Dosage du plutonium par potentiometrie a intensite constante: Application au combustible de rapsodie

A new method is proposed for the determination of plutonium in the UO₂PuO₂ pellets for Rapsodie. The sample is dissolved in a mixture of II N nitric acid and 0.l N hydrofluoric acid, and the plutonium is oxidized with silver(II) oxide. Plutonium(VI) is reduced in the presence of sulphamic acid with an excess of iron(II) which is back-titrated with cerium(IV) solution to a constant-current potentiometric end-point. Uranium and iron do not interfere and no separation is required. In routine work, the method gives a precision of 0.5%.     

Dosage spectrophotometrique du plutonium apres oxydation par le rium(IV)

(Spectrophotometric determination of plutonium after oxidation with cerium (IV)). Plutonium is frequently determined by measuring the absorption peak of Pu(VI) at 831 nm. To facilitate automation, replacement of the usual silver(II) oxide by cerium(IV) is suggested. Oxidation is complete in less than 15 min at room temperature in 4 M nitric acid medium. Polymerized plutonium is quantitatively oxidized in 3.5 h.     

Stability of plutonium(IV) and plutonium(VI) in nitric acid solutions under strong α-irradiation

Plutonium(IV) oxidation has been studied in 1 to 20 mol/1 HNO₃ under 1 to 14 W/1 internal alpha-irradiation and at plutonium concentrations from 2 to 100 mmol/1. Curium isotopes have been used as the basic alpha-irradiation sources. It has been established that in the systems investigated both oxidation of plutonium(IV) and reduction of plutonium(VI) take place, resulting with time in reaching the equilibrium between plutonium(IV) and plutonium(VI). The presence of plutonium(IV) enhances the reduction of plutonium(VI). The rate constants for plutonium(IV) oxidation and plutonium(VI) reduction have been estimated and their dependences upon the concentrations of nitric acid, plutonium(IV) and plutonium(VI) as well as upon the dose rate investigated. An equation has been derived which permits to calculate the concentrations of plutonium(IV) and plutonium(VI) at any desired time.     

Preparation and characterization of plutonium/IV/ phenyl acetate and plutonium/IV/ α-naphthyl acetate

Plutonium/IV/ compounds obtained in the reactions with phenylacetic acid and -naphthyl acetic acid in the pH range of 3.5–5.0 have been isolated and studied. Carbon, hydrogen and plutonium analyses have shown that plutonium/IV/ phenyl acetate and plutonium/IV/ -naphthyl acetate have the composition Pu/OH/₃/C₁₀H₇CH₂COO/, respectively. Infra-red and ultra-violet absorption spectral studies and thermogravimetric analysis have corroborated these chemical formulas.     

Determination of plutonium and uranium in the same aliquot by potentiometric titration

A potentiometric titration method was developed for the determination of plutonium and uranium in the same aliquot in nitric acid medium. Plutonium was first determined by oxidation to Pu/VI/ by fuming with conc. HClO₄. Pu/VI/ formed was reduced to Pu/IV/ with known excess of Fe/II/ and the excess Fe/II/ was titrated with standard K₂Cr₂O₇ to a potentiometric end point. Uranium in the same solution was determined by reduction to U/IV/ with Fe/II/ in conc. H₃PO₄ medium and titrating U/IV/ formed with standard K₂Cr₂O₇ using the potentiometric end point detection technique. For the quantity of plutonium and uranium each in the range of 3–5 mg per aliquot a precision of ±0.2% and ±0.4%, respectively, was obtained.     

Determination of plutonium oxidation states in dilute nitric acid by complementary tristimulus colorimetry

The preparation of reference standards for use in complementary tristimulus colorimetry for plutonium is described. Plutonium(III) and (VI) are prepared by hydrazine reduction and silver(II) oxidation, respectively, of plutonium(IV). Plutonium(V) is prepared by reduction of plutonium(VI) with ascorbic or sulphurous acid. A method for computerizing tristimulus colorimetry is presented, and the technique is extended to three dimensions ("quadristimulus colorimetry").     

Oxidative breakdown of polymeric plutonium(IV) hydroxide by cerium(IV)

The breakdown of polymeric plutonium(IV) hydroxide (plutonium colloid) by cerium(IV) has been studied spectrophotometrically by monitoring the formation of plutonium(VI). Reaction rate variations were studied with changes in cerium(IV), acid and plutonium colloid concentrations. A reaction mechanism involving the formation of [Ce₂O(OH)₂]⁴⁺ and its reaction with the polymer surface to produce two plutonium(V) ions is postulated to explain the observed kinetic data, in particular the maximum in the reaction rate at around 0.3 M nitric acid.     

Potentiometric determination of uranium in the presence of plutonium in H2SO4 medium

The potentiometric determination of uranium is widely carried out in phosphoric acid medium to suppress the interferences of plutonium by complexation. Owing to the complexity of the recycling plutonium from the phosphate based waste involving manifold stages of separation, a method has been proposed in the present paper which does not use phosphoric acid. Uranium and plutonium are reduced to U/IV/ and Pu/III/ in 1M H₂SO₄ by Ti/III/, and NaNO₂ is chosen to selectively oxidize Pu/III/ and the excess of Ti/III/. The unreacted NaNO₂ is destroyed by sulphamic acid and excess Fe/III/ is added following dilution. The equivalent amount of Fe/II/ thus liberated is titrated against standard K₂Cr₂O₇. R.S.D. obtained for the determination of uranium /1–2 mg/ is 0.3% with plutonium being present upto 4.0 mg.     

Potentiometric determination of plutonium by sodium bismuthate oxidation

A potentiometric method for the determination of plutonium is described, in which the plutonium is quantitatively oxidized to plutonium(VI) with sodium bismuthate in nitric acid medium, the excess of oxidant is destroyed chemically and plutonium(VI) is reduced to plutonium(IV) with a measured excess of iron(II), the surplus of which is back-titrated with dichromate. For 3–5 mg of plutonium the error is less than 0.2%. For submilligram quantities of plutonium in presence of macro-amounts of uranium the error is below 2.0%.     

Anion-exchange separation of plutonium in hydrochloric-hydrobromic acid media

Plutonium can be rapidly and selectively separated from the elements that interfere in its radiochemical determination, by the use of hydrobromic acid in a hydrohalic acid anion-exchange separation procedure. Plutonium(IV) and (VI) are adsorbed onto the resin column from 9M hydrochloric acid, interfering elements such as americium and thorium are washed from the column with 9M hydrochloric acid, and the plutonium is reduced to plutoniurn(III) and washed from the column with 11M hydrobromic acid. Interfering elements such as uranium and neptunium, which are adsorbed onto the column from 9M hydrochloric acid, are retained there during the hydrochloric and hydrobromic acid washes. This system would also appear to provide the means for effectively separating plutonium from those elements that commonly interfere in such chemical methods of analysis as redox titration.     

Potentiometric determination of plutonium by argentic oxidation, ferrous reduction and dichromate titration

A simple and rapid method is described for the routine determination of plutonium with a coefficient of variation of better than 0.2%. It is directly applicable to nitrate solutions containing a large amount of uranium; moderate amounts of iron, molybdenum, fluoride and phosphate do not interfere. Chromium, cerium and manganese interfere quantitatively, and the procedure may also prove convenient for the determination of these elements. The plutonium is oxidised to the sexivalent state with argentic oxide in nitric acid solution, and the excess of oxidant is destroyed by reaction with sulphamic acid. A weighed small excess of iron(II) solution is then added, and the excess is titrated potentiometrically with standard potassium dichromate solution using polarised gold indicator electrodes. The whole determination is performed in one vessel at room temperature, and takes about 20 min.     

Spectrophotometric determination of plutonium III, IV, and VI concentrations in nitric acid solution

The determination of the concentration of various valency states of plutonium is desirable in various stages of the Plutonium/Uranium Recovery by EXtraction (PUREX) process for the effective separation and purification of plutonium. A method is optimized for the quantitative spectrophotometric determination of Pu(III), Pu(IV) and Pu(VI) existing separately or in mixed oxidation states in 1.5?M nitric acid medium. Molar absorption co-efficient (??) for the major absorption peaks with baseline correction are evaluated. With these ?? data a method is proposed for determining the molar concentration of each oxidation state.     

Complexometric determination of thorium in ThO2−PuO2

A method based on the complexometric titration of thorium using ethylene diaminetetra-acetic acid (EDTA) as complexant has been developed for the determination of thorium in thorium-plutonium solution without resorting to prior separation of plutonium. Plutonium in the form of Pu(VI) does not affect the thorium determination when present up to 10% in thorium—plutonium solution. For oxidation of plutonium to Pu(VI), HClO₄ or AgO was used. HClO₄ is preferred. The thorium values obtained without prior separation of plutonium are compared with those obtained after separating plutonium by anion exchange technique. A precision of ±0.5% has been obtained for 5–10 mg of thorium in the aliquot.     

Determination of plutonium by secondary coulometric titration with internally generated iron(II)

The method for plutonium determination based on secondary controlled-potential coulometry, as described by SHULTS, is applied for analysis in the range of 0.1–5 mg plutonium. The method involves the oxidation of plutonium to Pu(VI) with perchloric acid followed by its reduction by an internally generated ferrous mediator. This is a two step procedure, involving the reduction of Pu(VI) and Fe(III) to a mixture of Pu(III) and Fe(II), followed by the oxidation of Pu(III) and Fe(II) to Pu(IV) and Fe(III), respectively. The net results is the reduction of Pu(VI) to Pu(IV), measured as the difference between the currents consumed during the reduction and oxidation steps. The original method of SHULTS involves 10–25 mg plutonium for each determination. Since the present method is intended for the analysis of smaller amounts of plutonium, the oxidation procedure described in the original version had to be modified. The method is found to work satisfactorily with a precision better than 0.1% at 5 mg level and 1.2% for 0.1 mg plutonium.     

Indirect determination of uranium by the on-line reduction and fluorimetric detection of cerium(III).

A novel flow injection method has been developed for the indirect determination of uranium by the on-line reduction and subsequent fluorimetric detection of cerium(III). A sample solution containing uranium(VI), prepared as a sulfuric acid solution, was injected into a sulfuric acid carrier solution and passed through a column packed with metal bismuth to reduce uranium(VI) to uranium(IV). The sample solution was merged with a cerium(IV) solution to oxidize uranium(IV) to uranium(VI) and the cerium(III) generated was then monitored fluorimetricaly. The present method is free from interference from zirconium, lanthanides, and thorium, and has been successfully applied to the determination of uranium in monazite coupled with an anion-exchange separation in a sulfuric acid medium to eliminate iron(III). The sample throughput was 25 per hour and the lowest detectable concentration was 0.0042 mg l(-1).     

Determination of trace amounts of plutonium in low-active liquid wastes from spent nuclear-fuel reprocessing plants by flow injection-based solid-phase extraction/electrochemical detection system

A flow injection-based electrochemical detection system coupled to a solid-phase extraction column was developed for the determination of trace amounts of plutonium in low-active liquid wastes from spent nuclear-fuel reprocessing plants. The oxidation state of plutonium in a sample solution was adjusted to Pu(VI) by the addition of silver(II) oxide. A sample solution was made up in 3 mol L^?1 HNO₃ and loaded onto a column packed with UTEVA^® with 3 mol L^?1 HNO₃ as the carrier. Plutonium(VI) was adsorbed onto the resin, and interfering elements were removed by rinsing the column with 3 mol L^?1 HNO₃. Subsequently, the adsorbed Pu(VI) was eluted with 0.01 mol L^?1 HNO₃, and then introduced directly into the flow-through electrolysis cell with boron-doped diamond electrode. The eluted Pu(VI) was detected by an electrochemical amperometric method at a working potential of 0.1 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). The current produced on reduction of Pu(VI) was continuously monitored and recorded. The plutonium concentration was calculated from the relationship between the peak area and concentration of plutonium. The relative standard deviation of ten analyses was 1.1% for a plutonium solution of 25 μg L^?1 containing 50 ng of Pu. The detection limit calculated from three-times the standard deviation was 0.82 μg L^?1 (1.6 ng of Pu).     

A spectrophotometric method for the determination of plutonium in fuel solutions

A spectrophotometric method is described in which microgram amounts of plutonium can be determined in the presence of uranium, thorium, fission products and cladding materials. Plutonium is extracted with TTA in xylene and reextracted into a solution of Arsenazo III. Zirconium is masked by a Fe(III)-EDTA mixture, fluoride ions by Al(III). 2 to 40 μg of plutonium are required for one analysis. The standard deviation is 1.3% at 15 μg plutonium.     

Extraction of U/VI/ and U/IV/ with some 1-phenyl-3-methyl-4-acylated-pyrazolone-5 compounds

A series of novel chelating reagents 1-phenyl-3-Methyl-4-p-Nitro-Benzoyl-Pyrazolone-5 /PMNBP/, 1-Phenyl-3-Methyl-4-o-Chlor-Benzoyl-Pyrazolone-5 /PMCBP/, 1-Phenyl-3-Methyl-4-Acyl-Pyrazolone-5 /PMAP/ have been synthesized. The extraction of U/VI/ and U/IV/ from hydrochloric acid in chloroform with these reagents as well as 1-Phenyl-3-Methyl-4-Benzoyl-Pyrazolone-5 /PMBP/ has been studied. The influence of the concentration of the reagents in organic phase, on the distrubtion ratio /D/, has been measured. The coordination of the compounds has been determined with the slope method, and the equilibrium constants k_ex, were measured.     

Determination of plutonium and uranium in mixed oxide fuels by sequential redox titration

The use of a sequential determination of uranium and plutonium in a single sample solution results in a saving in analysis time and apparatus requirements. The method starts with U(IV) and Pu(in) in a mixture of sulphuric and nitric adds. Titration with dichromate, using amperometry at a pair of polarizable electrodes, produces two well-defined end-points corresponding to the sequential oxidation of U(IV) to U(VI) and Pu(III) to Pu(IV). The quantitative oxidation of U(IV) to U(VI) is achieved via the action of Pu(IV) as intermediate, and is dependent upon establishing conditions which favour rapid reaction between U(IV) and Pu(IV). The method is precise and accurate. With Pu-U mixtures containing between 15 and 30% plutonium the precision (3sigma) of the Pu: U ratio results is +/-0.6% on samples containing 100-120 mg of plutonium plus uranium. Iron and vanadium interfere quantitatively with plutonium, copper interferes non-quantitatively with uranium, and gross amounts of molybdenum mask the uranium end-point.     

Determination of hexavalent plutonium using differential spectrophotometry

A differential spectrophotometric method has been developed for plutonium in hexavalent state using a double beam spectrophotometer. The absorbance measurements were made at 835 nm in 4M sulfuric acid using a 5 cm cell. In the method developed the absorbance of six Pu(VI) standards, taken in the sample cell, were recorded against a molybdenum blue solution of appropriate intensity in the reference cell. A least-squares fit of data on absorbance and concentration of plutonium standards gave slope F and intercept Co which were used to determine the unknown concentrations using the relationship, C=C₀+F·Ar where Ar is the absorbance of a plutonium solution of unknown concentration C mg/g. Various parameters like choice of acid and acidity, slit width, oxidant etc. were studied and the conditions optimized. Plutonium in the concentration range of 0.1–0.3 mg/g could be determined with a precision of ±0.5%. Uranium does not interfere. The method is useful for the analysis of a large number of samples on a routine basis.