Year
2006
Abstract
In the framework of the cooperation agreement between the Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC) and the United States Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA), ABACC support laboratories are collaborating with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to develop the capability to measure plutonium, and uranium and plutonium jointly present in environmental samples. Using procedures based on discussions among the DOE experts and participants from Brazilian and Argentinean laboratories, ABACC-support laboratories participated with DOE laboratories in a round-robin exercise to determine the amount and isotopic composition of plutonium, at levels as low as 0.2 ng of Pu, in samples prepared from dried solutions of reference materials. The results from this exercise are presented in this paper along with the difficulties encountered in achieving these results and the appropriate measures being taken to improve laboratory capabilities in Brazil and Argentina. The next planned activity will be training on separation of uranium and plutonium jointly present in environmental samples. This will be followed by another round-robin exercise in which swipe samples spiked with low-level uranium and plutonium will be analyzed for the amount and isotopic composition of both elements. After successful demonstration by ABACC support laboratories of the ability to analyze both uranium and plutonium at levels expected in real environmental samples, this cooperative effort will conclude with an environmental sampling exercise in which samples will be collected from nuclear facilities in Brazil and Argentina.