ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Status report of the first AMS laboratory in the Czech Republic at the Nuclear Physics Institute, Řež

Jan Kučera, Kateřina Pachnerová Brabcová, Mojmír Němec, Jan Kameník, Jakub Trubač, Veronika Brychová, Ivo Světlík, Jan John, Roman Garba, and Martin Daňo

Czech Academy of Sciences, Nuclear Physics Institute, Husinec–Řež, Czech Republic

E-mail: kucera@ujf.cas.cz

Received: 4 December 2022  Accepted: 31 May 2023

Abstract:

The first accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) laboratory in the Czech Republic has been established and put into routine operation in February 2022. Here we briefly describe the facilities available, namely a 300 kV multi-isotope low-energy AMS system (MILEA) capable of determination ¹⁰Be, ¹⁴C, ²⁶Al, ⁴¹Ca, ¹²⁹I, isotopes of U, especially ²³⁶U, Pu and other actinoids, and accessories for ¹⁴C measurements, which include a gas interface system, a preparative gas chromatography system for compound-specific radiocarbon dating analysis, and an isotope-ratio mass spectrometer. The first results achieved for separation and measurement of the above radionuclides (except for ⁴¹Ca) are also reported, with the main focus on ¹⁴C measurements. A specimen breakdown of 729 graphitised samples analysed for ¹⁴C so far is presented, as well as a proof of measurement stability of the MILEA system obtained by analysis of radiocarbon standards and analytical blanks. For the other radionuclides, well proven or novel procedures for sample preparation and measurement are presented.

Keywords: Accelerator mass spectrometry; 10Be; 14C; 26Al; 129I; 236U; Radiocarbon dating

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-023-02904-2

Chemical Papers 77 (12) 7311–7317 (2023)