A comparative study of isotopic analysis of plutonium from organic and aqueous media by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS)

For isotopic analysis of plutonium (Pu) in irradiated nuclear fuel samples, it is normally separated from Am, U and fission products by anion exchange method in nitrate medium. However, stripping of Pu from the column by dilute HNO3 acid is slow due to tailing which requires long elution times and reduces the concentration of Pu in the eluted solution. The desorption of Pu from the column can be enhanced by using more dilute HNO3 but there are problems of hydrolysis and polymer formation. Formic acid and ascorbic acid in formic acid are reported to be promising eluents for plutonium. Formic acid is also a good solvent for Pu. Further, the presence of ascorbic acid helps in reducing Pu (IV) to Pu (III) thereby leading to faster elution as well as better recovery in smaller volumes of the eluant and hence higher Pu concentrations in the collected fraction. This would circumvent the need of subsequent concentration steps allowing direct loading of Pu on the filament for analysis by TIMS. The aim of the present work was to compare the elution behaviour and mass spectrometric analysis of Pu using formic acid, formic acid + ascorbic acid and nitric acid with respect to ion current behaviour and isotopic ratios obtained