PNNL

Abstract

At the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), we have developed highly sensitive methods to analyze uranium and plutonium in environmental samples. The development of an ultratrace analysis capability for measuring uranium and plutonium has arisen from a need to detect and characterize environmental samples for signatures associated with nuclear industry processes. Our most sensitive well-developed methodologies employ thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS), however, recent advances in inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) have shown considerable promise for use in detecting uranium and plutonium at ultratrace levels. The work at PNNL has included the development of both chemical separation and purification techniques, as well as the development of mass spectrometric instrumentation and techniques. At the heart of our methodology for TIMS analysis is a procedure that utilizes 100-microliter-volumes of analyte for chemical processing to purify, separate, and load actinide elements into resin beads for subsequent mass spectrometric analysis. The resin bead technique has been combined with a thorough knowledge of the physicochemistry of thermal ion emission to achieve femtogram detection limits for the TIMS analysis of plutonium in environmental samples.