STUDY OF URANIUM MATRIX INTERFERENCE ON 10 ANALYTES USING INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA-ATOMIC EMISSION-SPECTROMETRY

Maximum allowable concentrations of 12 elements in uranium hexafluorid e feed for enrichment to reactor grade material (about 3%), vary from 1 to 100 ppm (mug/g). Using an inductively coupled plasma atomic emiss ion spectrometer, 51 lines of ten of these elements (B, Cr, Mo, P, Sb, Si, Ta, Ti, V and W) have been studied with a uranium matrix to inves tigate the matrix interference on the basis of signal to background (S BR), and background to background ratios (BBR). Detection limits and l imits of quantitative determination (LQDs) were calculated for these e lements in a uranium matrix using SBR and relative standard deviation of the background signal (RSD(B)) approach. In almost all cases, the u ranium matrix interference reduces the SBRs to the extent that direct trace analysis is impossible. A uranium sample having known concentrat ions of impurities (around LQDs) was directly analysed with results th at showed reasonable accuracy and precision.