• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.7
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• pp.924-933
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• 2015

The correlation of the isotopic composition of uranium, plutonium, neodymium, and cesium with the burnup for high burnup pressurized water reactor fuels irradiated in nuclear power reactors has been experimentally investigated. The total burnup was determined by Nd-148 and the fractional $^{235}U$ burnup was determined by U and Pu mass spectrometric methods. The isotopic compositions of U, Pu, Nd, and Cs after their separation from the irradiated fuel samples were measured using thermal ionization mass spectrometry. The contents of these elements in the irradiated fuel were determined through an isotope dilution mass spectrometric method using $^{233}U$, $^{242}Pu$, $^{150}Nd$, and $^{133}Cs$ as spikes. The activity ratios of Cs isotopes in the fuel samples were determined using gamma-ray spectrometry. The content of each element and its isotopic compositions in the irradiated fuel were expressed by their correlation with the total and fractional burnup, burnup parameters, and the isotopic compositions of different elements. The results obtained from the experimental methods were compared with those calculated using the ORIGEN-S code.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.12
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• pp.2867-2873
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• 2020

In reprocessed uranium, derived from an impoverished fuel of light-water moderated reactors, there are isotopes of ^{232, 234, 236}U, which make its recycling remarkably difficult. A method of concentration of ²³⁵U target isotope in cascade's additional product was proposed to recover the isotopic composition of reprocessed uranium. A general calculation procedure is presented and a parameters' optimization of multi-flow cascades with additional products. For the first time a numeric model of a cascade that uses the cuts of partial flows of stages with relatively high separation factors was applied in this procedure. A novel computing experiment is carried out on separation of reprocessed uranium hexafluoride with providing a high concentration of ²³⁵U in cascade's additional product with subsequent dilution. The parameters of cascades' stages are determined so as to allow reducing the ^{232, 234, 236}U isotope content up to the acceptable. It was demonstrated that the dilution of selected products by the natural waste makes it possible to receive a low enriched uranium hexafluoride that meets the ASTM C996-15 specification for commercial grade.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.325-332
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• 2003

To analyze co-planar PCBs in food, the isotopic dilution method by high resolution gas chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry was applied. Among 209 PCB congeners, 12 congeners (#77, #81, #126, #169, #105, #114, #118, #123, #156, #157, #167 and #189) were chosen as target compounds that were toxic congeners re-assessed by WHO in 1998. Milk and milk products including cheese and butter were collected as food samples. Samples were homogenized, spiked with the known amount of the standard mixture and extracted. After extraction, extracts were cleaned up by sulfuric acid impregnated silica gel, purified on silica gel and alumina column chromatography and then analyzed by HRGC/HRMS. As results, the overall recoveries were ranged from 83% to 106% and the limit of detection was about 0.1 pg/g at signal/noise>3. Levels of targets in the selected food samples were 0.001~0.107 pgWHO-TEQ/g.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.1-10
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• 2013

This study was performed to summarize application of ${\delta}^{13}C$, ${\delta}^{37}Cl$ and ${\delta}D$ of trichloroethylene (TCE) to studies on environmental forensic field regarding identification of TCE sources and evaluation of contribution of TCE to groundwater using data collected from literatures. ${\delta}^{13}C$, ${\delta}^{37}Cl$ and ${\delta}D$ of TCE give some information regarding sources of TCE because they show specific value according to manufacturing method. Also, TCE do not show a significant isotopic fractionation owing to adsorption and dilution. The isotopic fractionation mainly occurs by biodegradation. In addition, isotopic fractionation factor for TCE is different according to a kind of microorganism participated in biodegradation. However, the isotopic data of TCE have to be applied with chemical compositions of TCE and other hydrogeologic factors because isotopic fractionation of TCE is influenced by various factors.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.12-15
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• 2014

Thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) was used to determine the concentration and isotope ratio of uranium contained in samples of soil and groundwater collected from Korea. Quantification of uranium in ground water samples was performed by isotope dilution mass spectrometry. A series of chemical treatment processes, including chemical separation using extraction chromatography, was applied to the soil samples to extract the uranium. No treatments other than filtration were applied to the groundwater samples. Isotopic analyses by TIMS showed that the isotope ratios of uranium in both the soil and water samples were indistinguishable from those of naturally abundant uranium. The concentration of uranium in the groundwater samples was within the U.S. acceptable standards for drinking water. These results demonstrate the utility of TIMS for monitoring uranium in environmental samples with high analytical reliability.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.12
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• pp.3482-3488
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• 2014

Matrix-induced mass bias and its effect on the accuracy of isotope ratio measurements have been examined for a quadrupole-based inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (Q ICP-MS). Matrix-induced mass bias effect was directly proportional to % mass difference, and its magnitude varied for element and nebulizer flow rate. For a given element and conditions in a day, the effect was consistent. The isotope ratio of Cd106/Cd114 under $200{\mu}g\;g^{-1}$ U matrix deviated from the natural value significantly by 3.5%. When Cd 111 and Cd114 were used for the quantification of Cd with isotope dilution (ID) method, the average of differences between the calculated and measured concentrations was -0.034% for samples without matrix ($0.076{\mu}g\;g^{-1}$ to $0.21{\mu}g\;g^{-1}$ for the period of 6 months). However, the error was as large as 1.5% for samples with $200{\mu}g\;g^{-1}$ U. The error in ID caused by matrix could be larger when larger mass difference isotopes are used.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.58-61
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• 2012

A method based on flow injection-isotope dilution-cold vapor-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (FI-IDCV-ICP/MS) has been applied to determine trace level of mercury in fly ash. $^{200}Hg$ isotopic spike was added to 0.25 g of BCR176R fly ash and then decomposed by microwave digestion procedure with acid mixture A (8 mL $HNO_3$ + 2 mL HCl + 2 mL HF) and acid mixture B (8 mL $HNO_3$ + 2 mL $HClO_4$ + 2 mL HF) for applying IDMS. Mercury cold vapor was generated by using reductant solution of 0.2% (w/w) $NaBH_4$ and 0.05% (w/w) NaOH. The measurements of n($^{200}Hg$)/n($^{202}Hg$) isotope ratio was made using a quadrupole ICP/MS system. The accuracy in this method was verified by the analysis of certified reference material (CRM) of fly ash (BCR 176R). The indicative value of Hg in BCR 176R fly ash was $1.60{\pm}0.23$ mg/kg (k = 2). The determined values of Hg in BCR 176R fly ash by the method of FI-CV-ID-ICP/MS described in this paper were $1.60{\pm}0.24$ mg/kg (k = 3.18) and the analysis results were in well agreement with the indicative value within the range of uncertainty.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.269-276
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• 2014

A short study for the uncertainty of post column isotope dilution method has been performed for the analysis of Selenomethionine in HPLC-ICP/MS. Major error sources studied were concentration and the flow rate of Se isotope solution, atomic weights of Se in spike and sample, and isotope ratio measured for the spiked sample. Uncertainties were obtained for each factor and the contribution for the total concentration uncertainty was 54.4% and 0.61%, 0.0072% and 0.018%, and 45.0%, respectively. The biggest contribution factor was concentration of the spike solution and the second was the isotopic ratio measured for the spiked sample solution. The mass flow rate of spike and atomic weights did not show much contribution. The calculated total uncertainty was $1.46ng{\cdot}g^{-1}$ for the standard SeMet ($126.30ng{\cdot}g^{-1}$). The experimental result was $127.09{\pm}1.46ng{\cdot}g^{-1}$ and the relative uncertainty was 1.20%.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.312-321
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• 2010

Seven indicator PCBs (IUPAC nos 28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153, 180 congeners) concentrations were measured in food samples including cereal (polished rice), meats, eggs, milk and dairy products, and fisheries and products as representation for the general Korean populations during 2006-2007, and was analyzed using isotopic dilution method. Fishes had the highest average level as 39.8 ng/g, 1.4 ng/g for milk and dairy products, and 0.9 ng/g for meats. The hairtail out of fishes was contaminated at the level of 15.4 ng/g, 5.4 ng/g for pacific mackerel and spanish mackerel, and 4.5 ng/g for yellow croaker. The ratio for indicator PCBs in overall food was contributed as follows; 35.8% for PCB-153, 16.2% for PCB-138, 16.1% for PCB-101, 13.4% for PCB-118, 8.8% for PCB-180, 6.9% for PCB-52, and 2.9% for PCB-28. The hexa-CBs including PCB-153 and 138 were more predominated, and the next was penta-CBs including PCB-101 and 118 in food. For estimated daily intake (EDI) in average and $95^{th}$ percentile, fishes and products out of overall food were taken to represent over 50%. However, it was estimated that there was no adverse health effect for Korean.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.17-20
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• 2010

As background significantly affects measurement accuracy and a detection limit in determination of the trace amounts of uranium, it is necessary to minimize the impurities in the filaments used for thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS). We have varied the degassing condition such as the heating currents and duration times to reduce the backgrounds from the filaments prepared with zone-refined rhenium tape. The most efficient degassing condition of the heating current and the duration time was determined as 3.5 A and 60 min, respectively. The TIMS measurement combined with the isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS) technique showed that the uranium backgrounds were determined to be in a few fg level from blank rhenium filaments. The background minimized filaments were utilized to measure the uranium isotope ratios of a U030 (NIST) standard sample. The excellent agreement of the measurement with the certified isotope ratios showed that the degassing procedure optimized in this study efficiently reduced the impurity signals of uranium from blank rhenium filaments to a negligible level.