Current status and newly introduced analytical techniques for safeguards environmental samples at JAERI

Magara, Masaaki  ; Usuda, Shigekazu; Sakurai, Satoshi ; Watanabe, Kazuo; Esaka, Fumitaka  ; Hirayama, Fumio; Lee, C. G.; Yasuda, Kenichiro   ; Kono, Nobuaki; Inagawa, Jun; Suzuki, Daisuke   ; Fukuyama, Hiroyasu; Gunji, Hideho; Esaka, Konomi; Iguchi, Kazunari; Ichimura, Seiji; Kurosawa, Setsumi; Onodera, Takashi; Kokubu, Yoko   ; Miyamoto, Yutaka   ; Ozu, Akira  ; Chai, J.*; Zhang, X.

JAERI has been developing analytical techniques for ultra-trace amounts of nuclear materials in the environmental samples in order to contribute to the strengthened safeguards system. Development of essential techniques for bulk and particle analysis of the environmental swipe sample has been established as an ultra-trace analytical method of uranium and plutonium. In January 2003, JAERI was qualified as a member of the IAEA network analytical laboratories for environmental samples. Since then, JAERI has conducted the analysis of domestic and the IAEA samples. From Japanese fiscal year 2003, the second phase of the project was started for the development of advanced techniques, such as analyzing minor actinides and fission products as well as uranium and plutonium, particle analysis using fission-track technique, more efficient particle analysis using ICP-TOFMS and screening by X-ray fluorescent analysis. This paper deals with the progress in the development of the new techniques, applications and future perspective.