“Cathode Region” Method for the Spectrochemical (dc Arc) Determination of Impurities in Plutonium

Abstract

A direct spectrochemical method for 47 impurities in plutonium was developed by exposing on the photographic plate only the cathode region instead of the whole arc gap. The dc plasma parameters were calculated for the two matrices, PuO2 and U3O8. This method enables the measurement of similar parameter values for uranium and plutonium. The matrix factor was used for determination of impurities in PuO2, with U3O8 as standard matrix for the analytical curves (log I/log C). The reproducibility of the method is within ±20% and the detection limits of the impurities are in the concentration range of a few parts per million.