma analysis on each storage container will be used as part of an enhanced surveillance plan to help identify containers that may be at increased risk during long-term storage. Once identified, the higher-risk containers will be examined more frequently than the normal population and some will be opened and destructively examined. As part of the Material Identification and Surveillance program, some studies have been performed at Los Alamos to determine the quality of the prompt-gamma measurement data. Comparison of prompt gamma-ray data with chemical analysis of some typical legacy plutonium oxides is presented. The application of the prompt-gamma measurement technique for plutonium oxides will be discussed along with the advantages and disadvantages of this nondestructive technique.