Isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for determination of¹²⁶Sn content in spent nuclear fuel sample

Abstract

The 126 Sn content in a spent nuclear fuel solution was determined by isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ID-ICP-MS) for its inventory estimation in high-level radioactive waste. A well-characterized irradiated UO 2 fuel sample dissolved in a hot cell was used as a sample to evaluate the reliability of the methodology. Prior to the ICP-MS measurement, Sn was separated from Te ( 126 Te), which causes major isobaric interference in the determination of 126 Sn content, along with highly radioactive coexisting elements, such as Sr ( 90 Sr), Y ( 90 Y), Cs ( 137 Cs) and Ba ( 137m Ba), using an anionexchange column. The absence of counts attributed to Te at m/z = 125, 128, and 130 in the Sn-containing effluent (Sn fraction) indicates that Te was completely removed from the anion-exchange column. After washing, Sn retained on the column was readily eluted with 1 M HNO 3 accompanied with approximately 80% of the Cd and 0.03% of the U in the initial sample. Owing to the presences of Cd and U in Sn fraction, the measurements of 116 Sn and 119 Sn were affected by the isobaric 116 Cd and the doubly charged 238 U 2 + ion, resulting in the positive bias of the determined values. With the exception of the isotopic ratios including 116 Sn and 119 Sn, 117 Sn/ 126 Sn, 118 Sn/ 126 Sn, 120 Sn/ 126 Sn, 122 Sn/ 126 Sn and 124 Sn/ 126 Sn were successfully determined and showed good agreement with those obtained through ORIGEN2 calculations. The measured concentration of 126 Sn in the spent nuclear fuel sample solution was 0.74 ± 0.14 ng/g, which corresponds to 23.0 ± 4.5 ng per gram of the irradiated UO 2 fuel (excluding the presence of 126 Sn in the insoluble residue). The results reported in this paper are the first experimental values of 126 Sn content and isotope ratios in the spent nuclear fuel solution originating in spent nuclear fuel irradiated at a nuclear power plant in Japan.

An Automated SeaFAST ICP-DRC-MS Method for the Determination of 90Sr in Spent Nuclear Fuel Leachates

“…There is a considerable lack of literature regarding the analysis of 126 Sn, and previous studies on 126 Sn measurements were mainly intended to confirm its half-life [32][33][34]. The content of 126 Sn in spent nuclear fuel samples has recently been reported [35]. The determination of 126 Sn by mass spectrometry suffers from isobaric interference of 126 Te which cannot be resolved even with modern high resolution mass spectrometers.…”

Determination of 107Pd in Pd Recovered by Laser-Induced Photoreduction with Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

“…The cooling period is 10 257 days. The weight, excluding the zircaloy cladding, was approximately 5 g. The irradiation history and dissolution procedures were detailed in our previous publications. − A burnup calculation code, ORIGEN2, provides the abundance ratio of Pd to U ( 238 U). Accordingly, the Pd concentration in every sample solution prepared by diluting the original spent nuclear fuel solution can be estimated using ORIGEN2 with a nuclear data library, JENDL 4.0, and the measured 238 U concentrations.…”

Preparation of Microvolume Anion-Exchange Cartridge for Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry-Based Determination of 237Np Content in Spent Nuclear Fuel

“…The weight of the pellet was approximately 5 g, excluding the weight of the zircaloy cladding. The dissolution and dilution procedures are detailed in our previous study. , The concentration of U in the sample solution was set to 0.009 mg-U/g. The amounts of the major nuclides found in the spent nuclear fuel sample were calculated using the isotope generation and depletion code, ORIGEN2, as well as the latest evaluated nuclear data library of JENDL-4.0 .…”