Preparation of Microvolume Anion-Exchange Cartridge for Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry-Based Determination of ²³⁷Np Content in Spent Nuclear Fuel

Abstract

Microvolume anion-exchange porous polymer disk-packed cartridges were prepared for Am/Np separation, which is required prior to the measurement of Neptunium-237 ((237)Np) with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS). Disks with a volume of 0.08 cm(3) were cut out from porous sheets having anion-exchange-group-containing polymer chains densely attached on the pore surface. Four different amine-based groups, N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate, trimethylammonium, diethylamine, and triethylenediamine (TEDA), were selected as the anion-exchange groups to be introduced into the porous sheets. The separation performances of Am/Np were evaluated using a standard solution of (243)Am, which had the same activity as its daughter nuclide (239)Np in secular equilibrium. (239)Np recovery of close to 100% with practically no contamination of (243)Am was achieved using the TEDA-introduced disk-packed cartridge. The time to elute (239)Np from the cartridge was approximately 40 s. The TEDA-introduced disk-packed cartridge was applied to the separation of Np from a spent nuclear fuel sample to confirm its separation performance. A known amount of (243)Am ((239)Np) was added to the spent nuclear fuel sample solution to monitor the chemical yield of Np. The chemical yield of Np calculated from a measured concentration of (239)Np was 90.4%. Am leakage in the Np-eluted solution was less than 1 ppt, corresponding to 0.001% of the original Am concentration in the sample. This indicates that no additional (239)Np was produced by the decay of the (243)Am remaining in the Np-eluted solution, thus providing a reliable chemical yield. U, which can cause a serious spectral interference involving the peak tail from the mass spectrum of (238)U, was thoroughly removed with the TEDA cartridge, providing interference-free measurement of (237)Np. The concentration of (237)Np obtained by ICPMS was 718 ± 12 ng/mg-U, which agrees well with the theoretically calculated value. Compared with the conventional separation technique using commercially available anion-exchange resin columns, the time required to adsorb, wash, and elute Np using the TEDA- introduced disk-packed cartridge was reduced by 75%.

Direct Quantitation of 135Cs in Spent Cs Adsorbent Used for the Decontamination of Radiocesium-Containing Water by Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

“…The sample preparation method is described in the later section, Preparation of Cs Adsorbent Samples for LA-ICP-MS. The mass bias factors for both solution nebulization and LA modes were calculated as described in our previous publications, − with the plots used for this purpose presented in SI Figure S1.…”

Determination of 107Pd in Pd Recovered by Laser-Induced Photoreduction with Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

“…The cooling period is 10 257 days. The weight, excluding the zircaloy cladding, was approximately 5 g. The irradiation history and dissolution procedures were detailed in our previous publications. − A burnup calculation code, ORIGEN2, provides the abundance ratio of Pd to U ( 238 U). Accordingly, the Pd concentration in every sample solution prepared by diluting the original spent nuclear fuel solution can be estimated using ORIGEN2 with a nuclear data library, JENDL 4.0, and the measured 238 U concentrations.…”

“…A quadrupole ICP-MS Agilent 7700x was used for all the measurements. The operation conditions were basically set according to our previous study . The final solutions were prepared with 1 M HCl.…”

“…The operation conditions were basically set according to our previous study. 19 The final solutions were prepared with 1 M HCl. The sensitivity at m/z 105 was 290 000 cps/ng g −1 (RSD: 1%−2%).…”

Recent Progress in Charged Polymer Chains Grafted by Radiation-Induced Graft Polymerization; Adsorption of Proteins and Immobilization of Inorganic Precipitates

“…GMA has an epoxy group which allows to readily react with a wide range of chemical groups such as amino and thiol groups. Therefore, hydrophilic ligands with the groups can be introduced [48,49], resulting in obtaining hydrophilic graft chains from a hydrophobic substrate. Thus, copolymerization or subsequent chemical modifications of the graft chain provides further diversity for the substrates.…”