Interference in neutron activation analysis of rocks by uranium fission

Interferences by uranium fission for⁹⁵Zr,⁹⁹Mo,¹⁰³Ru,¹⁴⁰La,¹⁴¹Ce and¹⁴⁷Nd have been studied using a single comparator method with two monitors. The effect of the neutron energy spectrum on the interference factor was examined by using the effective activation cross section. All the activities of¹⁴⁰La produced during neutron irradiation of uranium were included in the calculation of the factor for lanthanum. The calculated and experimental interference factors are in good agreement within 10% deviation. The results have been applied for the analysis of several rock samples containing uranium in a wide concentration range.     

Determination of uranium fission interference factors for INAA

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) is a very suitable technique for the determination of several elements in different kinds of matrices. However, when the sample contains high uranium concentration this method presents interference problems of uranium fission products. The same radioisotopes used in INAA are formed in uranium fission. Among these radioisotopes are ¹⁴¹Ce, ¹⁴³Ce, ¹⁴⁰La, ⁹⁹Mo, ¹⁴⁷Nd, ¹⁵³Sm and ⁹⁵Zr. The purpose of this study was to evaluate uranium fission interference factors to be used in the INAA of environmental and geological samples containing high levels of U. The obtained interference factors agreed with literature reported values. The results point to the viability of using these experimentally determined interference factors for the correction of uranium fission products.     

Instrumental neutron activation analysis in geochemistry: Emphasis on spectral and uranium fission product interferences

Summary The accuracy of the analytical results may suffer from unsolved interferences both spectral or due to U fission products despite progress performed in electronics and informatics in instrumental neutron activation analysis. This contribution deals with the correction of spectral and U fission product interferences using a multicomponent method based on the resolution of simultaneous equation method and using the Erdtmann isotope-related k_I-factors for the determination of the correction factors of interferences due to U fission products, respectively. These resolution methods were tested on typical phosphate and uraniferous ore samples.     

Multielement analysis of concrete from nuclear reactors by INAA,ICP-MS and ICP-AES

There is a need to know, before dismantling nuclear plants, how the induced radioactivity is distributed in concrete. Computer codes are used to predict such a distribution, by applying input data like, among others, the chemical composition of the material. Biological shield concretes with particularly high boron or barium concentrations had to be analyzed. Instrumental neutron activation analysis is not able to determine all elements, thus, additional techniques are required, like ICP-MS and ICP-AES. The respective performances of these techniques are discussed. For INAA, the thermal neutron self-shielding was empirically corrected by using comparisons between thermal neutron activation (TNAA), epithermal and fast neutron activation (ENAA), ICP-AES and ICP-MS measurements.     

Correcting for uranium fission in instrumental neutron activation analysis of high-uranium rocks

Failure to correct for fission products of²³⁵U is shown to result in significant errors in the measured concentrations of La, Sm, Nd, Ba, Zr, and Mo by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis of high uranium rocks. Measured and calculated correction factors are presented as the ratio of the fission product to parts per million by weight of uranium in the rock. Potential errors in petrogenetic interpretations of uncorrected data are outlined.     

Multielement analysis of Northwestern Nigerian rocks by instrumental neutron activation analysis

Rock samples from seven different locations in northwestern Nigeria were analyzed by reactor instrumental neutron activation analysis and Ge(Li) gamma-ray spectrometry. Concentration values were obtained for 18 elements (As, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Eu, Fe, Hf, La, Lu, Sc, Sm, Sr, Ta, Tb, Th, U, Yb). The geochemical implications of the results are discussed.     

Studies on matrix interferences during uranium analysis by extractive liquid scintillation technique

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - The efficiency of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) in reducing the influence of salinity and...     

Analysis of standard reference materials by absolute INAA

Three standard reference materials were analyzed by a method of absolute INAA. Two different light water pool-type reactors were used to produce equivalent analytical results even though the epithermal to thermal flux ratio in one reactor was higher than that in the other by a factor of two.     

Nuclear interferences of thorium fission products in reactor neutron activation analysis

The study is concerned with nuclear interferences of thorium in the determination of Zr, Mo, Ru, Te, Ba, La, Ce and Nd by the method of NAA under the conditions of neutron activation in a nuclear reactor core.Dedicated to Prof. V. D. Nefedov on the occasion of his 70th birthday     

Determination of oxygen,fluorine and boron by 14-MeV INAA: A case of multiple interferences

Oxygen and fluorine have been simultaneously determined by 14-MeV INAA in samples containing boron. Both boron and fluorine can cause serious interferences in the determination of oxygen. The fluorine and boron interference corrections for oxygen determination have been determined to be 0.43±0.01 and 0.0832±0.0017 apparent g oxygen per g of fluorine and boron, respectively, for our system. Boron can be determined in the same sample by a second irradiation. Mutual interferences have been evaluated and the procedure has been applied to NIST SRM and several other compounds.     

The determination of uranium and thorium in rocks by neutron activation analysis

A neutron activation method is described for the determination of thorium and uranium in rocks at the microgram and submicrogram levels. Radiochemical separations are carried out using the alpha-active nuclides protactinium-231 and neptunium-237 as tracers. The method is applied to the Standard granite XXX and the standard diabase XXX.     

Determination of dysprosium by INAA in some Bulgarian standard rocks

Dy content has been determined by INAA in the Bulgarian standard rocks BV, GV, DM, MrA, OgG, OZnO and in the IAEA standard reference materials SL-1, SOIL-5, and SOIL-7. Results are compared with Dy values obtained by interpolation of the chondrite-normalized contents of other REE in these samples.     

Interference from uranium fission products in the determination of rare earths,zirconium and ruthenium by instrumental neutron activation analysis in rocks and minerals

A numerical procedure is given to correct for the interference of U in the determination of the light rare earths, Zr, and Ru. The corresponding interference factors were calculated and their values compared with experimental results. The agreement is favourable in most cases.     

Multielement comparison of instrumental neutron activation analysis techniques using reference materials

Several instrumental neutron activation analysis techniques (parametric, comparative, and k_o-standardization) are evaluated using three reference materials. Each technique is applied to National Institute of Standards and Technology standard reference materials, SRM 1577a (Bovine Liver) and SRM 2704 (Buffalo River Sediment), and the United States Geological Survey standard BHVO-1 (Hawaiian Basalt Rock). Identical (but not optimum) irradiation, decay, and counting schemes are employed with each technique to provide a basis for comparison and to determine sensitivities in a routine irradiation scheme. Fifty-one elements are used in this comparison; however, several elements are not detected in the reference materials due to rigid analytical conditions (e.g., insufficient length of irradiation or activity for radioisotope of interest decaying below the lower limit of detection before counting interval). Most elements are normally distributed around certified or consensus values with a standard deviation of 10%. For some elements, discrepancies are observed and discussed. The accuracy, precision, and sensitivity of each technique are discussed by comparing the analytical results to consensus values for the Hawaiian Basalt Rock to demonstrate the diversity of multielement applications.     

Multielement determination of typical diet reference materials by neutron-induced prompt gamma-ray analysis using k 0 standardization

Multielement determination in reference materials of diet and its relatedsamples has been studied by a k 0 based neutron-induced prompt gamma-ray analysis(PGA) by using cold and thermal guided neutron beams of JRR-3M at JAERI. Hydrogen,B, C, N, Na, S, Cl, K and Ca were determined in the reference materials ofNIES and NIST typical diet and milk powder samples. Analytical results ofthe NIST Standard Reference Materials agreed with the certified values towithin 7%.     

Homogeneity studies of reference materials by solid sampling – AAS and INAA

The necessity to quantify a natural material's homogeneity with respect to its elemental distribution prior to chemical analysis of a given aliquot is emphasised. The instruments and methods which are currently available are described. Additionally, the calculation of element specific, relative homogeneity factors, H _E and the minimum sample mass, M _5%, to achieve 5% precision on a 95% confidence level is given. Especially, in the production and certification of certified reference materials (CRMs) this characteristic information should be determined in order to provide the user with additional inherent properties of the CRM, to enable more economic use of the expensive material and to evaluate further systematic bias of the applied analytical technique.     

Multielement analysis of lichen by instrumental neutron activation analysis

Lichen (species Trypethelium Eluteriae) is analysed for different elements. Nondestructive instrumental neutron activation analysis is employed for the multielemental analysis. Gamma-ray spectrometry is used for the identification and quantitative estimation of elements. Concentrations of 24 elements are reported. Gamma-ray spectrum of the lichen irradiated for 16 hours, delayed for 10 days, and counted for 10 hours on a 50 cm³ coaxial Ge(Li) detector is given.     

The determination of uranium using short-lived fission products by cyclic and other modes of activation analysis

The determination of elemental concentration in biological and environmental samples through the detection of short-lived nuclides has been of considerable interest in the last few years. In this context the relative advantages and disadvantages of cyclic activation analysis (CAA) with respect to single conventional one-shot irradiation and counting sequence (for one sample or replicate samples) and what has been termed pseudo-cyclic activation have been discussed with conflicting interpretations. It is the objective of this study to demonstrate through the irradiation of uranium standards by measurement of short-lived fission products how each mode of activation is best utilised. Application of CAA to the problem, in order to enhance signal-to-noise ratio, must also take into account an increasing dead-time with each cycle and therefore mass fractionation of a given sample and standard are investigated for replicate and pseudo-cyclic activation conditions. The variation of timing parameters in the cyclic mode, as well as irradation in a mixed reactor flux and epi-cadmium neutron flux, produces a set of equations from which half-life can be determined to confirm fission product identification in these complex gamma-ray spectra.