Preparation of microvolume anion-exchange cartridge for inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry-based determination of Np content in spent nuclear fuel
Asai, Shiho; Hanzawa, Yukiko ; Konda, Miki; Suzuki, Daisuke ; Magara, Masaaki ; Kimura, Takaumi ; Ishihara, Ryo*; Saito, Kyoichi*; Yamada, Shinsuke*; Hirota, Hideyuki*
Neptunium-237 (Np) is one of the major long-lived radionuclides found in spent nuclear fuel. To evaluate the long-term safety of a HLW repository, the Np content in spent nuclear fuel must be determined. In this study, micro-volume anion-exchange porous polymer disk-packed cartridges were prepared for Am-Np separation, which is required prior to the measurement of Np with ICP-MS. Disks with a volume of 0.08 cm were cut out from porous sheets having triethylenediamine (TEDA)-containing polymer chains densely attached on the pore surface. The resulting TEDA-introduced disk cartridge was applied to a spent nuclear fuel sample. The chemical yield of Np was 90.4%, which is sufficiently high for ICP-MS measurement of Np. Compared with the conventional separation technique using commercially available anion-exchange resin columns, the time required to adsorb, wash and elute Np using the TEDA-introduced disk cartridge was reduced by 75%.