Measurement of trace uranium-235 and plutonium-239, 240 in waste tank material at the Savannah River Site
At the Savannah River Site (SRS), large quantities of radioactive liquid waste are evaporated to reduce volume before eventual processing through the In-Tank Precipitation process. Actinides in the liquid waste are only slightly soluble in the highly alkaline waste solution. Since some of the actinide isotopes are fissionable, the quantities being processed through the evaporator system are of interest. To better quantify the concentration and mass of fissionable material entering the evaporator system and eventually deposited as salt, analysis of the actinide elements were necessary. The predominant fissionable actinide isotopes of interest are U{sup 235} and Pu{sup 239}. To enable the reliable measurement of these radionuclides, the Central Laboratory has developed high speed separation techniques to measure U{sup 235} content by Isotope Dilution Mass Spectrometry and Pu{sup 239,240} by alpha spectrometry. Due to the high radioactivity levels in the samples all separations are performed in shielded analytical cells. Uranium is purified and concentrated using a high speed extraction chromatography technique that employs applied vacuum and columns containing tri (2-ethylene) phosphate solvent coated on a small particle inert support. The uranium method enables measurement of U{sup 235} concentrations to 1 {times} 10{sup {minus}4} g/L. Plutonium is purified and concentrated using a high speed anion exchange technique. The Pu method enables measurements of Pu{sup 239,240} to 2 {times} 10{sup {minus}6} g/L.
- Research Organization:
- Westinghouse Savannah River Co., Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC09-89SR18035
- OSTI ID:
- 10167154
- Report Number(s):
- WSRC-MS-92-049; CONF-9207102-21; ON: DE92018535
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM) annual meeting,Orlando, FL (United States),19-22 Jul 1992; Other Information: PBD: [1992]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
SEPARATION PROCESSES
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
URANIUM 235
EXTRACTION
ISOTOPE DILUTION
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
PLUTONIUM 239
PLUTONIUM 240
ION EXCHANGE
ALPHA SPECTROSCOPY
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
400702
400105
PROPERTIES OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
SEPARATION PROCEDURES