Rare Isotopes (Enriched Isotopes for Astroparticle Physics) Ezio Previtali INFN and University of...

Rare Isotopes(Enriched Isotopes for Astroparticle Physics)

Ezio PrevitaliINFN and University of Milano Bicocca

Aspera meeting on “R&D and Astroparticle Physics”, Lisbon 8 January 2008

Isotope Natural Abbund

Q(ββ) <η>* Enrich. Actual

Enrich. Other

48Ca 0.2% 4271 0.54 ICR

76Ge 7.4% 2039 0.73 UltraCent. ICR

82Se 8.7% 2995 1.70 UltraCent. ICR

100Mo 9.6% 3034 5.0 UltraCent. ICR

116Cd 7.5% 2802 1.30 UltraCent. ? ICR

130Te 34.0% 2533 4.26 UltraCent.

136Xe 9.0% 2479 0.28 UltraCent.

150Nd 5.6% 3367 57.0 AVLIS, ICR

Rare Isotopes Candidates Rare Isotopes Candidates Double Beta decay experiments

Dark Matter experiments

Ar element depleted in 39Ar isotope (under test)Odd nuclei for spin dependent measurements (?)


*F.T. Avignone II et al., New Journal of Physics 7 (2005) 6

Actual situation for DBD experimentsActual situation for DBD experimentsIsotope Production

MassNatural Abund.

Production Enrich.

Production Method

Production Site

Purificatin Chemical Form

Physical Form

Actual Mass

Actual Enrich.

Customers Actual Exper.

Future Exper.

238U Contam.

232Th Contam.

130Te 1 kg 34 % 94 % Ultra Centrifuge

Kurchatov Recristal. China

TeO2 Crystals 800 g TeO2

73 % INFN Milano

CUORICINO

CUORE <10-11 g/g <10-11 g/g

128Te 1 kg 32 % 95 % Ultra Centrifuge

Kurchatov Recristal. China

TeO2 Crystals 800 g TeO2

82 % INFN Milano

CUORICINO

CUORE <10-11 g/g <10-11 g/g

136Xe 10 kg 9 % 64 % Ultra Centrifuge

Oak Ridge Xe Gas 10 kg Xe 64 % INFN Milano

DAMA

100Mo 9.6 % Ultra Centrifuge

Russia ITEP Mo Metal 2.479 kg 100Mo

95 % NEMO SNEMO <15 mBq/kg

<0.5 mBq/kg

100Mo 9.6 % Ultra Centrifuge

Russia INEEL Mo Composite 4.434 kg 100Mo


<0.3 mBq/kg

82Se 1 kg 8.7 % 97 % Ultra Centrifuge

Russia Se Composite 932 g 82Se 97 % NEMO SNEMO <25 mBq/kg

<4.0 mBq/kg

130Te 34 % 89 % Ultra Centrifuge

Kurchatov Kurchatov TeO2 Composite 454 g 130Te 89 % Kurchatov NEMO SNEMO <20 mBq/kg

<4.0 mBq/kg

116Cd 7.5 % 93 % Ultra Centrifuge

Distillation Cd Metal + Mylar

405 g 116Cd


±7 mBq/kg

150Nd 5.6 % 91 % Electro magnetic

Nd2O3 Composite 37 g 150Nd 92 %?? INR NEMO SNEMO <66 mBq/kg

<23 mBq/kg

96Zr 2.8 % 57 % Electro magnetic

Chemical ZrO2 Composite 9.4 g 96Zr ITEP + INR

NEMO SNEMO <222 mBq/kg

<27 mBq/kg

48Ca 0.2 % 73 % Electro magnetic

CaF2 Composite 7 g 48Ca NEMO SNEMO <15 mBq/kg

<6 mBq/kg

76Ge 6 kg 7.4 % 86 % Ultra Centrifuge

Kurchatov Zone Refining

Ge HPGe Diodes

6 kg Ge 86 % ITEP IGEX Gerda <10-12 g/g <10-12 g/g


Kurchatov Ge HPGe Diodes

11 kg Ge 86 % KurchatovMPI Heid.

Heidelberg Moscow

Gerda <10-12 g/g <10-12 g/g

78Kr 99 % UltraCentrifuge

ECP Svetlana

INR RAS

136Xe 68 kg 9 % 80 % UltraCentrifuge

ECP Svetlana

Xe Gas 68 kg 80% Stanford University

EXO

129+131Xe 10 kg 80 % Ultra Centrifuge

ECP Svetlana

Xe Gas Inst Cosm S. Tokyo

82Se 2 kg 8.7% 96% Ultra Centrifuge

Kurchatov INEEL 82Se IN2P3 NEMO SNEMO


ECP Svetlana

Ge Max PlankInst. Heid.

Gerda

DBD near futureDBD near future

New generation double beta decay experiments detector mass larger than 100 kghighly enriched in candidates

Some example:CUORE 130Te natural ~600 kgGerda III 76Ge enriched 86% ~1 tonMajorana 76Ge enriched 86% ~180 kgSuperNEMO 82Se/150Nd enriched 90% ~100 kgMOON 100Mo enriched 85% ~100 kgEXO I 136Xe enriched 65% ~200 kgEXO II 136Xe enriched 65% ~1 tonSNO++ 150Nd enriched 90% ~560 kg………

During the next years there will be a large request of enriched isotopesProduction must be clean, flexible (many different nuclei) and fastThe production mass scale change from few kg to few hundreds kg

Cost estimates for all enrichments > 100 M€ (actual prices in Russia with UC)


DBD medium termDBD medium term

Experiment strategies indicate possible future steps

New request of isotope production will begin when actual experiments will startExperimental mass for each experiment can, in principle, grow in the range of 1 tonPossible timescale for new experiments ~15 years


Actual proposed experiments can explore only the inverse hierarchy for mν

To go further we need more DBD mass and less background

Same setup can measure different isotopes:CUORE , ….

Same detector can be multiplied few timesXe experiments, ….

New techniques are under developmentsScintillating Bolometers, ….

Production qualityProduction qualityVery pure isotopes are necessary

Normal enrichment production is not so cleanAfter enrichment a purification process is normally needed

sensitivitysensitivitydetector mass [kg]

measuring time [y]

detector efficiency

backgroundbackground [c/keV/y/kg]

energy resolution [keV]

isotopic abundanceisotopic abundanceatomic number

S 1 20 a.i.

AMtmeas

E bkg


A general rule will be:Increasing a.i. without increasing background

Production qualityProduction quality

A specific example:For MiBetaII experiment we produced 1 kg enriched Te (130Te)Enrichment level was 94% at the production site Material was delivered by the producer in form of TeO2

Background will be very critical:“old” experiments had background in the range of 0.1 counts/(keV kg y)future experiments are going to the range of 0.001 counts/(keV kg y)

Purification will be of primary importance and needs precisely evaluationstechnically and economically

TeO2 crystals was grown at SICCAS (China):Material was purified few time: it was full of SiGrowing procedure was repeated in order to purify the material

After growing processes we obtain:Crystals of TeO2 for a total mass of 800 gLevel of enrichments at 73%Background around few 10-12 g/g in U and Th (10-13 g/g in natural crystals)Cost for enriched crystal production was ~3 times larger respect to natural


Actual production capabilityActual production capabilityUSA:

Calutron production was stopped in 2004Medium size ICR machine founded by DOE is installed at Theragenics

production is oriented to medicine applicationNew program for AVLIS founded at Livermore (very expensive)

it is unclear if this program will be completed

Russia:Few labs are able to produce isotopes with Ultracentrifuges

Only elements that have gas compounds can be producedPrices of enriched isotopes are favorable (today)

Europe and Japan:There are some enrichment facilities based on UltracentrifugesRestart of an AVLIS machine in France is not yet established (150Nd)

Actually practically only Russian labs can produce stable isotopes


Possible future strategy (1)Possible future strategy (1)

It is possible to find an agreement with Russian producers

Advantage:- Enrichment plants exist- Actual prices per unit product are low- They have a lot of experience in UC technique

Disadvantage:- Only isotopes with UC will be produced- It is not clear at which level can be done an R&D program- Produced materials are normally dirty and need purification- What about future prices?


• Te-130 in form of metal:• Mass - 250 kg• Enrichment - > 99%• Purity > 99.9%• Cost – 9.9 $/g (at FCA, Krasnoyarsk condition)• Time 400 days (> 99%)

350 days (> 90%)

Cost enriched Te for CUORE 12 April 2005

New quotation was asked from USA group of CUOREOctober 2007, CUORE meeting at LNGS, F. Avignone report

New Cost - 13.0 $/g (indicative)



Possible future strategy (2)Possible future strategy (2)It is possible to restart some production plants in west countries

Examples:- AVLIS (SILVA) in France (CEA) is under discussion- USA plants with UC and AVLIS (not realistic)- URENCO machines (UC) in Europe (Prices probably too high)- Discussion with Theragenics for possible use of ICR machine

Advantages:- Different sources of production respect to Russian one- R&D programs will be probably much simple- It is possible the production of more isotopes (150Nd using AVLIS or ICR)

Disadvantages:- Restart decision must be taken as soon as possible- Some plants are not flexible (AVLIS in France can produce only 150Nd)- Some plants are dedicated to other productions (medical application)- In general production throughputs are not enough (a part AVLIS)- Actual production cost are 10/100 times larger then Russian


Possible future strategy (3)Possible future strategy (3)It is possible to realize a dedicated plant in EU.

New plant must be configured for:- Flexibility: a maximum number of isotopes must be produced- Clean: a clean production and an integrated purification system are needed- Cheap: production cost must be comparable with the Russian one- Dedicated: possible R&D programs on specific isotope can be possible

Advantages:- Production can be configured as requested from the experiments- Specific isotopes production can be studied (150Nd and 48Ca)- Cleaning procedures can be made in place

Disadvantages:- Plant doesn't exist and it must be realized- It is necessary an agreement will all the involved experiments- Decision must be taken soon, time is practically over- Initial investments are not negligible


We proposed last year to built an enrichment facility based on an ICR machine:flexible to produce most of the interested DBD isotopes

48Ca, 76Ge, 82Se, 100Mo, 150Nd, …throughput : >100 kg/year for various isotopes realization time: 4/5 years

The facility can be realized with:Large current separator ICR machineLow current separator CalutronChemical support Clean Room, Chemical Labs,..Cryogenic support LN2 and LHe, (liquefier?)Analytical systems ICP-MS, ..General support UPS, mechanical, …

There is, actually, no real agreements to work in this direction



ConclusionsConclusions

Production of Rare Isotopes will be a crucial issue for future experiments

Production capability must be clearly evaluated technically and economically

Purification of enriched nuclei must be considered as a very important aspect

Analysis must be done on short and medium timescale

It is very difficult to define an agreement between different experiments


Actual production cost (for enrichments) is favorable, for the future …….

from: G. Yu. Grigoriev, Kurchatov Institute, Moscow

Ion Cyclotron Resonance separationIon Cyclotron Resonance separation


But the proposed infrastructure will be not a production facilityScientist can directly participate at source preparationProduction can be, in principle, tuned to fulfill experimental request

Production costsProduction costs

This infrastructure will be competitive with present production in Russia?

As our knowledge actual prices are (examples):76Ge ~60 €/g

82Se ~120 €/g

For these elements we evaluate a general cost between 40 and 80 €/g

Moreover it is possible to enrich also nuclei like 48Ca and 150Nd


By-productsBy-products

Many enriched isotopes for various application can be producedSome of these cannot be massive produced with other techniques

Some examples:Medicine (diagnostic and therapy)

112Cd, 50Cr, 102Pd, 58Fe, 203Th, ….Industry

157Gd, 64Zn, 90Zr, 58Ni, 54Fe, 97Mo, ….Research

43Ca, 44Ca, 48Ca, 50Cr, 58Ni, 76Ge, 82Se, 100Mo, 150Nd, 168Yb, …

The main advantage of this approach isFlexibility


Rare Isotopes (Enriched Isotopes for Astroparticle Physics) Ezio Previtali INFN and University of...

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