title: Determination of 243Am by pulse shape discrimination liquid scintillation spectrometry.
abstract: Alpha specific activity of 243Am was determined using pulse shape discrimination in liquid scintillation spectrometry. 238Pu, 36Cl and 239Np (purified from 243Am) were used for obtaining the spillover of alpha/beta particles into the beta/alpha channels, respectively. Synthetic mixtures of 241Am/243Am were prepared. Using the alpha-specific activity, weights of the stock solutions used and the half-life of 241Am and 243Am isotopes, the expected 241Am/243Am atom ratios in the mixtures were determined and compared with those obtained by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS). An agreement of about 1% was obtained between the 241Am/243Am atom ratios determined by the two methods. This shows that liquid scintillation counting with pulse shape discrimination can be used for 243Am determination with an accuracy better than 1%.
authors.affiliation: Fuel Chemistry Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai 400 085, India.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Alamelu
authors.forename: S P D
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Bhade
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.forename: K K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Narayan
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Aggarwal