Nondestructive Quantitative Analysis of Difficult-to-Measure Radionuclides 107Pd and 99Tc

Anal Chem. 2021 Jul 20;93(28):9771-9777. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.1c01233. Epub 2021 Jul 9.

Abstract

Considering the expanding demand for nuclear waste management of the spent nuclear fuel materials in near future, a nondestructive analytical scheme applicable to one of the most difficult-to-measure nuclides 107Pd, which emits no decay γ-rays and whose half-life is too long to be decayed out during a human lifetime, was designed. The scheme consists of a sophisticated instrument capable of the detection of γ-rays by Ge detectors coupled with time-of-flight measurement of neutrons and a high-intensity pulsed neutron beam and can simultaneously perform time-of-flight-coupled prompt γ-ray analysis (TOF-PGA) as well as PGA and neutron resonance capture analysis (NRCA). The analytical capability for simulated samples of the Tc-platinum group metals (Tc-PGMs) obtained by the group-partitioning process of spent nuclear fuels, which contain not only 107Pd but also 99Tc and other difficult-to-measure fission products, was evaluated. It was confirmed that although PGA and NRCA can accurately analyze both nuclides in individual, single substances, only TOF-PGA can analyze 107Pd as well as 99Tc in the Tc-PGM-simulated sample. The TOF-PGA measurement technique can be widely used for the nondestructive analysis of 107Pd and 99Tc in nuclear wastes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Gamma Rays
  • Half-Life
  • Humans
  • Neutrons*
  • Radioactive Waste*
  • Radioisotopes

Substances

  • Radioactive Waste
  • Radioisotopes