Measurement techniques in dry-powdered processing of spent nuclear fuels.

Conference · Wed Jul 21 04:00:00 EDT 1999

OSTI ID:12427

Bowers, D L; Hong, J -S; Kim, H -D; Persiani, P J; Wolf, S F

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) detection, {alpha}-spectrometry ({alpha}-S), and {gamma}-spectrometry ({gamma}-S) were used for the determination of nuclide content in five samples excised from a high-burnup fuel rod taken from a pressurized water reactor (PWR). The samples were prepared for analysis by dissolution of dry-powdered samples. The measurement techniques required no separation of the plutonium, uranium, and fission products. The sample preparation and analysis techniques showed promise for in-line analysis of highly-irradiated spent fuels in a dry-powdered process. The analytical results allowed the determination of fuel burnup based on {sup 148}Nd, Pu, and U content. A goal of this effort is to develop the HPLC-ICPMS method for direct fissile material accountancy in the dry-powdered processing of spent nuclear fuel.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy (US)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 12427
• Report Number(s): ANL/CMT/CP-98274
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
ALPHA SPECTROSCOPY
BURNUP
FUEL REPROCESSING PLANTS
FUEL RODS
GAMMA SPECTROSCOPY
LIQUID COLUMN CHROMATOGRAPHY
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
NEODYMIUM 148
NUCLEAR MATERIALS MANAGEMENT
PLUTONIUM
PWR TYPE REACTORS
SAMPLE PREPARATION
SPENT FUELS
URANIUM