Neutron activation products determination

Table II summarizes the parameters which relate to the measurement of each element neutron activation products, half-lives, y-ray energies, lengths of irradiation, decay, and counting. Also listed are the possible interfering radionuclides and interfering reactions producing the same isotopes from another element which were necessarily evaluated. This table is subdivided into three sections representing the elements determined during each of the three counting intervals.

In addition to the aforementioned methods, TLC in combination with other instrumental techniques have also been used for quantification of inorganic species. For example, two-dimensional TLC coupled with HPLC has been utilized for the separation and quantification of REEs in nuclear fuel fission products using silaiuzed silica gel as layer material [60]. In another interesting method, REEs in geological samples have been determined by ICP-AAS after their preconcentration by TLC on Fixion plates [32]. TLC in combination with neutron activation has been used to determine REE in rock samples on Eixion 50 x 8 layers with the sensitivity limit of 0.5 to 10 pg/g for 10- to 30-mg samples [41]. A combination of TLC and A AS has been utilized for the isolation and determination of zinc in forensic samples [27]. 

Potassium bromate is a widely used dough conditioner. However, if it is used in excessive quantities in bread products then appreciable residues (> 1 mg/kg) can remain which is of concern since it is a cancer suspect agent. Its routine analysis is laborious, time-consuming and difficult by HPLC, and Cunningham and Warner (2000) described the development of an instrumental neutron activation method for determination of bromine while HPLC was used to determine bromate in selected samples. 

A method has been developed for the determination of technetium-99 in mixed fission products by neutron activation analysis Tc is separated from most fission products by a cyclohexanone extraction from carbonate solution, the stripping into water by addition of CCI4 to the cylohexanone phase, and the adsorption on an anion exchange column. Induced Tc radioactivity is determined using X-ray spectrometry to measure the 540 and 591 keV lines. The sensitivity of the analysis under these conditions is approximately 5 ng. The method has been successfully applied to reactor fuel solutions. 

Radioactive lateling of this cluster and neutron activation analysis of the g)ld enabled us to determine the extent of Nnding of the cluster to the particles. The results of both analytical methods show that a spacer of minimum length of about 10 A between the -SH group of a ribosomal protein and the N-atom on the cluster is n ed for significant binding. Preliminary experiments indicate that the producte of the derivatization reaction with SOS particles can be crystallized. 

The concentration of silver nanoparticles and ions in solntions was determined by neutron activation analysis [15]. Samples were irradiated in the nuclear reactor at the Institute of Nuclear Physics, Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The product of nuclear reaction ° Ag(n,y)" Ag has the half-life Tj j=253 days. The silver concentration was determined by measnring the intensity of gamma radiation with the energy of 0.657 MeV and 0.884 MeV emitted by "" Ag. A Ge(Li) detector with a resolution of about 1.9 keV at 1.33 MeV and a 6,144-channel analyzer were used for recording gamma-ray quanta. 

The amount of unreacted target element that eluted was determined by measuring its radioactivity directly in the case of actinides, and by activation analysis in the case of lanthanides. The distribution of the radioactive neutron capture product was determined by counting both the eluate and the eluted zeolite. All irradiations were done in the Oak Ridge Research reactor in a pneumatic tube facility with a thermal neutron flux of about 4 X 1013 neutrons cm-2 sec-1 or, for a few long irradiations, in a tube adjacent to the reactor core at the fluxes stated in Table VI. 

The standard procedure of nitrogen determination by many laboratories is the Kjeldahl method (ASTM D-3179 ISO 333), although there are the standard methods that involve the Dumas technique (DIN 51722) and the gasification procedure (DIN 15722). Neutron activation analysis has also been proposed for the determination of nitrogen in coal, coal ash, and related products (Volborth, 1979a). 

The cross sections for (n,y) reactions common in reactor thermal neutron activation generally decrease with increasing neutron energy with the exception of resonance-capture cross section peaks at specific energies. This reaction is, therefore, not important in most 14 MeV activation determinations. However, some thermalization of the 14 MeV flux may always be expected due to the presence of low Z elements in the construction materials of the pneumatic tubes, sample supports, sample vial, or the sample itself (particularly when the sample is present in aqueous solution). The elements Al, Mn, V, Sn, Dy, In, Gd, and Co, in particular, have high thermal neutron capture cross sections and thermal capture products have been observed in the 14 MeV neutron irradiation of these elements in spite of care taken to reduce the amount of low Z moderating materials in the region of the sample irradiation position 25>. 

Neutron activation and petrographic analysis of late medieval Spanish pottery from the major Spanish production centers of Seville, Granada, Patema-Manises, Barcelona, and Talavera-Puente allowed progress to be made in uniquely characterizing these production centers (5-7). Efforts to identify different Mexican majolica productions petrographically have been unsuccessful, and an attempt at chemical characterization by directly coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy was later determined to have been flawed by problems encountered with the dissolution of the ceramic samples... 

In this section only the most recent methods (post 1990) for extraction and quantitative determination of PCAs in commercial products and environmental samples are discussed. While extraction and isolation techniques have relied mainly on techniques already developed for POPs, there have been major advances in the quantification of PCAs using gas chromatography mass spectrometry in electron capture negative ionization mode (GC-ECNIMS). No attempt will be made to discuss older methods of analysis such as thin-layer chromatography [13,50], and neutron activation methods [51]. 

Determination of Pellet Weight and Copper/Oxygen Ratios for Production Primers (from Ref 6) 14 MeV Neutron Activation Analysis (Weight in Grains)... 

The NAA method can be divided into NAA (Instrumental NAA) and RNAA (Radiochemical NAA). In the latter, the various neutron-induced products are separated chemically to minimize interferences. There are several comprehensive review papers on INAA published in the literature 1,2,3,4). Briefly, the basic parameters controlling sensitivity for a multi-element determination are neutron flux, irradiation time, delay interval prior to counting, half-life and gamma-ray energy of the induced activity, and eflBciency and resolution of the detector. Table I outlines the irradiation parameters used for each of the two sequential irradiations. The final count occurring 40-50 days after the second irradiation is performed on an anti-coincidence-shielded Ge(Li) system developed recently in our laboratory. 

Radionuclides classified as activation products are created in nuclear reactors and other nuclear devices by the reactions of neutrons with fuel and construction materials. Activation products include the isotopes of the transuranic elements and radioisotopes of hydrogen, carbon, caesium, cobalt, iron, manganese, zinc, and a host of other radionuclides, all of which should be recognised and considered in determining the environmental pathways to human exposure. 

The geochemistry of uranium and thorium has excited considerable interest on accoimt of their strategic importance. Smales determined uranium in rocks by neutron activation followed by isolation of fission product Ba (81). Interference from the fast fission of any thorium present in the sample and from beta-emitting barium isotopes formed by (n,y) reaction is discussed and methods of overcoming the diflSculties are described. The uranium content of two iron meteorites was determined by... 

The availability of high flux thermal neutron irradiation facilities and high resolution intrinsic Ge and lithium drifted germanium (Ge(Li)) or silicon (Si(Li)) detectors has made neutron activation a very attractive tool for determining trace elemental composition of petroleum and petroleum products. This analytical technique is generally referred to as instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) to distinguish it from neutron activation followed by radiochemical separations. INAA can be used as a multi-elemental method with high sensitivity for many trace elements (Table 3.IV), and it has been applied to various petroleum materials in recent years (45-55). In some instances as many as 30 trace elements have been identified and measured in crude oils by this technique (56, 57). 

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