High Throughput Argon-37 Field System

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has developed a unique fieldable 37 Ar measurement system designed to measure 37 Ar activity concentrations from soil gas samples to detect above ground and underground nuclear explosions. The Argon-37 Field System is modular in design to accommodate both...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pure and applied geophysics 2021-07, Vol.178 (7), p.2765-2778
Main Authors: Hayes, James C., Aalseth, Craig, Alexander, Thomas, Back, Henning, Church, Eric, Foxe, Michael, Hossbach, Todd, Humble, Paul, Lidey, Lance, Mace, Emily, Meinhardt, Kerry, Mendez, Jennifer, McIntyre, Justin, Overman, Cory, Riemann, Robin, Seifert, Allen, Silvers, Kurt, Stephenson, David, Suarez, Reynold, Whyatt, Greg
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air sampling
Argon
Design
Detection
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Explosions
Gas sampling
Gases
Geology
Geophysics/Geodesy
Laboratories
Modular design
Modular systems
Nitrogen
Nuclear explosions
Proportional counters
Rare gases
Sensors
Shielding
Shipping
Soil gas
Soil gases
Underground explosions
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Summary:Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has developed a unique fieldable 37 Ar measurement system designed to measure 37 Ar activity concentrations from soil gas samples to detect above ground and underground nuclear explosions. The Argon-37 Field System is modular in design to accommodate both chemical processing and nuclear detection. The system can be packed into shipping crates and shipped to a location near where the sampling is taking place. The system can process six 2-m 3 whole-air samples in 24 h and can measure the 37 Ar activity in each of the samples using six proportional counters. The proportional counters, designed and built at PNNL, are surrounded with both active and passive shielding to reduce background and can achieve a minimum detection concentration of 10 mBq/m 3 of 37 Ar in whole-air equivalent. The Argon-37 Field System has undergone extensive testing against rigorous requirements to assure the system meets the needs of the noble gas nuclear explosion monitoring community.
ISSN:0033-4553
1420-9136
DOI:10.1007/s00024-020-02584-z