An Autoradiographical Method Using an Imaging Plate for the Analyses of Plutonium Contamination in a Plutonium Handling Facility

Abstract

An autoradiographical method using an imaging plate (IP) was developed to analyze plutonium contamination in a plutonium handling facility. The IPs were exposed to ten specimens having a single plutonium particle. Photostimulated luminescence (PSL) images of the specimens were taken using a laser scanning machine. One relatively large spot induced by α-radioactivity from plutonium was observed in each PSL image. The plutonium-induced spots were discriminated by a threshold derived from background and the size of the spot. A good relationship between the PSL intensities of the spots and α- radioactivities measured using a radiation counter was obtained by least-square fitting, taking the fading effect into consideration. This method was applied to workplace monitoring in an actual uraniumplutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication facility. Plutonium contaminations were analyzed in ten other specimens having more than two plutonium spots. The α-radioactivities of plutonium contamination were derived from the PSL images and their relative errors were evaluated from exposure time.

KEYWORDS:

• autoradiography
• imaging plate
• fading
• image analysis
• MOX
• plutonium
• contamination
• alpha radioactivity