Determining the mass of nuclear and radionuclide samples by radiometric calorimetry

This paper reports on results of measurements and analysis carried in order to recalibrate and assess the performance of our newly upgraded Small Sample Calorimeter(SSCAL) in the Performance Laboratory of the JRC Nuclear security Unit in Ispra (Italy), using calibrated electric samples and standard reference nuclear materials. The SSCAL is a heat flow calorimeter, which works by measuring the voltage generated by heat-emitting sample across a thermal gap based on a thermopilecup technology. Preliminary results of calorimetry measurements carried out on reference PuGa samples and on well characterized Am samples will be presented.