Trace analysis of plutonium in environmental samples by resonance ionization mass spectroscopy (RIMS)

Nunnemann, M.; Erdmann, N.; Hasse, H.‐U.; Huber, G.; Kratz, Jens Volker; Kunz, P.; Mansel, A.; Passler, G.; Stetzer, O.; Trautmann, Ν.; Waldek, Α.

doi:10.1016/s0925-8388(98)00021-8

Cited by 45 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…These are fission track analysis (FTA), 11,13,15,[22][23][24] thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS), 4,5,7,14,25,26 inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), [27][28][29][30][31][32][33] 3 and resonance ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS). [34][35][36][37] All of these techniques have demonstrated sensitivities of 10 6 -10 8 atoms per sample, depending on the application and the level of interferences present, and all except FTA can provide 240 Pu/ 239 Pu isotopic ratios.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plutonium measurements by accelerator mass spectrometry at LLNL

McAninch

Hamilton

Brown

et al. 2000

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B:

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mass spectrometric methods provide sensitive, routine, and cost-effective analyses of longlived radionuclides. Here we report on the status of work at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to develop a capability for actinide measurements by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) to take advantage of the high potential of AMS for rejection of interferences. This work demonstrates that the LLNL AMS spectrometer is well-suited for providing high sensitivity, robust, high throughput measurements of plutonium concentrations and isotope ratios. Present backgrounds are ~2×10 7 atoms per sample for environmental samples prepared using standard alpha spectrometry protocols. Recent measurements of 239+240 Pu and 241 Pu activities and 240 Pu/ 239 Pu isotope ratios in IAEA reference materials agree well with IAEA reference values and with alpha spectrometry and recently published ICP-MS results. Ongoing upgrades of the AMS spectrometer are expected to reduce backgrounds below 1×10 6 atoms per sample while allowing simplifications of the sample preparation chemistry. These simplifications will lead to lower per-sample costs, higher throughput, faster turn around and, ultimately, to larger and more robust data sets.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plutonium measurements by accelerator mass spectrometry at LLNL

McAninch

Hamilton

Brown

et al. 2000

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B:

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…All these limitations have made it easy of ICP-MS to be considered as a universal and extremely sensitive analytical method for the isotope analysis of long-lived radionuclides. The other mass spectrometric techniques like resonance ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS) [92][93][94][95] and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) [96][97][98] can be used for ultratrace and isotope analysis of different raidonuclides including the radiotoxic isotopes like 14 C, 41 Ca, 90 Sr, 99 Tc, 210 Pb, 236 U and Pu and these analysis have extensive applications in various fields like environment, cosmochemistry, radiodating, nutrition and biomedical research. Taylor et al [99] developed a rapid method determination of 90 Sr in natural water, plant and sediment samples using extraction chromatography and dynamic reaction cell ICP-MS.…”

Section: Applications In Nuclear Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Mass Spectrometry: A Boon to Nuclear Industry

Ramkumar¹

2014

J Anal Bioanal Tech

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

What is Mass Spectrometry?Mass spectrometry is analytical instrument which has been used for more than a century with its initial work on mass charge ratio being carried out by W. Wien, J.J. Thomson, and other physicists [1]. Mass Spectroscopy is an analytical laboratory technique to separate the components of a sample by their mass. The sample is vaporized into a gas and then ionized. The ions are then accelerated through a potential difference and focused into a beam. The ion beam passes through a magnetic field which bends the charged stream. Lighter components or components with more ionic charge will deflect in the field more than heavier or less charged components. A detector counts the number of ions at different deflections and the data can be plotted as a 'spectrum' of different masses. Therefore it is clear that mass spectrometer performs a simple measurement that of mass. The earlier work in the measurement of mass had led to the discovery of isotopes and it was in the 1930s that these measurements were correlated to the chemical structures and therefore were used extensively for biological applications for the characterization of natural products. Further progress in the field of mass spectrometry including isotopic labeling methods, hyphenated techniques and softer ionization methods made it an ideal tool for the analysis of macromolecules [2]. With the various fields that employ mass spectrometry growing in number, nuclear industry is also an important area wherein applications of mass spectrometry exist. Chronological Development in Mass spectrometryThe earliest mass spectrometry was in 1897 with the discovery of electrons made by J.J.Thomson. Around 1919, the observation studies of isotopes using mass spectrometry were carried out by F.W. Aston created a mass spectrometer in which ions were dispersed by mass and focused by velocity. This design improved the mass spectrometer resolving power by an order of magnitude compared to that achieved by AbstractMass spectrometry is a versatile technique that is used for the determination of elements at the trace and ultratrace level along with the isotope ratios. The accuracy in the quantification of isotope ratios of radionuclides is essential for environmental monitoring, migration studies, dating, determination of burn-up of fuel, nuclear material accounting and radioactive waste control. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is advantageous due to its outstanding sensitivity, precision and good accuracy for isotope ratio measurements and enhanced figures of merit for the determination of isotope ratio measurements. These advantages can be enhanced by various other variations of ICP-MS like the use of a multiple ion collector device (MC-ICP-MS). The review gives an idea of the various applications in the nuclear field and touches upon some of the important elements used in nuclear industry.

show abstract

“…RIMS as a highly selective and sensitive mass spectrometric technique for ultratrace and isotope analysis has been used for the analysis of many radionuclides such as 41 Ca, 90 Sr, 99 Tc, 135 Cs, 210 Pb, 236 U, 238 Pu, 239 Pu, 240 Pu, 242 Pu, and 244 Pu in environmental, biological and waste samples [33,34,[94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105]. In RIMS the solid or liquid samples are vaporized and atomized by an atomic beam source (e.g.…”

Section: Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry (Rims)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mass spectrometric techniques such as TIMS [275], AMS [276][277], RIMS [97,278], and ICP-MS [64,[279][280][282][283] have also been used for the determination of Pu isotopes. During the last decade, the use of ICP-MS has gained a increased interest as an alternative to alpha spectrometry because of the good sensitivity, short analytical time and 239 Pu -240 Pu - 242 Pu isotopic information which are difficult to obtain through alpha spectrometry due either to overlapping peaks of 239 Pu at low levels (fg-pg range).…”

Section: Plutonium Isotopesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This method had been used for the determination of Pu isotopes in environmental sample, a detection limit of 10 6 -10 7 atoms corresponding to 1-10 μBq 239 Pu has been reported. Comparing to radiometric method, a similar chemical separation is needed for RIMS, but the counting time (1-2 h) is remarkable shorter than alpha spectrometry [97]. AMS similarly offers a very good sensitivity and abundance sensitivity well suited for ultra trace detection of plutonium, a detection limit of 0.5-2 μBq for 239 Pu has been reported by using AMS [276,281].…”

Section: Plutonium Isotopesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation