• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.140-144
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• 2018

Isotopic analyses of plutonium and low-enriched uranium mixtures with particle sizes of $0.6-3.3{\mu}m$ were performed using thermal ionization mass spectrometry with a continuous heating method to verify its effectiveness for the accurate analysis of minor isotopes without sample pretreatment. The mixed particles used in this study were prepared from a mixed solution of plutonium (SRM 947) and uranium (U010, $^{235}U$ 1% enriched) reference materials. The isotope ratios for plutonium in the individual mixed particles, including $^{238}Pu/^{239}Pu$, $^{241}Pu/^{239}Pu$ as well as $^{240}Pu/^{239}Pu$, and $^{242}Pu/^{239}Pu$, were in good agreement with the certified values despite the isobaric interference of $^{238}U$ and $^{241}Am$. The isotope ratios for uranium in the mixed particles also agreed well with the certified values within the range of error. However, the isotope ratios for minor isotopes, such as $^{234}U$ and $^{236}U$, in the particles with diameters of less than approximately $1.8{\mu}m$ could not be measured because numbers of $^{234}U$ and $^{236}U$ atoms in analyzed particles are too low. These results indicate that thermal ionization mass spectrometry with a continuous heating method is applicable for the analysis of trace amounts of plutonium isotopes, including $^{238}Pu$ and $^{241}Pu$, despite the presence of the respective isobars $^{238}U$ and $^{241}Am$ in the microsamples.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.163-168
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• 2016

Korea has been developing nuclear fusion fuel storage and delivery system (SDS) technologies including a basic scientific study on hydrogen storage. To develop nuclear fusion technology, it is necessary to store and supply hydrogen isotopes needed for Tokamak operation. SDS is used for storing hydrogen isotopes as a metal hydride form. The rapid hydriding of tritium is very important not only for safety reasons but also for the economic design and operation of the SDS. In this study, we designed and fabricated a medium-scale getter bed of depleted uranium (DU). The hydriding of DU has been measured by varying the initial temperature ($100-300^{\circ}C$) of the DU getter bed to investigate the influence of the cooling temperature. Furthermore, we analyzed the effect of a helium blanket on the hydriding performance with 0 - 12% helium content in hydrogen.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.719-726
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• 2016

The problem of separation of isotopes in a concurrent gas centrifuge is solved analytically for an arbitrary binary mixture of isotopes. The separative power of the optimised concurrent gas centrifuges for the uranium isotopes equals to ${\delta}U=12.7(V/700m/s)^2(300K/T)(L/1m)kg{\cdot}SWU/yr$, where L and V are the length and linear velocity of the rotor of the gas centrifuge and T is the temperature. This equation agrees well with the empirically determined separative power of optimised counter-current gas centrifuges.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.424.1-424
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• 2001

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.51-54
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• 2013

Isotopic analysis using thermal ionization mass spectrometry coupled with scanning electron microscopy (SEM-TIMS) was performed to determine the isotopic ratios of uranium contained in micro-particles in the 6th Nuclear Signatures Interlaboratory Measurement Evaluation Programme (NUSIMEP-6) sample. Elemental analysis by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) was conducted on uranium-bearing mirco-particles, which were transferred to rhenium filaments for TIMS loading using a micromanipulation system in a SEM. A multi-ion-counter system was utilized to detect the ion signals of the four isotopes of uranium simultaneously. The isotope ratios of uranium corrected by bracketing using a reference material showed excellent agreement with the certified values. The measurement accuracy for $n(^{234}U)/n(^{238}U)$ and (b) $n(^{235}U)/n(^{238}U)$ was 10% and 1%, respectively, which met the requirements for qalification for the NetWork of Analytical Laboratories (NWAL).

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.85-93
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• 2015

Background: $^{241}Am$, $^{243}Am$, and $^{237}Np$ isotopes are among the most radiotoxic components of spent nuclear fuel. Recently, researchers have planned different incineration scenarios for the highly radiotoxic elements of nuclear waste in critical reactors. Computational methods are widely used to predict burnup rates of such nuclear wastes that are used under fuel matrixes in critical reactors. Methods: In this work, the Monte Carlo N-particle transport code was used to calculate the neutronic behavior of a transuranic (TRU)-bearing CANada Deuterium Uranium 6 reactor. Results: The computational data showed that the 1.0% TRU-containing thorium-based fuel matrix presents higher proliferation resistance and TRU depletion rate than the other investigated fuel Matrixes. The fuel matrix includes higher negative temperature reactivity coefficients as well. Conclusion: The investigated thorium-based fuel matrix can be successfully used to decrease the production of highly radiotoxic isotopes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.201-202
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• 2017

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.445-454
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• 1999

This work describes the adaptation of extractive scintillation by URAE $X^{TM}$ with a photon-electron rejecting alpha liquid scintillation (PERAL $S^{)}$ spectrometer to the analysis of uranium in aqueous samples. The extraction efficiency of the system was evaluated under varing chemical conditions including pH, and sample-cocktail volume ratio. Isotopic information from the (PERAL $S^{)}$ spectrum of natural uranium was obtained using a curve fitting routine. Comparisons of the result with that obtained from alpha spectrometry method using ion implanted silicon detector showed good agreement.t.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.450-457
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• 2003

The determination of uranium and its isotopes in spent nuclear fuels by isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS) has been studied. The spent fuel samples were dissolved in 8 M $HNO_3$ or its mixture with 14 M $HNO_3-0.05M$ HF. The dissolved solutions were filterred on membrane filter with $1.2{\mu}m$ pore size. The uraniums in the spiked and unspiked sample solutions were quantitatively adsorbed by anion exchange resin, AG 1X8 and eluted with 0.1 M HCl. The contents of uranium and its isotopes ($^{234}U$, $^{235}U$, $^{236}U$ 및 $^{238}U$) in the spent fuel samples were determined by isotope dilution mass spectrometric method using $^{233}U$ as spike. The spike reference solution was standarized by reverse isotope dilution mass spectrometry (R-IDMS) using natural and depleted uranium. The results from IDMS were in average relative difference of 0.34% when compared with those by the potentiometric titration method.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.50-54
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• 2016

Multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) is currently used in our laboratory for isotopic and quantitative analyses of nuclear materials at ultra-trace levels in environmental swipe samples, which is a very useful for monitoring undeclared nuclear activities. In this study, to improve measurement precisions of uranium isotopes at ultratrace levels, we adopted a desolvating nebulizer system (Aridus-II, CETAC., USA), which can improve signal sensitivity and reduce formation of uranium hydride. A peristaltic pump was combined with Aridus-II in the sample introduction system of MC-ICP-MS to reduce long-term signal fluctuations by maintaining a constant flow rate of the sample solution. The signal sensitivity in the presence of Aridus-II was improved more than 10-fold and the formation ratio of UH/U decreased by 16- to 17- fold compared to a normal spray chamber. Long-term signal fluctuations were significantly reduced by using the peristaltic pump. Detailed optimizations and evaluations with uranium standards are also discussed in this paper.