ANALYTICAL RADIOCHEMISTRY LABORATORY

The lab was established in 1973 to study NPP spent nuclear fuel by radiochemical analyzing methods in order to obtain experimental data on isotopic composition of fuel patterns and fuel burn-up. Outcomes of the researches are widely applied in various nuclear centers with the purpose to improve design computer codes, to substantiate the necessity to apply nondestructive methods, to elaborate correlation techniques aimed to determine separate components of spent nuclear fuel and for a number of other purposes.

General research lines

• uranium, plutonium, americium, and curium finding in various nuclear materials, including NPP spent nuclear fuel, using isotopic dilution method followed by mass spectrometric and alpha spectrometric analysis;
• separation and refinement of actinoid and rare-earth elements by extraction, ion-exchange and distribution chromatography, and electromigration chromatography;
• analyzing of test samples to determine plutonium and uranium mass proportion and isotopic composition with the purpose of nuclear weapons non-proliferation insurance arrangement assurance, participating in IAEA Analytical Laboratory Network;
• realization of precision analysis of uranium and plutonium content in various nuclear materials, using potentiometric titration and spectrometry methods;
• fabrication of special mono-isotopic and standard mixed patterns of nuclear materials, including certification measurements with the use of world standard patterns;
• determination of element content in radioactive and non-radioactive materials with the help of methods of emission and absorption spectroscopy;
• uranium, neptunium, and rare-earth elements detection in various matters, using laser-luminescent analysis methods.

Standard patterns of nuclear materials, worked out in the Radium Institute.

Publications

1. Stepanov A.V., Nikitina S.A., Alexsandruk V.M., at al. Application of internal standard method to increase a precision of Np luminescent detecting in CaF₂ based crystal phosphor// Analytical chemistry. - 1997. - v.52. - No 2. - p.144-149.
2. Stepanov A.V., Nikitina S.A., Karasiov V.T., at al. Precision spectrometrical method to detect U, Pu, Nd, and Rh, using internal standardization principle. // Radiochemistry. - 2002. - v. 44. - No. 2. - p. 142-144.
3. Burlakov E.V., Stepanov A.V., Makarova T.P., at al. Nuclide composition of RBMK-1000 spent nuclear fuel samples. Experiments and calculations. // Preprint IAE-6266/. - M.,2003. - 52 p.
4. Burlakov E.V., Stepanov A.V., Makarova T.P., at al. Nuclide composition of RBMK-1000 spent nuclear fuel samples. Experiments and calculations. // Preprint IAE-6266/. - M.,2003. - 52 p.
5. Stepanov A.V., Makarova T.P., Pevtsova E.V. Detection of Th micro-quantities in soils by differentially kinetic method. // Radiochemistry. - 2003. - v. 45. - No 2. - p. 142 -144.
6. Grigorieva M.G., Nikitina S.A., Pevtsova E.V., at al. Precision detection of Th and Pu in solutions with arsenazo III by internal standardization spectrometry method. // Radiochemistry. - 2003. - v. 45. - No 4. - p. 351-356.
7. Petrov E.R., Panteleev Y.A. Alpha spectrometry method to control Am-241 content in the environment. // The 7-th International Conference "Safety of nuclear technologies". - Saint-Petersburg (27. 09. - 01.10. 2004). - p. 508 - 509.
8. Makarova T.P., Domkin V.D., Tchubinsky I.V., at al. Determination of isotopic composition and U and Pu content in ultra-small environmental samples by йтну method. // Radiochemistry. - 2004. - v. 46. - No5. - p. 464-470.