Radiochemical analysis of a copper beam dump irradiated with high-energetic protons

Summary. The radionuclide inventory of a copper beam dump from the 590 MeV proton accelerator of the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland was determined, focusing on radioisotopes with half-lives of more than 60 d, and in particular, of long-lived isotopes with T1/2 = 10 4 –10 7 years, which are important regarding radioactive waste management. The measurements were carried out using high resolution γ -measurement without sample destruction, as well as liquid scintillation counting (LSC) and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) after chemical separation. For the first time, a beam dump from a high power accelerator facility was completely characterized concerning the depth and radial distribution profile of the most hazardous and/or long-lived radionuclides. Moreover, it turned out that some of the investigated radionuclides, like for instance 26 Al, 44 Ti or 60 Fe represent valuable material for application in several scientific fields like nuclear astrophysics, basic nuclear physics research, radiopharmacy and many others. Therefore, based on the analytical results, a special research and development program has been started at PSI objecting on specific preparative extraction of longlived radioisotopes (ERAWAST – exotic radionuclides from accelerator waste for science and technology).