Characterization of radioactive materials using the MARS beamline at the synchrotron SOLEIL

Since 2004 numerous efforts have been done at the new French SOLEIL synchrotron to construct a beamline for studying radioactive matter in general and nuclear materials in particular. This Multi Analyses on Radioactive Samples (MARS) beamline has been designed and built thanks to a close partnership with the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). The optics and the experimental stations have been optimized to perform X-ray characterizations (diffraction, scattering, absorption spectroscopy and fluorescence imaging) on a large variety of radioactive elements. The special infrastructure of this beamline has been defined to be in conformity with the French safety regulations for the manipulation of relatively high activity samples (α, β, γ and n emitters) with an activity up to 18.5 GBq per sample. Several relevant results obtained during the commissioning of the experimental end-stations are presented and discussed in the frame of the near future characterizations of nuclear materials by X-ray diffraction and absorption spectroscopy.