Particle-chemical analysis of uranium and plutonium

ウラン,プルトニウム粒子の化学分析

篠永 妙子*; Donohue, D.*; Klose, D.*; 久野 剛彦* ; 久野 祐輔*; 江坂 文孝  ; 江坂 木の実; 間柄 正明  ; 桜井 聡 ; 臼田 重和

Shinonaga, Taeko*; Donohue, D.*; Klose, D.*; Kuno, Takehiko*; Kuno, Yusuke*; Esaka, Fumitaka; Esaka, Konomi; Magara, Masaaki; Sakurai, Satoshi; Usuda, Shigekazu

環境試料中の個々のウラン,プルトニウム粒子の同位体比分析法の開発を目的として、単一粒子の摘出,溶解,化学分離,質量分析(表面電離質量分析及び誘導結合プラズマ質量分析)を組合せた方法の検討を、標準試料を用いて行った。発表では、表面電離質量分析及び誘導結合プラズマ質量分析法の結果を比較し、その有効性について議論するとともに、本法を実試料の分析へ適用した結果についても報告する。

More precise, accurate and prompt analyses of uranium and plutonium in various types of environmental samples are increasingly requested from the Clean Laboratory Unit, Safeguards Analytical Laboratory of IAEA in recent years. Particles show unique information and up to now, the secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) has been employed for the uranium and plutonium particle analysis. The SIMS that is the most rapid method for particle analysis has, however, disadvantages for the analysis of the minor isotopes like U and U, i.e., not precise enough. The SIMS measurement also has a difficulty on Pu determination because of the interference of U-based isobaric signals. In this study, a combination of techniques, picking-up particles by a manipulator attached to a scanning electron microscope (SEM), followed by uranium and plutonium chemical purification and measurement by an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) and thermal ionization mass spectrometer (TIMS), was demonstrated for particle analysis using standard materials (NBS U500 and NBS 947) to develop a particle-chemical analysis.