Impact of Cesium decontamination on performances of high activity sample analysis

摘要

Experiments in the ATALANTE facility can lead to high activity samples (for example the dissolution of hulls and spent fuels), essentially coming from the presence of Cs-137. Usually, these samples are handled in a shielded cell. The removal of this radionuclide from the sample would make it possible to handle it in glove boxes without having to perform an important dilution in the shielded cells beforehand. It would allow to analyze samples using techniques usually implemented in glove boxes (such as ICP, a spectrometry.) and to reach lower detection and quantification limits. To do so, a separation by extraction chromatography using a Triskem AMP-PAN column was developed. A cesium decontamination factor higher than 5 x 10(4) and detection limits improvement up to a factor 100 were obtained.