Surrogate isotope-containing materials for emergency response training and Methods of formation and dispersal

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11276508-B2
Application number	US-201816228465-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 20, 2018
Priority date	Dec 20, 2018
Publication date	Mar 15, 2022
Grant date	Mar 15, 2022

Abstract

Surrogate materials are in the form of solid particles that include surrogate isotopes, namely, short-lived isotopes selected and formed to serve as surrogates for the radioactive materials of a nuclear fallout without including isotopes that are, or that decay to, biologically or environmentally deleterious and persistent isotopes. The surrogate material may be formed using high-purity reactant material and irradiation and separation techniques that enable tailoring of the isotopes and ratios thereof included in the surrogate material, and the surrogate material may be dispersed, e.g., in a training environment, in solid form.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A surrogate material for emulating nuclear fallout debris, the surrogate material comprising:
solid particles comprising at least one surrogate isotope exhibiting a half-life of less than about three days, the at least one surrogate isotope selected from the group consisting of potassium-42, bromine-82, scandium-44, scandium-44m, copper-64, barium-140, lanthanum-140, zirconium-95, zirconium-97, tellurium-132, dysprosium-166, holmium-166, and molybdenum-99,
wherein at least some of the solid particles are not encapsulated in another material and comprise activated potassium bromide (KBr) salt particles comprising at least one of the potassium-42 or the bromine-82; and
wherein at least some others of the solid particles comprise a matrix material encapsulating at least one other surrogate isotope, the at least one other surrogate isotope selected from the group consisting of the scandium-44, the scandium-44m, the copper-64, the barium-140, the lanthanum-140, the zirconium-95, the zirconium-97, the tellurium-132, the dysprosium-166, the holmium-166, and the molybdenum-99.

2. The surrogate material of claim 1 , wherein the matrix material is silica glass.

3. The surrogate material of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the at least some others of the solid particles each comprise only one surrogate isotope selected from the group consisting of the scandium-44, the scandium-44m, the copper-64, the barium-140, the lanthanum-140, the zirconium-95, the zirconium-97, the tellurium-132, the dysprosium-166, the holmium-166, and the molybdenum-99.

4. The surrogate material of claim 3 , wherein at least another portion of the at least some others of the solid particles each comprise at least one other surrogate isotope selected from the group consisting of the scandium-44, the scandium-44m, the copper-64, the barium-140, the lanthanum-140, the zirconium-95, the zirconium-97, the tellurium-132, the dysprosium-166, the holmium-166, and the molybdenum-99.

5. The surrogate material of claim 1 , wherein the at least one surrogate isotope exhibits a half-life of less than two days.

6. The surrogate material of claim 1 , wherein the surrogate material is free of isotopes with half-lives greater than three days.

7. A method for dispersing a surrogate material for nuclear fallout training, the method comprising:
providing a surrogate material comprising solid particles comprising at least one surrogate isotope exhibiting a half-life of less than about three days, the at least one surrogate isotope selected from the group consisting of potassium-42, bromine-82, scandium-44, scandium-44m, copper-64, barium-140, lanthanum-140, zirconium-95, zirconium-97, tellurium-132, dysprosium-166, holmium-166, and molybdenum 99; and
dispersing the solid particles of the surrogate material at a training facility,
wherein at least some of the solid particles are not encapsulated in another material and comprise activated potassium bromide (KBr) salt particles comprising at least one of the potassium-42 or the bromine-82, and
wherein at least some others of the solid particles comprise a matrix material encapsulating at least one other surrogate isotope, the at least one other surrogate isotope selected from the group consisting of the scandium-44, the scandium-44m, the copper-64, the barium-140, the lanthanum-140, the zirconium-95, the zirconium-97, the tellurium-132, the dysprosium-166, the holmium-166, and the molybdenum-99.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein dispersing the solid particles of the surrogate material at a training facility comprises dispersing the solid particles without adding a liquid or solution to the surrogate material.

9. A method for forming a surrogate material for emulating nuclear fallout debris, the method comprising irradiating a high-purity reactant material by neutron irradiation or Bremsstrahlung irradiation to form the surrogate material comprising solid particles comprising at least one surrogate isotope exhibiting a half-life of less than about three days, the at least one surrogate isotope selected from the group consisting of potassium-42, bromine-82, scandium-44, scandium-44m, copper-64, barium-140, lanthanum-140, zirconium-95, zirconium-97, tellurium-132, dysprosium-166, holmium-166, and molybdenum-99,
wherein at least some of the solid particles are not encapsulated in another material and comprise activated potassium bromide (KBr) salt particles comprising at least one of the potassium-42 or the bromine-82, and
wherein at least some others of the solid particles comprise a matrix material encapsulating at least one other surrogate isotope, the at least one other surrogate isotope selected from the group consisting of the scandium-44, the scandium-44m, the copper-64, the barium-140, the lanthanum-140, the zirconium-95, the zirconium-97, the tellurium-132, the dysprosium-166, the holmium-166, and the molybdenum-99.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the method comprises irradiating a high-purity potassium bromide (KBr) salt by the neutron irradiation to form the activated KBr salt particles comprising the at least one of the potassium-42 or the bromine-82.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the method comprises irradiating high-purity scandium-45 material by the Bremsstrahlung irradiation to form the at least some others of the solid particles comprising at least one of the scandium-44 or the scandium-44m.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the method comprises, before irradiating the high-purity scandium-45 material, encapsulating the high-purity scandium-45 material in the matrix material, the matrix material comprising glass.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the high-purity reactant material comprises:
a KBr salt from which the at least some of the solid particles are formed; and
at least one of uranium, thorium, or actinium, from which the at least some others of the solid particles are formed.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the method comprises:
irradiating the at least one of the uranium, the thorium, or the actinium by the Bremsstrahlung irradiation to form fission products;
removing from the fission products isotopes with half-lives of greater than three days, leaving fission products exhibiting short half-lives;
separating, from the fission products exhibiting the short half-lives, at least one Bremsstrahlung-irradiation-derived surrogate isotope to provide the at least one other surrogate isotope, the at least one Bremsstrahlung-irradiation-derived surrogate isotope being selected from the group consisting of the copper-64, the barium-140, the lanthanum-140, the zirconium-95, the zirconium-97, the tellurium-132, the dysprosium-166, the holmium-166, and the molybdenum-99; and
after the separating, encapsulating the at least one Bremsstrahlung-irradiation-derived surrogate isotope in the matrix material.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein removing from the fission products isotopes with half-lives of greater than three days comprises using resins selective for at least one of uranium and strontium.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein encapsulating the at least one Bremsstrahlung-irradiation-derived surrogate isotope in the matrix material comprises synthesizing high-purity silica glass by a sol-gel reaction.

Assignees

• Battelle Energy Alliance Llc

Inventors

• Carney Kevin P
• Finck Martha R
• Horkley Jared J
• Kinlaw Mathew T
• Pfeiffer Jana K
• May Erin M
• Snow Mathew S
• Mann Nicholas R
• Mcgrath Christopher Andrew

Classifications

• G21G1/06 Primary

  by neutron irradiation · CPC title

• G21H5/00

  Applications of radiation from radioactive sources or arrangements therefor, not otherwise provided for · CPC title

• G21D3/002

  Core design; core simulations; core optimisation · CPC title

• G21G4/00

  Radioactive sources (producing neutrons or other subatomic particles, X- or gamma rays, in fusion reactors G21B, in nuclear reactors G21C, by cosmic radiation G21H7/00, in accelerators H05H; X-ray tubes H01J35/00; gamma masers H01S4/00) · CPC title

• G21G4/04

  Radioactive sources other than neutron sources (radioactive dressings A61N5/1029) · CPC title