Isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for determination of Sn content in spent nuclear fuel sample

Asai, Shiho; Toshimitsu, Masaaki; Hanzawa, Yukiko  ; Suzuki, Hideya; Shinohara, Nobuo ; Inagawa, Jun; Okumura, Keisuke ; Hotoku, Shinobu ; Kimura, Takaumi ; Suzuki, Kensuke*; Kaneko, Satoru*

The Sn content in a spent nuclear fuel solution was determined by ICP-MS for its inventory estimation in high-level radioactive waste. An irradiated UO fuel was used as a sample to evaluate the reliability of the methodology. Prior to the measurement, Sn was separated from Te, which causes major isobaric interference in the determination of Sn content, along with highly radioactive coexisting elements using an anion-exchange column. The absence of counts attributed to Te in the Sn-containing effluent indicates that Te was completely removed. After washing, Sn retained on the column was readily eluted with 1 M HNO. The isotope ratios of Sn were successfully determined and showed good agreement with those obtained through ORIGEN2 calculations. The results reported in this paper are the first experimental values of Sn content in the spent nuclear fuel solution originating in spent nuclear fuel irradiated at a nuclear power plant in Japan.