Development of an isotopic seal for tagging reprocessing input solutions

Journal Article · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society

OSTI ID:217931

Mayer, K; Ingelbrecht, C; Peetermans, F ^[1]

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1. Commission of the European Communities Joint Research Center Belgium (CEC); and others

We are studying the isotope dilution gamma-ray spectrometry (IDGS) technique for the simultaneous measurement of concentrations and isotopic compositions for both plutonium and uranium in highly irradiated spent-fuel dissolver solutions at a reprocessing plant. Experiments have demonstrated the applicability of the IDGS technique to determining the plutonium concentration and isotopic compositions in dissolver solutions. The chemical separation and recovery methods for just plutonium were anion exchange and resin beads. To keep both plutonium and uranium in the sample for simultaneous measurements, a new sample preparation method has been studied and developed. The new sample preparation method currently under development uses 30% tri-n-butyl phosphates-n dodecane to separate uranium and plutonium from fission products and then uses silica resins coated by TOPO/cyclohexane to recover both uranium and plutonium. More than 30 samples including four unspiked and four spiked dissolver solutions, pure uranium, and five U/Pu mixed-oxide solutions were prepared and measured by high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry.

• OSTI ID: 217931
• Report Number(s): CONF-9509215--
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Journal Issue: Suppl.1 Vol. 72; ISSN 0003-018X; ISSN TANSAO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
FUEL REPROCESSING PLANTS
ISOTOPE RATIO
SAFEGUARDS
VERIFICATION