Facitation of Trace Elemental Determination in Plutonium Oxide By Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

摘要

The determination of the trace elemental content in PuO_2 is important for a variety of reasons. First, in the recycling of PuO_2, it is important to characterize the amount of additives that may hinder or limit the effectiveness of the PuO_2 in its future uses. Additionally, knowing the impurity content of the PuO_2 before use will aid in the prediction of fission and neutron activation products after use. The impurity content along with an accurate computer model is helpful in the post-use disposal of the material in a repository or in determining designated destinations for the material. this work will detail the application of a unique and effective separation scheme to remove the plutonium from a digested sample of PuO_2. This separation will facilitate the determination of impurities of the sample without exposing personnel to high doses of radiation, limit the Pu background level in the ICP-MS and lastly, allow for the determination of analytes with m/z s near Pu accurately and precisely.