Nd and Sm isotopic composition of spent nuclear fuels from three material test reactors

作者：Sharp Nicholas^*; Ticknor Brian W; Bronikowski Michael; Nichols Theodore; McDonough William F; Mignerey Alice; Beals Donna

来源：Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 2017, 311(1): 801-808.

DOI：10.1007/s10967-016-5099-4

• Multi-collector inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry
• Spent nuclear fuel
• Chromatography
• Nd and Sm isotopic ratios
• Nuclear forensics

Rare earth elements such as neodymium and samarium are ideal for probing the neutron environment that spent nuclear fuels are exposed to in nuclear reactors. The large number of stable isotopes can provide distinct isotopic signatures for differentiating the source material for nuclear forensic investigations. The rare-earth elements were isolated from the high activity fuel matrix via ion exchange chromatography in a shielded cell. The individual elements were then separated using cation exchange chromatography. The neodymium and samarium aliquots were analyzed via MC-ICP-MS, resulting in isotopic compositions with a precision of 0.01-0.3%.

• 出版日期2017-1