Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry for PuO2 analysis

In an attempt to reduce mixed waste production resulting from inorganic analysis of nuclear materials, laser-ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry is being set up in a glovebox at LANL. The laser to be used is a Nd:YAG which will be tripled (355 nm) or quadrupled (266 nm). A fiber optic cable will be used to bring the laser beam into the glovebox for ablation of the radioactive samples. The ablated particles will then be carried in an argon stream to our glovebox ICP-MS for analysis. The presentation will show 266, 532, and 1064 nm experimental data on nonradioactive samples. These data show that compared to 1064 nm and 532 nm ablation, UV ablation provides a more constant representation of the sample over a relatively wide range of ablation parameters. The authors will also present the fiber optic coupling used and glovebox setup. Initially, the authors are employing a simple, basic method for the analysis of 238PuO2 powder. Calibration standards consist of relatively pure 239PuO2 powder spiked with the oxides of the various elements needed to analyze and the internal standard. Each 238PuO2 sample will be mixed with the internal standard prior to analysis. To monitor the success of this method, the sample analysis results will be compared to those from dc arc emission spectroscopy and wet techniques using acid digestion and ICP-AES and ICP-MS