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Waste reduction and process improvements in the analysis of plutonium by X-ray fluorescence: Results from multiple data sets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2012

Christopher G. Worley ,
Constance Soderberg  and
Lisa Townsend
Christopher G. Worley*
Affiliation:
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico
Constance Soderberg
Affiliation:
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico
Lisa Townsend
Affiliation:
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico
*
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Electronic mail: cworley@lanl.gov
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Abstract

To minimize waste, improve process safety, and reduce costs, modifications were implemented to a method for quantifying gallium in plutonium metal using wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence. These changes included reducing sample sizes, reducing ion exchange process volumes, using cheaper reagent grade acids, eliminating the use of HF acid, and using more robust containment films for sample analysis. Relative precision and accuracy achieved from analyzing multiple aliquots from a single parent sample were approximately 0.2 and 0.1%, respectively. The same precision was obtained from analyzing a total of four parent materials, and the average relative accuracy from all the samples was 0.4%, which is within programmatic uncertainty requirements.

Keywords

X-ray fluorescenceWDXRFplutoniumwaste minimization
Type
Technical Articles
Information
Powder Diffraction , Volume 26 , Special Issue 2 , June 2011 , pp. 168 - 170
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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References

Tandon, L., Kuhn, K., Michalak, S. E., Tompkins, D., Temer, D., Jackson, D., Decker, D., Porterfield, D., Walker, L., and Wong, A. (2006). “Plutonium metal exchange program: A brief overview,” Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc. TANSAO 95, 70–71.Google Scholar
Worley, C. G. (2002). “Accurate quantification of radioactive materials by X-ray fluorescence: Gallium in plutonium metal,” Adv. X-Ray Anal. AXRAAA 46, 369–374.Google Scholar
Worley, C. G. and Colletti, L. P. (2006). “Optimization of a dried residue specimen preparation method for quantifying analytes in plutonium metal using WDXRF,” Adv. X-Ray Anal. AXRAAA 50, 29–34.Google Scholar