Optimization of alkali fusion process for determination of I-129 in solidified radwastes by neutron activation

Jiunn-Hsing Chao; Chun-Yu Chuang; Wei-Chun Chou; Chun-Liang Kuo; Feng-Chih Chang; An-Chung Chiang

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2021.109762

Optimization of alkali fusion process for determination of I-129 in solidified radwastes by neutron activation

Appl Radiat Isot. 2021 Oct:176:109762. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2021.109762. Epub 2021 May 29.

Authors

Jiunn-Hsing Chao¹, Chun-Yu Chuang², Wei-Chun Chou³, Chun-Liang Kuo⁴, Feng-Chih Chang⁵, An-Chung Chiang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Nuclear Science and Technology Development Center, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, 30013, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: jhchao@mx.nthu.edu.tw.
² Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, 30013, Taiwan, ROC.
³ Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, 30013, Taiwan, ROC; Institute of Computational Comparative Medicine, Department of Anatomy and Physiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, United States.
⁴ Department of Nuclear Medicine, Hsinchu Mackay Memorial Hospital, Hsinchu, 30071, Taiwan, ROC.
⁵ Chemical Division, Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Longtan, 32546, Taiwan, ROC.
⁶ Nuclear Science and Technology Development Center, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, 30013, Taiwan, ROC.

PMID: 34147847
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2021.109762

Abstract

This study determines the optimum temperature for the alkali fusion process used to effectively separate iodine from solidified radwaste attaining low-level ¹²⁹I by neutron activation. The alkali fusion temperature was adjusted to 120, 200, and 400 °C to approach the optimum conditions associated with a good statistical distribution of the measured ¹²⁹I data and high chemical recovery yield. Statistical analysis revealed that the optimum temperature of the alkali fusion process was 200 °C, displaying good central tendency and low variance of the measured ¹²⁹I data, and the respective chemical recovery yields were higher than other temperatures. The optimum fusion condition provides more reliable scaling factors (¹²⁹I/¹³⁷Cs) of radwaste.

Keywords: (129)I; Alkali fusion; Neutron activation analysis; Radwaste.