Real-Time Measurement of Plutonium in Air by Direct-Inlet Surface Ionization Mass Spectrometry. Status Report

摘要

A new technique is being developed for monitoring low-level airborne plutonium on a real-time basis. The technique is based on surface ionization mass spectrometry of airborne particles. It will be capable of measuring plutonium concentrations below the maximum permissible concentration (MPC) level. A complete mass spectrometer was designed and constructed for this purpose. Major components which were developed and made operational for the instrument include an efficient inlet for directly sampling particles in air, a wide dynamic range ion detector and a minicomputer-based ion-burst measurement system. Calibration of the direct-inlet mass spectrometer (DIMS) was initiated to establish the instrument's response to plutonium dioxide as a function of concentration and particle size. This work revealed an important problem - bouncing of particles upon impact with the ionizing filament. Particle bounce results in a significant loss of measurement sensitivity. The feasibility of using an oven ionizer to overcome the particle bounce problem has been demonstrated. A rhenium oven ionizer was designed and constructed for the purpose of trapping particles which enter via the direct inlet. High-speed particles were trapped in the oven yielding a measurement sensitivity comparable to that for particles which are preloaded. Development of the Pu DIMS can now be completed by optimizing the oven design and calibrating the instrument's performance with UO sub 2 and CeO sub 2 particles as analogs to PuO sub 2 particles. (ERA citation 05:027699)