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We have studied photoluminescence (PL) properties of vacuum pump mineral oil as a function of the type and intensity of ionizing radiation exposure. The mineral oil has a simple aliphatic structure, which possesses no chromophore in the traditional sense. Unexpected PL in the mineral oil has characteristic features such as variation of the emission peak wavelength depending on the excitation wavelength and intensity dramatically increasing with radiation dose. The observed behavior can be understood in the framework of a previously suggested model introducing aggregation-induced PL and the formation of conjugated clusters comprising nontraditional chromophores. Our findings can be used for the development of optical sensors for real-time monitoring of oil utilized in vacuum pumps in nuclear fusion reactors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explored two approaches to recover uranium and plutonium from aqueous solutions at pH 4 and pH 7 using water-soluble star-like polyacrylamide polymers with a dextran core. In the first approach, a solution comprising a neutral or ionomer polymer was mixed with a radionuclide solution to form polymer–metal complexes that were then retained by ultrafiltration (UF) membranes under applied pressure. The same polymers were first deposited on the membrane in the second approach using pressure-driven flow. The applied polymers had an overall diameter of gyration of 120 nm, which exceeded the nominal diameter of the UF membrane pores. The polymers showed a high affinity to uranyl but could also be used to extract Pu from neutral or near-neutral pH solutions. Direct-flow single-step filtration and alpha spectrometry demonstrated that the UF membranes containing star-like copolymers could recover 99% of U and up to 60% of Pu from deionized water after filtering 15 mL solutions containing 25 ppm and 33 ppb of the actinides, correspondingly. The sorption capacity of the polymers for uranium could be measured as 1mg U per mg of the polymer after six subsequent filtration steps. Alpha spectroscopy of the deposited actinides revealed peculiarities of the structural organization of polymers and their complexes with U or Pu, depending on the approach. Though both approaches were efficient, the second approach (deposition of the polymer on the membrane followed by filtration) has an additional advantage of protecting the membrane pores from capillary collapse by filling them with the polymer chains. Therefore, these polymer-modified membranes could be used either in continuous or multi-step filtration process with drying after each step without deterioration of their sorption characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of different processing steps and processing conditions for the fabrication of Y2O3 and Lu2O3 ceramics were investigated, particularly the effects of calcination, and sintering temperature on the content of open-volume and electronic defects. Ceramic bodies were prepared from calcined powders by sintering from 1400°C to 1700°C for 20 h. Density was determined by the Archimedes method and showed pellets reached about 99% of Y2O3 density for temperatures ≥1450°C, and reached 98% for sintering at 1700°C for Lu2O3. The content of open-volume defects was followed by positron annihilation lifetime ( PAL) measurements. For both materials, two lifetimes were obtained. The faster lifetime, 211 ps for Y2O3 and 204 ps for Lu2O3, was assigned to bulk annihilation with possible contribution of grain boundaries. The longer lifetime was assigned to positronium annihilation in open-volume defects with radii of 2-4 Å. Doppler broadening analysis revealed the same type of defect in Lu2O3 ceramics for all sintering temperatures. PAL analysis results showed that densification was achieved through the elimination and agglomeration of open-volume defects. Thermoluminescence ( TL) measurements of Y2O3 showed that sintering is beneficial in eliminating traps and/or recombination centers, and that higher sintering temperatures increase TL signal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A preliminary investigation of the scintillation response of rare earth-doped fluoride nanoparticles is reported. Nanoparticles of CaF2 : Eu, BaF2 : Ce, and LaF3 : Eu were produced by precipitation methods using ammonium di-n-octadecyldithiophosphate (ADDP) as a ligand that controls growth and lessens agglomeration. The structure and morphology were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, while the scintillation properties of the nanoparticles were determined by means of X-ray and 241Am irradiation. The unique aspect of scintillation of nanoparticles is related to the migration of carriers in the nanoscintillator. Our results showed that even nanoparticles as small as ~4nm in size effectively scintillate, despite the diffusion length of e-h pairs being considerably larger than the nanoparticles themselves, and suggest that nanoparticles can be used for radiation detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The effect of the spatial variability of K d on calculations of contaminant travel time in the vadose zone was determined. Depth discrete measurements of K d were made for a suite of radionuclides (109Cd, 57Co, 60Co, 85Sr, 137Cs, and 88Y) utilizing a sediment core from the E-Area at the Savannah River Site. The K d’s were ordered as 85Sr2+ < 137Cs+ < 109Cd2+ < 57Co2+ = 60Co2+ << 88Y3+ and the values generally fell below or near the lowest quartile of values reported in the literature. Correlations were generally weak between soil properties and K d values. Most importantly, all of the K d distributions could be reasonably approximated as log-normal. Deterministic and stochastic calculations of contaminant travel time to the water table were made. The deterministic calculations were based on each of three conceptual models of the vadose zone: complete stratification (17 strata, each with a different K d), two strata (two sections of the vadose zone, each characterized by a single, average K d), and unstratified (a single zone with an average K d). Stochastic calculations were based on log-normal fits to the K d data. The two strata model generally yielded travel times 2× greater than those in the completely stratified model. The unstratified model yielded travel times that were between 3 and 5 times greater than the completely stratified model. The stochastic mean travel times were comparable to those of the two strata model. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]