DETECTION OF TC-99 BY ACCELERATOR MASS-SPECTROMETRY - PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATIONS

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is an established technique for th e detection of long-lived radionuclides at environmental levels. At LL NL, planned facility upgrades and advances in detection techniques are allowing us to explore the applicability of AMS to isotopes not previ ously pursued. One such isotope is Tc-99. We have performed a number o f preliminary tests to examine the technical feasibility of AMS for th e detection of Tc-99. The questions addressed were negative ion produc tion in the cesium sputter source, transport efficiency for the ions t hrough the spectrometer, and detection efficiency for Tc-99 ions after the spectrometer. Based on the positive results of these tests, we ha ve begun to develop a measurement protocol.