Evaluation of ammonium bifluoride fusion for rapid dissolution in post-detonation nuclear forensic analysis
-
Nicholas T. Hubley
and
J. David Robertson
Abstract
Dissolution of geological reference materials by fusion with ammonium bifluoride, NH4HF2 or ABF, was evaluated for its potential use in post-detonation nuclear forensics. The fusion procedure was optimized such that the total dissolution time was <3 h without compromising recovery. Geological reference materials containing various levels of silicates were dissolved and measured by ICP-MS to quantify elemental recovery. Dissolutions of NIST 278 obsidian and urban canyon matrix were performed with radiotracer spikes to measure potential loss of volatile elements during the fusion procedure via gamma-ray spectroscopy. Elemental percent recoveries obtained by ICP-MS were found to be 80–120% while recoveries of radiotracers were observed to be 90–100% with the exception of iodine.
Acknowledgments
This work was funded by DTRA Grant No. HDTRA1-15-1-0016. We thank the University of Missouri Columbia and MURR for use of facilities. Technical support provided by Jim Guthrie, Barry Higgins, and Ruth Ann Ngwenyama.
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Supplemental Material:
The online version of this article offers supplementary material (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ract-2016-2735).
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- Measurement of activation cross sections of the 27Al(n,α)24Na and 27Al(n,p)27Mg reactions with quasi-monoenergetic neutrons
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