Commercial NAA experience at the Montreal SLOWPOKE facility
- Universite de Montreal (Canada)
Although located at an academic institution where research has high priority, the SLOWPOKE reactor facility now obtains more than 80% of its funding from commercial activation analysis. The Ecole Polytechnique encourages its staff to seek industrial contracts from which it extracts realistic overhead fees. The number of commercial users of the facility has reached its present level, 58 in 1992, by the slow process of communication among users over the last 10 yr; previous attempts to attract users through publicity were unsuccessful. Industrial users demand fast turn-around times. This is ensured by having proven techniques in place ready to be applied upon receipt of the samples. Fortunately, neutron activation analysis (NAA) has a distinct advantage over competing techniques in that solid samples are analyzed directly without dissolution or other preparation. This paper describes the procedures that have been developed for commercial activation analysis with a small reactor. Several petrochemical companies in the Nontreal area use these services for quality control and for trouble shooting. For polyethylene and polystyrene, pellet-to-pellet variations of additives are often measured. The wood products industry uses NAA to measure the retention and penetration of preservatives in treated wood. Strips of polyethylene cut from the insulation of high-voltage cables are regularly analyzed for impurities. Quebec's electric utility is attempting to increase the life of the cables by reducing the levels of impurities that can lead to electrical breakdown. Geologists from several universities and research centers use the services for the determination of rare earths and platinum group elements. Ten rare earths can be determined in many rocks. Gold is often determined instrumentally with a detection limit of 5 ppb; for the other noble metals, the geochemists must carry out a chemical preconcentration.
- OSTI ID:
- 6019662
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-930601-; CODEN: TANSAO
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States), Vol. 68; Conference: American Nuclear Society (ANS) annual meeting, San Diego, CA (United States), 20-24 Jun 1993; ISSN 0003-018X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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58 GEOSCIENCES
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
07 ISOTOPES AND RADIATION SOURCES
ELECTRICAL INSULATION
NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS
POLYSTYRENE
ROCKS
COMMERCIALIZATION
E CODES
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
GOLD
IMPURITIES
PLATINUM
POLYETHYLENES
PRESERVATIVES
RARE EARTHS
SLOWPOKE-MONTREAL REACTOR
WOOD PRODUCTS INDUSTRY
ACTIVATION ANALYSIS
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
COMPUTER CODES
ELEMENTS
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
INDUSTRY
IRRADIATION REACTORS
ISOTOPE PRODUCTION REACTORS
MATERIALS
METALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
PETROCHEMICALS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
PLASTICS
PLATINUM METALS
POLYMERS
POLYOLEFINS
POLYVINYLS
POOL TYPE REACTORS
REACTORS
RESEARCH AND TEST REACTORS
RESEARCH REACTORS
SLOWPOKE TYPE REACTORS
SYNTHETIC MATERIALS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
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