1. 1 IRMM actions in IDEA Mikael Hult Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) Geel, Belgium http://www.irmm.jrc.be http://www.jrc.cec.eu.int

2. 2 Main good news 37.5 kg of enriched Ge (86% 76 Ge) has been transported from Siberia (Krasnoyarsk) to HADES (in the form of GeO 2 powder) Transport with special iron transport container reducing cosmogenic activation a factor 20

3. 3 Investigation into underground production of Ge Who are we? Who are we? Co-ordination of underground storage (Ge, Cu) Radiopurity measurements for GERDA Radiopurity measurements for GERDA Other issues Other issues HADES ; sandwich

4. 4 The EU Institutions Court of Auditors JRC can apply for funding from DG RTD like any other institution. The only restriction is that JRC persons are not allowed to co-ordinate indirect actions The Council of Ministers Committee of the Regions Court of Justice The European Commission (the ‘College’ of Commissioners ) Economic and Social Committee SG RELEXENTRENV SANCO JRC ….... IHCP... RTD IRMMIPSC ….. IPTS ….... Directorates General: the “Commission services” JRC Institutes: European Parliament

5. 5 Structure of the DG-JRC IRMM – Geel, Belgium - Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements Staff:  250 IE – Petten, The Netherlands - Institute for Energy Staff:  180 ITU – Karlsruhe, Germany - Institute for Transuranium elements Staff:  250 IPSC - IHCP - IES – Ispra, Italy - Institute for the Protection and the Security of the Citizen - Institute for Health and Consumer Protection - Institute for Environment and Sustainability Staff:  350, 250, 370 IPTS – Seville, Spain - Institute for Prospective Technological Studies Staff:  100 7 Institutes in 5 Member States Total staff: ~ 2200 people

6. 6 Personnel involved in ILIAS activities - status 1 st half of 2006 Uwe Wätjen (D), Sector Head Radionuclide Metrology, in EUROMET Technical Committee Ionising Radiation, CCRI Section II Mikael Hult (S), Group leader low-level measurements, co-ordinator of CELLAR, Gerd Marissens (B), Chief technician Joël Gasparro (F), Post doc. Fellow Patric Lindahl (S), Postdoc Elisabeth Wieslander (S) PhD student

7. 7 Olen – Geel – Mol - Dessel

8. 8 Canberra Semiconductor Umicore SCKCEN + VITO (+ HADES) 5 km IRMM BR1 (700 kW) + BR2 (10 MW)

9. 9 Nearby facilities Canberra Semiconductor – for HPGe detector assemblies Umicore – for Ge crystal growth IRMM – for radioactivity measurements (low-level or high accuracy) IRMM – other facilities: LINAC, Van de Graaff, reference facilities in analytical chemistry etc. SCK – HADES, 2 research reactors and analytical facilities

10. 10 Transport times Canberra – IRMM (20-30 minutes) Umicore – IRMM (20-30 minutes) IRMM – HADES (10-15 minutes) Canberra/Umicore – HADES (~45 minutes) 60 Co: ~5 (kg [ 76 Ge] day ) -1, Half-life: 5.27 years 68 Ge: ~1 (kg [ nat Ge] day ) -1, Half-life: 271 days Saturation: 400 kg -1 Estimated production rates

11. 11 Radionuclide metrology - Facilities IRMM operates 7 HPGe-detectors for ultra-low level  -spectrometry in the HADES underground laboratory (-225 m) at SCKCEN Laboratories with a large number of different primary and secondary standardisation instruments Source preparation laboratories, including chemical facilities Mass determinations traceable to the IRMM standard of 1 kg which is directly traceable to the BIPM 1 kg standard, the SI unit

12. 12

13. 13 HADES = High Activity Disposal Experimental Site Located at SCKCEN, Mol, Belgium, operated by EURIDICE

14. 14

15. 15 Ge-production (i) 1) Raw material: residue from e.g. Zn-ore with 3-5% Ge 2) Reduction of Ge-oxide 3) Zone-refinement repeat 4) Czochralski growth Measurements  Resistivity  Hall  DLTS Resistivity measurement Zn-plant Balen?

16. 16 Ge-production (ii) Reduction of Ge-oxide Needs a powerful furnace. A bit difficult to put underground but possible Zone-refinement 12-13 days work (24/24)=> > 1 months without shift work Relatively easy to put underground (“low power”, some gas) Czochralski growth 2-3 days Relatively easy to place underground (small “low power”, some gas)

17. 17 Underground production Main problem related to cost and safety The “pulling” achieves a high degree of purification. Possible to place only pulling step underground. Pulling needs clean room => expensive Conclusion (for the moment) optimise (=minimise) transport time. Technical report (Schönert)

18. 18 Co-ordination of underground storage Since 2004: 15 transports to HADES For the moment: 3 boxes of enriched Ge, 1 box of Ge natural composition, 1 detector in process of being manufactured 12 transports carried out “immediately”, 3 transports the following day.

19. 19 Main activation problems with Ge 68 Ge and 60 Co (minor problems 57 Co, 65 Zn) 68 Ge: 12·10 -3 counts/(keV kg y) 180 days exposure after enrichment + 180 days underground storage 60 Co: 2.5·10 -3 counts/(keV kg y) 30 days exposure after crystal growth Main goal for GERDA performance < 1·10 -3 counts/(keV kg y) (Phase II) We believe we can cut the exposure time significantly by storage in HADES

20. 20 Radiopurity measurements for GERDA Cu/P pellets for GERDA tank (cleaned + non cleaned) Glass for PM-tube necks Kapton foil (cleaned / not cleaned) Kapton foil with copper (cleaned / not cleaned)

21. 21 Why is this a current issue? Development in germanium detector technology 14 ISST Nova Gorica, 2005 196519701975198019851990199520002005 10 -1 10 0 10 1 10 2 10 3 10 4 Year Figure of Merit (s 1/2 ) The first Ge(Li) 3 crystals in one cryostat The first HPGe Planar Coaxial FoM =