Development of on-line EDXRF to monitor actinide contaminated waste streams

Determination of plutonium in nitric acid solutions using energy dispersive L X-ray fluorescence with a low power X-ray generator

“…The use of the detector in the range 0.2-20 keV has the advantage to eliminate most of γ-rays, and avoid high saturation of the SDD detector. As an example, a low concentration of americium can saturate the detector because of two highly intense gamma peaks at 26.3 keV and 59.5 keV [5]. In the present case, the problem of L X-rays line analysis is mainly limited to the interference between X-rays from internal conversion and X-rays from fluorescence.…”

“…When the concentration values of elements are higher than several g L À 1 , X-rays fluorescence are self-absorbed, absorbed and enhanced by nearby atoms [5,15,16]. These effects must be corrected by rigorous analysis techniques to accurately determine the concentration of elements (with an uncertainty lower than 10%).…”

“…In the last 30 years, several configurations have been developed to determine in-line transuranic elements by excitation of K-lines from radionuclide sources or X-ray tube [1][2][3][4]. Only a few configurations have been developed by excitation of L-lines from radionuclides or Xray tube, mainly with a wavelength-dispersive X-Ray fluorescence instrument: one is installed in a glove box at the Los Alamos National Laboratory leading to a sensitivity of around 2 ppm for uranium [5][6][7][8], another one was installed for in-line processes at AREVA La Hague [9] or CEA Marcoule in France. These devices use a specific detector and an X-ray generator of high power, requiring liquid cooling and a graphite monochromator for selecting the element which will be analyzed.…”