Investigation of fissile materials collected from a non-critical nuclear explosion site using non-destructive analytical techniques

In this work, we identify, isolate, and characterize hot particles from bulk soil samples collected from a non-critical nuclear detonation site. Several non-destructive techniques were used to identify and isolate the nuclear fuel particles from soil samples. Digital autoradiography was used to indicate and localize individual 'hot particles', while γ-spectroscopy was employed to confirm plutonium presence. In addition, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy were used to study the surface morphology and elemental composition of the hot particles. Initial sample analyses indicate that explosively dispersed non-critical fuel morphology may be markedly different from other non-critical accidents. (author)