M. Betti, USE OF A DIRECT-CURRENT GLOW-DISCHARGE MASS-SPECTROMETER FOR THE CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF SAMPLES OF NUCLEAR CONCERN, Journal of analytical atomic spectrometry, 11(9), 1996, pp. 855-860
Direct current GDMS has been applied to conducting and non-conducting
nuclear samples, namely, different types of nuclear fuels, cladding ma
terials and nuclear-waste glasses. For the non-conducting oxide-based
nuclear samples the relative sensitivity factors (RSFs), applied for q
uantitative analysis, are affected by the oxygen content in the matrix
, For these samples the effect of 'getter metals,' such as tantalum an
d titanium as binder material, has been investigated and the results c
ompared with those obtained using silver as the host matrix, Moreover,
when tantalum was used as a secondary cathode, it was found to behave
as a getter of oxygen. For the quantitative analysis of nuclear-waste
glasses the use of matrix specific RSFs was necessary, Comparisons wi
th RSFs obtained from other workers are made. Metallic alloys were ana
lysed using several analytical techniques. The GDMS results obtained a
pplying RSFs from the major metallic element uranium were in agreement
with those from independent techniques, such as titration, thermal io
nization MS and ICP-MS.