Mass spectrometric determination of impurities in reactor core graphite for radioactive waste composition modelling

Anotacija

In this work concentrations of minor graphite impurities in virgin graphite of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (Ignalina NPP) measured by high resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) are presented and applicability of the method for the evaluation of minor graphite impurities is discussed. It is shown that ICP-MS is a promising technique for determination of graphite impurities in 10 ppm – 10 ppt concentration range as a rapid and relatively cheap method. The most important nuclides for evaluation of short- and long-lived activation products in the Ignalina NPP graphite were measured with the accuracy sufficient for the radioactive waste classification. These results could be used for planning of dismantling and disposal of the Ignalina NPP graphite. Keywords: reactor graphite impurities, ICP-MS, X-ray fluorescence, neutron activation analysis