36Cl measurements in Hiroshima granite samples as part of an international intercomparison study. Results from the Munich group

Abstract

Within the effort to resolve the so-called Hiroshima neutron discrepancy, an international intercomparison study has been carried out on granite samples from Hiroshima, with participating institutions from Japan, the US, and Germany. (36)Cl and (152)Eu produced in these samples by thermal neutrons from the A-bomb explosion were assessed independently by means of different techniques. At the Maier-Leibnitz-Laboratory near Munich, Germany, (36)Cl concentrations were measured by accelerator mass spectrometry. Measured (36)Cl/Cl ratios ranged from 1,670 x 10(-13) (at a distance of 146 m from the hypocenter) to 2.2 x 10(-13) (at a distance of 1,163 m from the hypocenter). One granite sample not exposed to A-bomb neutrons was measured as a control, and a (36)Cl/Cl ratio of 2.6 x 10(-13) was obtained. On average, our experimental results are 20-30% lower than those provided by model calculations based on the dosimetry system DS86. The results presented here do not support previous assessments of (36)Cl, (60)Co, and (152)Eu which had suggested much larger thermal neutron fluences than those calculated on the basis of DS86 for distances from the hypocenter of more than 1,000 m.