Determination of 126Sn half-life from ICP-MS and gamma spectrometry measurements

Abstract

Abstract A new value of 126Sn half-life was determined by combination of inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and gamma spectrometry measurements on purified sample solutions collected from nuclear fuel reprocessing. 126Sn was isolated through dissolution of fission product precipitates and liquid-liquid extraction with N-benzoyl-N-phenyl-hydroxylamine (BPHA). The abundance of 126Sn atoms together with the absence of interfering species in the analysed solutions made it possible to measure both mass concentration and nuclide activity with high precision and accuracy. This led to a 126Sn half-life value of 1.980(57)×105 a.