Year
1990
Abstract
High-resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma - Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) is a variant of the more conventional ICP-AES that is widely used for environmental monitoring. The enhanced selectivity provided by high resolution spectrometry permits application of the ICP-AES technique to more difficult measurement problems. The relevance of high-resolution capabilities to three such analytical problems are discussed herein. 1. Pu in very complex, radioactive matrices can be determined with good accuracy without the need for prior chemical separations. Isotopically resolved spectra from actinides in fuel dissolver solutions can be obtained after a simple ionexchange step. 2. High-resolution methods permit the simultaneous determination of fission products and actinides in simulated high-level nuclear waste solutions. Such measurements can be useful for both safeguards and waste processing. 3. The ICP-AES technique, with a photodiode array detector, can be used to determine the composition of nuclear waste glasses. Such measurements can assist the glass producer as well as providing predictors of nuclear waste form performance in a repository.