Determination of low levels of plutonium in presence of uranium and other actinides by IC-ICP-MS

In this poster, a method based on the use of ion chromatography separation before the ICP-MS detection is presented. The instrumental configuration used consists of a chromatographic system coupled on-line with an ICP-MS. For the separation of all actinides, a method based on the use of a high capacity cation exchanger (CS1O-Dionex-USA) has been developed. It has been applied for the determination of ppb levels of Pu in solution of high active waste (HAW). Since plutonium could be present in all four oxidation states, the use of an oxidizing reagent to obtain just one oxidation state is necessary. Silver oxide was employed for this purpose. Its amount and the time necessary for the completeness of the reaction after its addition to the solution sample, were studied. Different eluent media at varying concentrations were also investigated in isocratic and gradient mode. Figures of merits of the method developed are given in terms of accuracy, precision and detection limit