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

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 T(1/2) = 10(4) - 10(7) years, which are important regarding radioactive waste management. The measurements were carried out using high resolution gamma-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 radical 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 field 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 long-lived radioisotopes (ERAWAST - exotic radionuclides from accelerator waste for science and technology).