Sensitive measurement of uranium isotope ratios by MC-ICP-MS

Tomita, Jumpei; Tomita, Ryohei; Suzuki, Daisuke; Yasuda, Kenichiro; Miyamoto, Yutaka

no journal, , 

Isotopic ratios of uranium particle provide us with the information on the nuclear activities such as enrichment and reprocessing. Precise determination of U isotopic ratios is difficult due to the low intensity of U measured by Faraday cup when pico-gram quantities of uranium was measured by MC-ICP-MS. In this study, the sensitive measurement of the 1-20 pg of uranium was examined. The solution was prepared by only 0.2 mL, which was one-tenth compared to the conventional method, to increase U concentration. Data acquisition was started from the beginning of the solution uptake and continued until all solution was exhausted. The isotopic ratios of uranium were calculated from the total counts of each isotope excepting the portion affected by air mixing at the beginning and end of sample introduction. Uranium isotopic ratios of CRM U015 and IRMM184 determined by this method examined in this study were agreed with the certified values within the uncertainties (2-sigma). The uncertainties obtained by this method were smaller than those by the conventional method.