Compact Accelerator Mass Spectrometer

The Purchaser is inviting tenders on the terms set out in this further competition for the supply, delivery and installation of a Compact Accelerator Mass Spectrometer System.

We seek to: 1.To source, install and commission a compact, multi-isotope, compact accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) facility.

2.

To establish an AMS capability in the UK based on this facility targeted primarily on assisting the clean-up of the UK nuclear legacy and related compatible trace analytical requirements.

3.

To have the system in place, commissioned and operational with ancillary facilities by 4th April 2022.

A compact, multi-isotope AMS exploits negative ions, deflecting their path with a magnetic field at low energy, accelerates them and strips them of electrons, passes them through another magnetic field for high-energy mass analysis and collects and identifies them in a particle detector.

In doing this, it is possible to separate abundant and rare isotopes of similar masses to yield ratios, i.e., 240Pu/239Pu, in the context of this case.

An AMS has very significant advantages for long-lived radionuclides for measurements at trace levels over those made on the basis of radioactive decay because, at such low levels, there is rarely a sufficient amount of substance to yield satisfactory decay statistics on practical timescales that are distinguishable from background.