Application of ion chromatography

Latest nuclear power plants require advanced control techniques in the water quality control for reactor coolant water as the measures to prevent stress corrosion cracking and to reduce exposure dose. To meet these requirements, the analysis in ppb or ppt (parts per trillion) level is often necessary. In such super-micro trace analysis, an analyst must pay very close attention. Specifically, the analysis of anions by absorptiometry or solvent extraction is insufficient in the sensitivity and requires hands. To overcome these difficulties, an ion chromatograph system has been for the first time introduced and tested in the ''Fugen'' plant. The system is initially used for chlorine ion analysis, but presently successfully applied to the analysis of almost all anions. In this paper, the circumstances of its introduction, the outline of the system and the application to the ''Fugen'' plant are described. One of its features is the capability of performing micro trace analysis in a short time. Though the precision of the analysis has only one or two digits of significant figure, it seems to be very suitable for the water quality analysis in nuclear power plants, which needs highly sensitive detection of low concentration materials. (Wakatsuki, Y.)