Determination of 233U by inductively coupled argon plasma : atomic emission spectrometry

Abstract The paper describes studies carried out for the determination of 233U at various stages during the recovery and purification of 233U from 233U-Al alloy scraps generated during the fabrication of 233U-Al alloy fuel. Employing a high resolution sequential spectrometer and Inductively Coupled argon Plasma (ICP) as the spectral excitation source, isotope shift for 233U with respect to 238U has been resolved and recorded. The shift for 424.437 nm emission line of 238U is found to be of the order of 0.040 nm on the lower wavelength side for 233U and this isotopic effect has been utilised for the quantitative determination of 233U. The overall precision of the method is 5% RSD with the detection limit of 0.01 μg/ml.