A transportable x-ray fluorescence analysis system for assay of plutonium and uranium solutions in gloveboxes

Conference · Fri Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990

OSTI ID:6683326

Ruhter, W D; Camp, D C ^[1]; Schenkel, R; Wagner, H G; Goerten, J ^[2]; Cromboom, O ^[3]

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1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)
2. Commission of the European Communities, Luxembourg (Luxembourg). Safeguards Directorate
3. Commission of the European Communities, Karlsruhe (Germany, F.R.). European Inst. for Transuranium Elements

It is becoming increasingly more difficult and expensive for safeguards authorities to transport solution samples from inspected facilities to laboratories for analysis. We have developed a transportable x-ray fluorescence analysis (XRFA) instrument that can assay plutonium and uranium solutions in glove boxes without any modifications to the glove box. This instrument will reduce the need to transport plutonium solution samples for analysis, thus saving time and reducing costs in inspection efforts. The system utilizes a portable high-purity germanium detector, transportable pulse-processing electronics, and a portable IBM-compatible computer. The measurement head of our instrument is placed inside a glove-box glove. Inside the glove box a hollow cylinder is held in place by the measurement head with the glove partially surrounding it, then solutions contained in 15-mL polystyrene test tubes are inserted into the cylinder for assay by XRFA. The radioisotope {sup 57}Co is used to excite the uranium and plutonium K-series x rays, and a combined {sup 57}Co and{sup 153}Gd source is used for transmission measurements to correct the observed x-ray intensity for sample self-attenuation effects. We have tested and evaluated the instrument at the European Institute for Transuranium Elements and demonstrated that 1% accuracies are achievable using eight uranium and seven plutonium reference solutions ranging in concentration from 50 to 411 g/L and 50 to 303 g/L, respectively. 3 refs., 2 figs., 2 tabs.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/DP
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 6683326
• Report Number(s): UCRL-102705; CONF-9007106--55; ON: DE90015206
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

055001* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Safeguards
Inspection
& Accountability-- Technical Aspects
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400101 -- Activation
Nuclear Reaction
Radiometric & Radiochemical Procedures
440101 -- Radiation Instrumentation-- General Detectors or Monitors & Radiometric Instruments
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
990200 -- Mathematics & Computers
ACCURACY
ACTINIDES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
COBALT 57
COBALT ISOTOPES
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONCENTRATION RATIO
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ECONOMICS
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
GADOLINIUM 153
GADOLINIUM ISOTOPES
GLOVEBOXES
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
LABORATORY EQUIPMENT
MANAGEMENT
METALS
NONDESTRUCTIVE ANALYSIS
NUCLEAR MATERIALS MANAGEMENT
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PLUTONIUM
PORTABLE EQUIPMENT
QUALITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
RADIOISOTOPES
RARE EARTH ISOTOPES
RARE EARTH NUCLEI
SAFEGUARDS
SAMPLING
TESTING
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS
URANIUM
X-RAY EMISSION ANALYSIS
X-RAY FLUORESCENCE ANALYSIS
X-RAY FLUORESCENCE ANALYZERS