Measurement of trace uranium-235 and plutonium-239, 240 in waste tank material at the Savannah River Site
At the Savannah River Site (SRS), large quantities of radioactive liquid waste are evaporated to reduce volume before eventual processing through the In-Tank Precipitation process. Actinides in the liquid waste are only slightly soluble in the highly alkaline waste solution. Since some of the actinide isotopes are fissionable, the quantities being processed through the evaporator system are of interest. To better quantify the concentration and mass of fissionable material entering the evaporator system and eventually deposited as salt, analysis of the actinide elements were necessary. The predominant fissionable actinide isotopes of interest are U{sup 235} and Pu{sup 239}. To enable the reliable measurement of these radionuclides, the Central Laboratory has developed high speed separation techniques to measure U{sup 235} content by Isotope Dilution Mass Spectrometry and Pu{sup 239,240} by alpha spectrometry. Due to the high radioactivity levels in the samples all separations are performed in shielded analytical cells. Uranium is purified and concentrated using a high speed extraction chromatography technique that employs applied vacuum and columns containing tri (2-ethylene) phosphate solvent coated on a small particle inert support. The uranium method enables measurement of U{sup 235} concentrations to 1 {times} 10{sup {minus}4} g/L. Plutonium is purified and concentrated using a high speed anion exchange technique. The Pu method enables measurements of Pu{sup 239,240} to 2 {times} 10{sup {minus}6} g/L.
- Research Organization:
- Westinghouse Savannah River Co., Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC09-89SR18035
- OSTI ID:
- 7047349
- Report Number(s):
- WSRC-MS-92-049; CONF-9207102-21; ON: DE92018535
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM) annual meeting, Orlando, FL (United States), 19-22 Jul 1992
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
ALPHA SPECTROSCOPY
EXTRACTION
ION EXCHANGE
ISOTOPE DILUTION
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
PLUTONIUM 239
PLUTONIUM 240
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
URANIUM 235
ACTINIDE ISO
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
HEAVY NUCLEI
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPES
MATERIALS
MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEI
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOISOTOPES
SPECTROSCOPY
SPONTANEOUS FISSION RADIOISOTOPES
TRACER TECHNIQUES
URANIUM ISOTOPES
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
400702* - Radiochemistry & Nuclear Chemistry- Properties of Radioactive Materials
400105 - Separation Procedures