Quantification of 242 Pu with a Microcalorimeter Gamma
Spectrometer

Year
2023
Author(s)
Emily Teti - Los Alamos National Laboratory
Daniel T Becker - University of Colorado
Douglas A Bennett - National Institute of Standards and Technology
Matthew H Carpenter - Los Alamos National Laboratory
Mark Croce - Los Alamos National Laboratory
Krystel De Castro - Los Alamos National Laboratory
E.A. Feissle - Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
Joseph Fowler - National Institute of Standards and Technology
Johnathon Gard - University of Colorado, Boulder
Katrina E Koehler - Los Alamos National Laboratory
John A.B. Mates - University of Colorado, Boulder
David Mercer - Los Alamos National Laboratory
DG McNeel - Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
Nathan Ortiz - University of Colorado, Boulder
Daniel R Schmidt - National Institute of Standards and Technology
K.A. Schreiber - Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
D.S. Swetz - National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO, USA
Joel Ullom - National Institute of Standards and Technology
Leila R Vale - National Institute of Standards and Technology
Sophie L Weidenbenner - Los Alamos National Laboratory
Abigail Wessels - University of Colorado
Ryan Winkler - Los Alamos National Laboratory
File Attachment
finalpaper_142_0510015204.pdf10.78 MB
Abstract
We report observation of the 103-keV and 159-keV gamma ray signatures of 242 Pu using the SOFIA microcalorimeter gamma-ray spectrometer. This is the first observation of these gamma rays in a non-destructive measurement of an unprepared sample, and so represents an important advance in nuclear material accountancy. We extract the gamma emission probabilities at these two energies and compare with prior destructive analysis results. We also confirm that several public databases include an order-of-magnitude error in the emission probabilities at 103 keV, and report an improved centroid energy for this peak.