Search for A=60 fragments from neutron-induced fission with accelerator mass spectrometry

Interstellar Fe60 in Antarctica

“…In situ production is insignificant in Antarctica because of the absence of sufficient stable target elements and production through spallation on gas molecules in the atmosphere only generates lighter nuclei, since Ar is the heaviest nontrace element in the atmosphere [12]. 60 Fe is produced in nuclear reactors by double neutron capture on stainless steel components and dissolved Fe in the coolant, whereas superasymmetric fission of 235 U is not able to produce significant quantities of 60 Fe because of the low fission yield < 10 −8 % [46]. The produced 60 Fe is confined within the reactor containment and so far even major nuclear accidents, such as Fukushima, do not expose measurable quantities of 60 Fe to the environment [47].…”

F60eAnomaly in a Deep-Sea Manganese Crust and Implications for a Nearby Supernova Source

“…On Earth, a much smaller concentration has to be expected because of the atmospheric shielding from CRs. Naturally occurring nuclear fission cannot produce 60 Fe in significant amounts, neither as a fission product [9] nor via fission neutrons, since the target nuclei to be considered are not stable. However, large amounts of 60 Fe are produced by stellar nucleosynthesis, as recently confirmed by the detection of the decay of 60 Fe in our galaxy by the RHESSI satellite [10].…”

Atomic spectrometry update. Atomic mass spectrometry

“…66 Interferences on Cr and Mg isotopes were reduced by the use of NH 3 as a reaction gas. The LOD for 28 Si 1 and 29 Si 1 were greatly improved over those for conventional ICP-MS; however, NH 3 was found to be unsuitable as a reaction gas for the determination of 30 Si 1 , presumably due to the formation of NO 1 species. The results of S/B studies indicated that the optimized experimental conditions for DRC were similar to those for solution nebulization and ETV for Cr, but different for Mg and Si.…”

“…The high sensitivity of AMS has been exploited to measure the extremely low yields of products from super-asymmetric neutron-induced fission of uranium. 28 The ability to measure 60 Fe:Fe ratios down to 1610 216 with AMS allowed 60 Fe fission products to be detected, even at yields as low as 1610 212 %. Iron was extracted from high-level radioactive waste concentrate by a two-step procedure involving complexation on and elution from a column of Tru-spec 2 resin followed by cation exchange chromatography.…”

“…The results of S/B studies indicated that the optimized experimental conditions for DRC were similar to those for solution nebulization and ETV for Cr, but different for Mg and Si. Potential interferences on 28 Si 1 were found to be reduced by the use of NH 3 reaction gas in a DRC. 67 Optimization of operating parameters improved the S/N by over an order of magnitude for the determination of Si in steel, giving a LOD of 2 mg g 21 .…”