Radiochemical Determination of Polonium in Liquid Metal Spallation Targets

The MEGAPIE target, consisting of 82 litres of lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE), was irradiated close to the megawatt range (0.8 MW) from August to December 2006 in the SINQ facility at PSI. After a cooling period of 5 years, a post-irradiation examination (PIE) program was started and samples were taken from different positions in the target. In this paper we focus on the measurement of α-emitting 208-210Po in the MEGAPIE target. The experimental results are compared with theoretical predictions obtained by FLUKA and MCNPX calculations.