PSI is a multi-disciplinary research centre for natural sciences and technology. In national and international collaborations with universities, other research institutes and industry, it is active in Solid State Physics, Materials Science, Elementary Particle Physics, Life Sciences, Nuclear and Non-nuclear Energy Research, and Energy-related Ecology.
Being a world-leading scientific institute, PSI is well-equipped with all Nuclear Physics and Chemistry related instrumentations. As the most essential point, PSI operates the most powerful proton accelerator in Europe and, in addition the spallation neutron source SINQ, a facility, which is unique world-wide. From several material research programs performed with this facility, PSI owns now a repository of activated samples, which can serve as benchmarks for nuclear data on the one side, and might be used as a source for the preparation of exotic radioactive targets on the other side.
Relevant experience
The working group RadWasteAnalytics under the leadership of Dr. Dorothea Schumann (Laboratory of Environmental and Radiochemistry) is experienced in the radiochemical separation and determination of radionuclides in accelerator waste, with a special expertise concerning the determination of long-lived isotopes from activated materials. The group contributed to the HINDAS project (High and Intermediate energy Nuclear Data for Accelerator driven Systems) with several determinations of excitation functions of long-lived radio nuclides produced by proton irradiation of natural lead, to ANDES with the determination of the radionuclide inventory of the MEGAPIE target and was/is involved in other international EC-funded projects (EURISOL, EUROTRANS, GETMAT, SEARCH).
Scientific and technical personnel involved
- Dr. Dorothea Schumann: Head of the research group "RadWasteAnalytics" (2004-to date). Student of Chemistry at TUD (Diploma thesis) (1977-1983). Scientific assistant at the Department of Analytical Chemistry at TUD in the Radiochemistry research group (1983-1987). Fellowship at the Joint Institute of Nuclear Research, Dubna, Russia (Laboratory of Nuclear Problems, Department of Radiochemistry) (PhD. thesis) (1987-1992). Staff member at the Department of Analytical Chemistry at the Dresden University of Technology (TUD) in the Radiochemistry research group (1992-1999). Project management assistant at the company Hans-Wälischmiller Dresden (2000-2002). Scientist at Paul Scherrer Institute (research group RadWasteAnalytics at the Laboratory for Radio- and Environmental Chemistry) (2002-2004).
Dr. Schumann's research profile includes: Radioanalytical studies of accelerator waste (beam dumps, concrete samples etc.) for licensing of nuclear waste disposal; development of separation procedures for extremely long-lived radionuclides, e.g. 129I, 36Cl, 60Fe, 53Mn, 26Al, 10Be and others; determination of nuclear data for transmutation of nuclear waste; Aqueous Chemistry of super-heavy elements; isolation of long-lived radionuclides from accelerator waste for scientific and technological purposes; and investigation of physico-chemical properties of high-power liquid metal targets (volatility, release studies, segregation, migration, radionuclide distribution, modelling).