Determination of plutonium in highly radioactive liquid waste by spectrophotometry using neodymium as an internal standard for safeguards analysis; Japan Support Program for Agency Safeguards (JASPAS), JC-19

Taguchi, Shigeo ; Surugaya, Naoki ; Sato, Soichi ; Kurosawa, Akira; Watahiki, Masaru; Hiyama, Toshiaki

We have developed a method of spectrophotometric determination of plutonium (10 M) in highly radioactive liquid waste for safeguards verification analysis. The method offers reduced sample preparation and analysis time compared to isotope dilution mass spectrometry. It uses neodymium as an internal standard, which allows for determining an index for the authentication of the analytical scheme and the inspection procedure. The relative expanded uncertainty of the repeated analysis (n = 5) was 8.9 % (coverage factor k = 2) for a highly radioactive liquid waste sample(173 mgL). The determination limit was calculated to be 6 mgL (ten fold's the standard deviation). This method was validated through comparison experiments with isotope dilution mass spectrometry. The analytical results of plutonium in highly radioactive liquid waste using this method were in good agreement with those obtained using isotope dilution mass spectrometry. It is to be noted that the neodymium standard is intended to be provided by the inspector so that an inspector can check the instrument conditions as well as the analytical scheme. The proposed method was successfully applied for the independent on-site safeguards analysis at the Tokai Reprocessing Plant.