Analytical Sciences

Sequential Determination of Free Acidity and Plutonium Concentration in the Dissolver Solution of Fast-Breeder Reactor Spent Fuels in a Single Aliquot

K. DHAMODHARAN* and Anitha PIUS**

*Reprocessing Group, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam-603 102, India
**The Gandhigram Rural Institute-Deemed University, Gandhigram, Dindigul-624 302, India

A simple potentiometric method for determining the free acidity without complexation in the presence of hydrolysable metal ions and sequentially determining the plutonium concentration by a direct spectrophotometric method using a single aliquot was developed. Interference from the major fission products, which are susceptible to hydrolysis at lower acidities, had been investigated in the free acidity measurement. This method is applicable for determining the free acidity over a wide range of nitric acid concentrations as well as the plutonium concentration in the irradiated fuel solution prior to solvent extraction. Since no complexing agent is introduced during the measurement of the free acidity, the purification step is eliminated during the plutonium estimation, and the resultant analytical waste is free from corrosive chemicals and any complexing agent. Hence, uranium and plutonium can be easily recovered from analytical waste by the conventional solvent extraction method. The error involved in determining the free acidity and plutonium is within ±1% and thus this method is superior to the complexation method for routine analysis of plant samples and is also amenable for remote analysis.

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