Chemical and Isotopic Characterization of Noble Metal Phase from Commercial UO2 Fuel

Pellegrini, Kristi L.; Soderquist, Chuck Z.; Shen, Steve D.; Krogstad, Eirik J.; Palmer, Camille J.; Gerez, Kyzer R.; Buck, Edgar C.; Lach, Timothy G.; Schwantes, Jon M.; Clark, Richard A.

doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.8b05549

Title: Chemical and Isotopic Characterization of Noble Metal Phase from Commercial UO₂ Fuel

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Abstract

We report elemental and isotopic analysis for the noble metal fission product phase found in irradiated nuclear fuel. The noble metal phase was isolated from three commercial irradiated UO₂ fuels by chemically dissolving the UO₂ fuel matrix, leaving the noble metal phase as the undissolved residue. Macro amounts of this residue were dissolved using a KOH+KNO₃ fusion and then chemically separated into individual elements for analysis by mass spectrometry. Though the composition of this phase has been previously reported, this work is the most comprehensive chemical analysis of the isolated noble metal phase to date. We report both elemental and isotopic abundances of the five major components of the noble metal phase (Mo, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd). Additionally, we report a sixth element present in high quantities in this phase, tellurium. Tellurium appears to be an integral component of noble metal particles.

Authors:

Pellegrini, Kristi L. ^[1]; Soderquist, Chuck Z. ^[2]; Shen, Steve D. ^[2]; Krogstad, Eirik J. ^[2]; Palmer, Camille J. ^[3]; Gerez, Kyzer R. ^[3];

^[2];

^[2]

Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); IB3 Global Solutions, Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States)

Publication Date:: Thu Apr 25 00:00:00 EDT 2019

Research Org.:: Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE

OSTI Identifier:: 1543302

Report Number(s):: PNNL-SA-138098
Journal ID: ISSN 0003-2700

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-76RL01830

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Analytical Chemistry

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 91; Journal Issue: 10; Journal ID: ISSN 0003-2700

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS; 38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY

Citation Formats


                    Pellegrini, Kristi L., Soderquist, Chuck Z., Shen, Steve D., Krogstad, Eirik J., Palmer, Camille J., Gerez, Kyzer R., Buck, Edgar C., Lach, Timothy G., Schwantes, Jon M., and Clark, Richard A. Chemical and Isotopic Characterization of Noble Metal Phase from Commercial UO2 Fuel.  United States: N. p., 2019. 
Web.  doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.8b05549.

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                    Pellegrini, Kristi L., Soderquist, Chuck Z., Shen, Steve D., Krogstad, Eirik J., Palmer, Camille J., Gerez, Kyzer R., Buck, Edgar C., Lach, Timothy G., Schwantes, Jon M., & Clark, Richard A. Chemical and Isotopic Characterization of Noble Metal Phase from Commercial UO2 Fuel.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.8b05549

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                    Pellegrini, Kristi L., Soderquist, Chuck Z., Shen, Steve D., Krogstad, Eirik J., Palmer, Camille J., Gerez, Kyzer R., Buck, Edgar C., Lach, Timothy G., Schwantes, Jon M., and Clark, Richard A. Thu .  
"Chemical and Isotopic Characterization of Noble Metal Phase from Commercial UO2 Fuel".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.8b05549.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1543302.

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@article{osti_1543302,

  title        = {Chemical and Isotopic Characterization of Noble Metal Phase from Commercial UO2 Fuel},

  author       = {Pellegrini, Kristi L. and Soderquist, Chuck Z. and Shen, Steve D. and Krogstad, Eirik J. and Palmer, Camille J. and Gerez, Kyzer R. and Buck, Edgar C. and Lach, Timothy G. and Schwantes, Jon M. and Clark, Richard A.},

  abstractNote = {We report elemental and isotopic analysis for the noble metal fission product phase found in irradiated nuclear fuel. The noble metal phase was isolated from three commercial irradiated UO2 fuels by chemically dissolving the UO2 fuel matrix, leaving the noble metal phase as the undissolved residue. Macro amounts of this residue were dissolved using a KOH+KNO3 fusion and then chemically separated into individual elements for analysis by mass spectrometry. Though the composition of this phase has been previously reported, this work is the most comprehensive chemical analysis of the isolated noble metal phase to date. We report both elemental and isotopic abundances of the five major components of the noble metal phase (Mo, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd). Additionally, we report a sixth element present in high quantities in this phase, tellurium. Tellurium appears to be an integral component of noble metal particles.},

  doi          = {10.1021/acs.analchem.8b05549},

  journal      = {Analytical Chemistry},

  number       = 10,

  volume       = 91,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Thu Apr 25 00:00:00 EDT 2019},

  month        = {Thu Apr 25 00:00:00 EDT 2019}

}

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Title: Chemical and Isotopic Characterization of Noble Metal Phase from Commercial UO2 Fuel

Abstract

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Title: Chemical and Isotopic Characterization of Noble Metal Phase from Commercial UO₂ Fuel