AcXAS, a reference data base for XAS spectra of actinides and other radionuclides

Reference spectra of well characterized samples are crucial for the analysis of x-ray absorption spectra (XAS). In order to avoid that experimentalists have to repeat XAS measurements of standard actinide compounds/species, thereby making more efficient use of costly radionculides, sample preparation, beamtime, radioprotection measures, transport, administration, etc., we are in the process of establishing a public database of actinide XAS reference spectra. The spectra are retrieved from the large data inventory of the three current European radionuclide beamlines, the Rossendorf Beamline at ESRF (France), the INE beamline at ANKA (Germany), and the micro-XAS beamline at SLS (Switzerland), but will also include data from other beamlines. This effort is supported by the European Commission through the ACTINET-I3 project. An overview on data base structure, criteria for data entry and use, as well as on the current status of data will be given.