Neutron activation analysis for chlorine in Zr-2.5 wt% Nb coolant tube material

Zr-2.5 wt% Nb has been found to be better compared to Zircaloy-2 as coolant tube material in Canadu-PHW reactors but has a stringent specification of less than 0.5 mg/kg of chlorine. Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) for the determination of chlorine in Zr-2.5 wt% Nb is not possible because of the high activity produced due to the determination of the matrix. Hence a radiochemical neutron activation analysis (RNAA) procedure has been developed for the determination of chlorine in this material. For the first time the chlorine determination at less than a ppm level by NAA is being reported in this paper, in a number of Zr-2.5 wt% Nb samples ranging from 0.1 to 2 mg/kg.     

Determination of uranium element concentration and235U isotope abundance by neutron activation analysis

A new neutron activation technique has been developed for the determination of uranium element concentration and²³⁵U isotope abundance in nuclear safeguards and reference material samples based on the activation of bare and cadmium-covered samples with different thermal to epithermal neutron flux ratios and on the combination of the two corre-sponding delayed-fission neutron measurements. The principle of the new technique can be applied also to improve multi-element neutron activation analysis.     

Substoichiometric determination of tungsten by neutron activation analysis

A method for the substoichiometric determination of tungsten by thermal neutron activation analysis has been developed based on the selective extraction of the tungsten dithiol complex into amyl acetate. The method is simple, rapid and accurate. It has been used in the determination of tungsten in alloy steel, meteorites and biological standard kale.     

High-sensitive elemental analysis using multi-parameter coincidence spectrometer: GEMINI-II

In this study, using neutron activation analysis with multi-parameter coincidence method which was developed at Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), a non-destructive, ultra-high sensitive multi-elemental determination has been realized. The multi-parameter coincidence method is carried out with an array of 19 germanium detectors, GEMINI-II. Using this system, very weak γ-rays emitted from trace amounts of elements can be detected. The iridium concentration has been determined by means of neutron activation analysis with multi-parameter coincidence method for Cuban sediment samples across the K/T boundary strata.     

Derivative techniques in activation analysis

Derivative activation analysis is a technique in which the element or chemical entity to be determined is either replaced or complexed in a preirradiation chemical procedure with another element for which neutron activation analysis has an intrinsically higher sensitivity. Although the technique has many potential applications, the literature of the field is very limited. Examples of recent applications in our laboratory include: determination of P in natural waters, biological reference standards, brain tissue, rocks and coal; determination of Ni in a stony meteorite; determination of T1 in solutions; and speciation of oxygen (e.g., hydroxyl and carbonyl moieties) in coal via 14 MeV neutron activation.     

Determination of some noble metals in iron meteorites by instrumental neutron activation analysis with a SLOWPOKE reactor

An instrumental neutron activation analysis procedure has been developed which permits the direct determination of Au, Ir, Os and Rh in iron meteorites using a SLOWPOKE reactor. A simple correction method enables the instrumental determination of rhodium using its short-lived nuclide.     

Determination of cobalt by substoichiometric thermal neutron activation analysis

A selective method has been developed for the determination of traces of cobalt in different matrices by the sensitive technique of thermal neutron activation analysis employing radiochemical separation and substoichiometric extraction of Co/II/ with iso-nitrosobenzoylacetone into chloroform.     

Monte Carlo calculations and neutron spectrometry in quantitative prompt gamma neutron activation analysis (PGNAA) of bulk samples using an isotopic neutron source

An activation analysis facility based on an isotopic neutron source (185 GBq ²⁴¹Am/Be) which can perform both prompt and cyclic activation analysis on bulk samples, has been used for more than 20 years in many applications including 'in vivo' activation analysis and the determination of the composition of bio-environmental samples, such as, landfill waste and coal. Although the comparator method is often employed, because of the variety in shape, size and elemental composition of these bulk samples, it is often difficult and time consuming to construct appropriate comparator samples for reference. One of the obvious problems is the distribution and energy of the neutron flux in these bulk and comparator samples. In recent years, we have attempted to adopt the absolute method based on a monostandard and to make calculations using a Monte Carlo code (MCNP4C2) to explore this further. In particular, a model of the irradiation facility has been made using the MCNP4C2 code in order to investigate the factors contributing to the quantitative determination of the elemental concentrations through prompt gamma neutron activation analysis (PGNAA) and most importantly, to estimate how the neutron energy spectrum and neutron dose vary with penetration depth into the sample. This simulation is compared against the scattered and transmitted neutron energy spectra that are experimentally and empirically determined using a portable neutron spectrometry system. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Determination of cadmium by substoichiometric thermal neutron activation analysis

A rapid and selective method has been developed for the determination of cadmium in environmental samples by thermal neutron activation analysis, employing substoichiometric solvent extraction technique. Alcoholic solution of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole /2-HMBT/ has been used for the substoichiometric extraction of Cd/II/ from an aqueous solution of pH 7.0 into methyl iso-butyl ketone /MIBK/.     

Radiochemical thermal neutron activation analysis of fish solubles

A rapid and simple method has been developed for the determination of Mn, Zn, Cr and Ag by radiochemical thermal neutron activation analysis, involving solvent extraction and precipitation technique. Mn, Zn, Cr and Ag can be determined with an accuracy of 8.9, 5.8, 7.7 and 7.6%, respectively. The method has been employed for determination of the elements in fish solubles. Two samples and a standard can be analyzed in three hours.     

Multi-element standard for routine instrumental activation analysis of trace elements in rocks and tectites

The use of high-resolution Ge(Li) detectors in non-destructive instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) of mineral materials makes possible the simultaneous determination of a number of trace elements. In routine applications of INAA the use of a multi-element standard (MES) has proved to have advantages over a set of standards for each determined element. An MES has been prepared containing 8 trace elements mixed in a suitable proportion and giving, after neutron activation, long-lived γ-emitters, the γ-ray lines of which regularly occur in the γ-ray spectra of silicate mineral materials. This method has been used in the determination of Sc, Cr, Co, Rb. Cs, Eu, Hf and Th in samples of standard rocks and moldavites.     

Instrumental neutron activation analysis of Obsidian rock

An instrumental neutron activation analysis technique has been developed for the simultaneous determination of up to 30 elements including major, minor and trace elements in Obsidian Rock (a proposed NBS-SRM-278). INAA method involves both short and long irradiations followed by gamma-ray activity measurement with a Ge(Li) detector. The accuracy of the procedure has been checked by analyzing IAEA Reference Materials.     

Substoichiometric determination of mercury by neutron activation analysis

A method has been developed for the substoichiometric determination of mercury by thermal neutron activation analysis, based on the selective extraction of the Hg(II)—Bindschedler's Green complex into 1,2-dichloroethane. The method has been applied for the determination of trace amounts of mercury in geological standards such as W-1, GR, Sye-1, and T-1, meteorite Allende de Publito, and biological materials such as kale, IR1 standard tobacco, and human blood serum.     

A rapid calibration method for the determination of traces of oxygen by 14-MeV neutron activation analysis

A dual axis rotation irradiation system has been used in the development of a calibration method for the determination of oxygen in almost any matrix by 14-MeV neutron activation. The method allows the correction of matrix effects which arise from neutron removal and γ-self absorption, thus providing an accuracy of ± 2% for the oxygen analysis. The experimental results are interpreted on the basis of theoretically calculated mass absorption coefficients and neutron removal cross-sections.     

Multielement analysis of Chinese Environmental Reference Materials by instrumental neutron activation analysis

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) has been applied for the simultaneous determination of up to 33 elements including major, minor and trace elements in the environmental reference materials soil and coal fly ash from China. The procedure involves both short and long irradiations followed by the measurement of the gamma spectra with a Ge(Li) detector. The analytical results are presented and discussed.     

Development of activation techniques for extensive requirements in uranium and multielement analysis

A new neutron activation technique based on cyclic activation combined with intermediate temporary sample storage and special data processing has been developed by use of the modified nuclear analyzer at N.R.C. Demokritos for accurate determination of uranium with relative standard deviation less than 0.05% and for the reduction of matrix interference by further timing optimization in non-destructive instrumental multielement analysis.     

A simple and fast method for the determination of active ingredient in antiperspirant cosmetics by neutron activation analysis

Antiperspirant cosmetics are tested for their active ingredient (aluminium chlorohydroxide) by conventional analytical techniques. Aluminium has been determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis in all antiperspirant products and package forms available in the Greek market in order to develop a simple and fast method for its quantitation. Our results show that neutron activation analysis could be established as an official method for the determination of active ingredient in antiperspirant cosmetics. The proposed method is compared with the existing official methods and an alternative sampling method for aerosol package is presented.     

Determination of iron isotopes by neutron activation analysis

Instrumental neutron activation analysis has been applied to the determination of Fe isotopic abundances in iron materials with the experimental accuracy of 5%. The proposed method can be considered as a quite simple and fast quality check system on the iron isotope enriched oxides used as standard in Mössbauer spectroscopy.     

CINA — A program for complete instrumental neutron activation analysis with a PC-type minicomputer

A program has been developed to use a PC-type minicomputer for instrumental neutron activation analysis. The program has the capacity for photopeak search, peak area computation, and element concentration determination using the single comparator method. Analysis time for a 4096-channel spectrum containing 20 photopeaks is about 4 minutes.     

Determination of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in cattail using thermal neutron prompt gamma activation analysis

A previous study on the determination of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in cattail using cold neutron prompt gamma activation analysis (CNPGAA) demonstrates that the results of numerous cattail samples showed favorable comparison to results from an elemental analyzer (EA) for C and N. However, the results for P overestimated the results from a UV-VIS spectrophotometer because of the interference of chlorine existing in cattail collected from an estuarine environment. To compare to CNPGAA, a method for the determination of C, N, and P in cattail using thermal neutron prompt gamma activation analysis (TNPGAA) has been developed in the TNPGAA facility at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and evaluated through the analysis of standard reference materials (SRMs).