Determination of 238Pu in plutonium bearing fuels by thermal ionization mass spectrometry

Simultaneous Isotopic Analysis of U, Pu, and Am in Spent Nuclear Fuel by Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry

“…Provided that the 238 U/ 238 Pu ratio is less than ∼500, a single mass spectrometric technique can be applied and corrections can be made based on knowing the 235 U/ 238 U ratio in the U or by spiking with U of a known composition . Another method is to exploit the differences in volatility between U, Pu, and Am in thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS).…”

Direct isotope ratio analysis of individual uranium–plutonium mixed particles with various U/Pu ratios by thermal ionization mass spectrometry

“…The influence of 238 Pu on the results of uranium isotope ratio measurement was negligible in this work. In U-Pu mixed oxides as fuels for commercial nuclear power plants, an assumed maximum ratio of 238 Pu/ 238 U in the fuels is estimated to be approximately 0.04 (Aggarwal et al, 2007;Karande et al, 2010), which is 20 times larger than those of the samples measured in this work. Typical signal profiles of m/z 238 in the particles with the U/Pu ratios of 1, 10, and 70 are shown in Fig.…”

Atomic spectrometry update. Atomic mass spectrometry

“…A new approach which corrected for the interference was based on the addition of enriched 235 U (>90 atom%) to plutonium samples and use of a multiple filament assembly to produce UO + ions but no interfering PuO + ions. 250 The 238 U: 235 U ratio was determined by measuring the UO + ions and the Pu isotope ratios by using the Pu + ions in the one filament loading. The ionization and vaporization filaments of a double-rhenium-filament assembly were heated to $6 and 2-2.4 A, respectively, in order to obtain sufficient UO + ion current without forming PuO + ions.…”