Determination of alkali, alkaline earth and transition metal ions in UO2, ThO2 powders and sintered (Th,U)O2 pellets by ion chromatography

An overview of spectrometric techniques and sample preparation for the determination of impurities in uranium nuclear fuel grade

“…For the impurities determination in uranium-based nuclear fuel, several spectrometric techniques can be employed, such as XRF (X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry), LIBS (Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy), NA (Neutron Activation), FAAS (Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry), GFAAS (Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry), ICP-OES (Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry) or ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) [10,11,18,19].…”

“…It is a multielement technique and has been widely used to analyze nuclear fuels, both in the final product as in process materials. Transition metal ions can be analyzed by ion chromatography using chelation, by reverse-phase chromatography and cation/anion ion chromatography [15,19]. For the transition metals cationic species separation it must be done through the complexation of metal ions in the mobile phase to reduce the charge density effect.…”

“…Commonly weak organic acids such as citric acid, oxalic acid, PDCA, reduce the positive charge of metal cations and increase the separation speed and efficiency. These acids form, preferentially anionic or cationic complexes, which can be separated into cationic and anionic columns [15,[19][20][21].…”

A comparative study on dissolution rate of sintered (Th–U)O2 pellets in nitric acid by microwave and conventional heating

“…Trace metallic impurities in (Th-U)O 2 MOX pellets were determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) after separation of the major matrix of thorium and uranium. 15,29 A sintered ThO 2 -3.75%UO 2 MOX pellet ($6g) was crushed into chips and two samples (each $3 g) were dissolved in the microwave digestion system and conventional heating under reflux conditions in 16 M HNO 3 /HF mixtures separately. The solutions were evaporated to dryness twice to remove fluoride and final volumes ($20 ml) were made up in 5 M HNO 3 .…”

Rapid Separation and Quantification of Iron in Uranium Nuclear Matrix by Capillary Zone Electrophoresis (CZE)

“…The methods involving ICP-AES [3,4], ICP-MS [5], spectrophotometry [6], ion chromatography [7,8] and HPLC [9] are well known. A disadvantage of these methods is the associated laborious and time consuming sample preparation procedures and the need for prior separation of matrix uranium using solvent extraction or ion exchange before carrying out the measurement.…”