INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA MASS SPECTROMETRY FOR THE DETERMINATION OF 237Np IN SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL SAMPLES BY ISOTOPE DILUTION METHOD USING 239Np AS A SPIKE

• Published in: Nuclear engineering and technology Vol. 45; no. 3; pp. 415 - 420
• Main Authors: JOE, KIHSOO, HAN, SUN-HO, SONG, BYUNG-CHUL, LEE, CHANG-HEON, HA, YEONG-KEONG, SONG, KYUSEOK
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.06.2013; Elsevier; 한국원자력학회
• Subjects: Gamma Spectrometry; Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry; Isotope Dilution Method; Neptunium-237; Spent Nuclear Fuel; 원자력공학; Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry; Gamma Spectrometry; Neptunium-237; Isotope Dilution Method; Spent Nuclear Fuel
• ISSN: 1738-5733; 2234-358X
• DOI: 10.5516/NET.06.2012.056

A determination method for 237Np in spent nuclear fuel samples was developed using an isotope dilution method with 239Np as a spike. In this method, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was taken for the 237Np instead of the previously used alpha spectrometry. 237Np and 239Np were measured by ICP-MS and gamma spectrometry, respectively. The recovery yield of 237Np in synthetic samples was 95.9±9.7% (1S, n=4). The 237Np contents in the spent fuel samples were 0.15, 0.25, and 1.06 μg/mgU and these values were compared with those from ORIGEN-2 code. A fairly good agreement between the measurements (m) and calculations (c) was obtained, giving ratios (m/c) of 0.93, 1.12 and 1.25 for the three PWR spent fuel samples with burnups of 16.7, 19.0, and 55.9 GWd/MtU, respectively.