Journal of Radiation Protection and Research

The Korean Association for Radiation Protection (대한방사선방어학회)
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The Improved Method for Precise Determination of Pu Isotope Ratio using MC-ICP-MS

다중검출기유도결합플라즈마질량분석기를 이용한 Pu 동위원소비 정밀 분석법

  • Received : 2010.08.09
  • Accepted : 2010.09.15
  • Published : 2010.09.30
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Abstract

Plutonium is by far the most important of the transuranic elements which have been released into the environment due to radio-toxicity and long term radiation effects on humans. And Pu isotope ratio ($^{240}Pu/^{239}Pu$) is of great interest because this ratio is used as a fingerprint for different sources. Mass spectrometry has been used as an useful atom counting technique with several advantages over decay counting techniques for the determination of Pu isotopes. It enables a determination of Pu isotope ratio in the environmental samples with a low detection limit and a short determination time. An ICP-MS is the representative mass spectrometry for Pu determination. In this study, the precision of $^{240}Pu/^{239}Pu$ isotope ratio was improved by using 4 multiple ion counters of MC-ICP-MS. The detection limit of $^{239}Pu$ and $^{240}Pu$ were $0.10\;fg\;ml^{-1}$ ($0.24\;{\mu}Bq\;ml^{-1}$), $0.12\;fg\;ml^{-1}$ ($0.97\;{\mu}Bq\;ml^{-1}$), respectively. The relative standard deviation of $^{240}Pu/^{239}Pu$ isotope ratio was less than 1 % in trace level. The various reference materials (seawater, soil and sediment) were analyzed to verify this method and their analytical results were in good agreement with the certified (or recommended value) value.

Pu 동위원소는 기원에 따라 각기 다른 $^{240}Pu/^{239}Pu$ 동위원소비를 나타내는 특성이 있다. 질량분석법은 극미량 장반감기핵종 분석에 매우 유용한 방법으로서 검출기 특성상 낮은 검출한계를 갖고 있으며, 소량의 시료를 이용하여 짧은 시간에 측정을 할 수 있다는 장점을 갖고 있으므로 Pu을 비롯한 장반감기 핵종 분석에 유용하다. 다중검출기유도결합플라즈마질량분석기(Multicollector ICP-MS)는 다중검출시스템을 이용하여 분석하고자 하는 여러 핵종의 동시분석이 가능하며, 특별히 본 연구에서는 극미량 핵종의 검출이 가능한 multiple ion counter (MIC)를 사용하여 Pu 동위원소 분석에 적용하였다. 본 연구방법의 검출한계(detection limit)는 최적화된 조건에서 $^{239}Pu$와 $^{240}Pu$ 각각 $0.10\;fg\;ml^{-1}$ ($0.24\;{\mu}Bq\;ml^{-1}$), $0.12\;fg\;ml^{-1}$ ($0.97\;{\mu}Bq\;ml^{-1}$)이었으며, 240Pu 기준으로 약 200 cps 정도의 매우 낮은 농도수준에서 1%이하의 $^{240}Pu/^{239}Pu$ 동위원소비 계측편차를 나타내었다. 본 연구방법은 표준용액 및 다양한 매트릭스의 표준물질 분석에 적용함으로써 검증 확인하였다.

Keywords

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